Inside Elite Boats: Bob Downey

Welcome to another edition of Inside Elite Boats. This time we catch up with Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro Bob Downey to get an inside look at his 2026 tournament boat.

The four-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier is running a Bass Cat Boats Puma STS powered by a 250-horsepower Mercury Pro-XS. This is his third year running this model of Bass Cat.

The bow of the boat is home to the ultra reliable/durable Minn Kota Ultrex Quest.

In tournaments where forward-facing sonar is allowed, Downey runs the Humminbird MEGA Live 2 transducer …

… as well as the Humminbird MEGA 360 transducer.

Another look at his Minn Kota Ultrex Quest with the two additional transducers.

A look at the Bass Cat trailer that features a nice step allowing easy access to get into the boat.

At the bow of the boat, Downey has two Humminbird APEX 13 units mounted vertically on a Bass Boat Technology mount.

Downey uses one of the APEX units exclusively for his MEGA Live 2 (when allowed) and the other for LakeMaster Mapping, MEGA 360 and 2D sonar.

A look at the foot switches for his Minn Kota Raptors.

All the foot switches are nicely tucked away to avoid clutter on the front deck of the boat.

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The port side of the boat, next to the trolling motor is home to a few switches, including the trim switch.

Downey shows off the front deck layout of his Puma STS.

The port side rod locker is where he stores the majority of his rods, and the center compartments are home to tackle.

The largest center compartment is home to a plethora of 3700 style boxes with tackle.

He also keeps a few spare spools of line in this compartment for easy spooling and leader tying.

The two smaller compartments towards the bow of the boat are home to more 3700 and 3600 size boxes as well as a few smaller items.

The starboard side rod locker is home to a few extra spinning rods and a few bags of soft plastics.

The rod locker is loaded down with a large number of combos. As you might be able to tell by what’s tied on, this boat tour was shot just before the 2026 Elite event at Lake Murray.

Downey pulls out one of his favorite postspawn baits, especially when fishing blueback herring fisheries like Lake Murray.

The Rapala PXR Jowler 127 is a must-have for Downey. “When it comes to fishing for herring fish in the postspawn, the Jowler is always going to be on the deck of my boat,” he said.

Downey pulls out another bag that never leaves the boat.

This bag is full of Rapala Crush City Mooch Minnows and The Jerks. Both baits serve multiple purposes for the Minnesota pro.

Another incredibly versatile box that never leaves the boat is his box of Rapala Crush City Freeloaders.

“I use the Freeloader a lot as a vibrating jig trailer,” he said. “It’s also really good as a jighead minnow. It comes in multiple sizes so you can always match the hatch.”

“The Freeloader is really great on a ChatterBait, especially when you’re wanting to get the bait down deeper,” he said. “Earlier this year at Guntersville, this was the trailer I was using to target that deeper grass.”

A close-up look at the Red Craw color which is a very popular choice for a Fire Craw colored ChatterBait.

A much more natural shad color.

Downey takes a seat at the driver’s seat to show off the setup at the console.

At the console, Downey runs two Humminbird APEX 13 units.

“I use the unit on the right for side imaging and down imaging and use the one on the left for mapping and a sliver of 2D,” he said. “On big bodies of water that we go to where we are making long runs, I’ll use both units for mapping. I’ll use one for a zoomed out view and one for a more zoomed in map.”

The gauges to the left of the steering wheel including his Minn Kota Raptor Switch.

All of the accessory switches to the right of the steering wheel.

A very special sticker has a place on the console as well. “My son Jett just turned 2, and he loves stickers,” he said. “He put two stickers on my boat that will be there all season. It’s kind of a nice reminder that when things aren’t going well I can look down and it gives me a good perspective.”

Like many of the Elite anglers, Downey runs a T-H Marine Hot Foot.

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The Bass Cats have a nice slot by the step that houses tools like pliers, scissors and other items.

A look inside one of the coolers.

The Bass Cat has individual rod slots for your co-angler or fishing buddy.

A peak inside the console between the two seats. This is home to a variety of different items such as microfiber towels, extra sunglasses and screen cleaning sprays.

The Bass Cat livewells are triangular in shape and famously deep.

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The smaller triangular compartments behind the livewells have removable trays that give you access to your pumps.

“I typically don’t add much to the compartments, but it’s a perfect place to put livewell additives or something like that,” he said. “These compartments do provide easy access to your Raptor pumps if needed.”

One of the back compartments is left mostly empty for his AmBASSadors, but he does keep an extra life jacket inside the compartment.

The other compartment on the starboard side of the boat is home to extra jackets as well as his GoPro equipment.

A look inside the spacious battery well of the boat. “The lids in the Bass Cats are huge and give you plenty of room,” he said. “The lids even come off so you have more space to work on things when needed.”

Downey runs two 36V 60AH Pro-Guide Batteries in parallel for his trolling motor and one 12V 235AH for all of his accessories.

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Downey always carries a spare battery just in case.

“This is my seventh year running the Mercury Pro XS, and it’s been a really great motor,” he said.

Downey relies on Minn Kota Raptors as his shallow-water anchors. “These things are just super solid,” he said. “The Active Anchoring feature is really awesome. The Raptors constantly keep driving and keep you in place.”