Inside Elite Boats: Matt Lee

Elite rookie Matt Lee tallied up tons of tournament hours in his Carhartt-wrapped Legend boat during the 2015 season. Lee fished a full schedule in the Bassmaster Elite Series, and he took part in the Central and Southern Opens tournaments as well.

The highlights of Lee’s first season fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series included a Top 20 finish on Lake Guntersville and a Top 25 finish in BASSfest on Kentucky Lake. All told, Lee earned a check in four 2015 Elite events.

During the 2015 season, Lee fished in a 2015 Legend V20 boat equipped with a high performance 250 Mercury Pro XS motor.

Lee’s trolling motor was a powerful Minn Kota Fortrex 112.

In the small box next to the trolling motor, Lee stores extra plastics throughout the day. “Instead of having to keep them in my pocket, when I shed clothes, or lose them, or fly out, I just use the compartment up front to keep it easy.”

The rod locker is on the left side of Lee’s boat, and it regularly holds dozens of rods for a tournament.

Lee keeps plenty of rods on hand so he is prepared to fish multiple techniques, including frog flippin’.

Lee recalled examples in the past where he didn’t have enough rods to fish effectively. Because of this, there can be 30 to 40 rods in the locker at any given time.

Up front there is a huge middle compartment in the boat. Lee stores hard baits in this space and occasionally some swimbaits. The large compartment can hold 20 or 25 Plano boxes as well as the three or four rods Lee will use to start a day fishing.

Extra baits that Lee takes off while fishing also make their way into the front compartment. This helps keep his boat’s floor clean.

“Instead of leaving it on the carpet or something, I’ll just put it in there. I use old Tackle Warehouse boxes and cut the tops of them off and use them to sort stuff in,” Lee said.

In virtually every Elite Series boat, you’re going to find a box of jigs like this one.

Here’s a closer look at the weapons Lee uses when he decides to fish with a jig.

Lee’s rightly colored culling tags are stored in the front of the boat as well.

Lee stores his tungsten weights in their original packaging.

“With the tungsten, I like to keep them in the original package. If they come in a quantity of three per package, I’ll just make them bulk and put 10 or so in one package,” Lee said. This keeps the weights from cracking or chipping paint when the boat bangs around in rough water.

Lee also stores his hooks and other terminal tackle in their original packaging.

The right rod locker looks to be a catch-all for different items. Here, the three green bags hold Lee’s spare reels.

A lot of the rods Lee stores in his rod locker don’t have reels on them, so he keeps these reels in a separate compartment.

Other items kept in the right rod locker include a spare prop, an extra throwable life vest, jumper cables, an extra rope and a tow rope.

In addition to a rain jacket, the right rod locker holds a snowmobile mask for cold or wet days.

Lee explained that the mask definitely comes in handy when it’s raining really hard. This is especially true during a long run.

For the smaller box in front of the driver’s seat, the contents depend on where Lee is fishing. He’ll store bulk plastics, zipper bags of Dream Shots or swimbait heads in this space.

Usually the space holds a box of spinnerbaits. Lee said the boxes seem to fit the area well.

A Carhartt ski cap, toilet paper and marker buoys also fit in the compartment.

The boat has a small rack where a few pairs of scissors and needle nose pliers are kept on hand for easy access.

The box between the seats holds many go-to items that Lee may need to grab quickly. Items that call the space home include sunglasses, more reels, screen wipes, etc.

With all of the fancy electronics used in bass fishing today, every angler needs a box to keep chips, cards and other odds and ends dry.

Lee navigated his boat all across the U.S. in 2015. In one year, he drove it on the coast of California, on the Canadian border and down in Florida.

The panel includes the Mercury SmartCraft gauge. It reads how much fuel is used up to 1/10th of a gallon. It’s helpful for long runs, and it tells Lee how exactly much gas he has left.

On the console, there’s a keypad that controls all of the livewells, interior lights, Oxygenator, etc. The driver can set recirculation or auto with just the touch of a finger. “It’s got everything you can imagine.”

For onboard power, there is a lighter-style power outlet and two USB ports. For phones or other items that need charging, all that is needed is a USB cord.

One rear box holds two Plano boxes, a first-aid kit, a life jacket, an extra trolling motor prop, clothes, a fire extinguisher and an extra hub assembly kit.

Lee said an angler must be prepared to fix anything and everything while on the water. The first Plano box stored in this compartment holds a prop wrench, zip ties, Power-Pole switches, extra drain plugs and electrical tape.