Inside Elite Boats

Inside Elite Boats: Emil Wagner

Take a tour of Bassmaster Elite Series pro Emil Wagner's 2025 tournament boat.

Posted on
Photography by
Kyle Jessie
Arkansas
Welcome to another edition of Inside Elite Boats, this time featuring 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Emil Wagner. The Georgia pro had a successful rookie campaign, finishing 26th in Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year points and finishing second in the Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year standings. A little less than a month after the conclusion of the Elite Series, Wagner won the first ever Nitro Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Lake Champlain presented by Bass Pro Shops.
Wagner did his damage in 2025 out of his Phoenix 921 Elite powered by a 250-horsepower Yamaha SHO Outboard.
The bow of the boat is home to a 52-inch shaft Minn Kota Ultrex Quest trolling motor.
Wagner prefers the 52-inch shaft because it performs better in big water but still has the ability to adjust in shallow water situations.
At the bow of the boat, Wagner runs two units. The bottom unit is a Humminbird APEX 13 he primarily uses for mapping, waypoint management and down scan. The top unit is used exclusively for forward-facing sonar.
A look at the recessed foot pedal for his Ultrex Quest.
He relies on a dual 7-inch Rise mount from STR8 Up Mount to keep his bow electronics in place.
Wagner shows off the deck layout of his Phoenix 921 Elite.
A foam pad is added to the bottom of the boat that features his personal logo as well as Sonar Pros, who rigs his boat each year.
A look into the deep rod locker.
Wagner carries a healthy amount of rods on tournament days including a variety of different length and action Fenwick spinning rods as well as casting rods.
A look into the center deck compartment that is home to a large amount of his tackle.
A large open Plano box sits atop the compartment that stores bulk spools as well as normal spools of line.
“I just try to keep a little bit of everything for every tournament even if I don’t think I’m going to use it,” said Wagner. “I pack pretty heavy. Pretty much every category you could imagine on Tackle Warehouse is covered in the boat.”
As a Lake Lanier guide, Wagner pulls out one of his favorite boxes in the boat — a box full of Berkley Magic Swimmers.
“Back home on our herring lakes we throw these a ton,” he said.
The 110 and 125 are his favorite sizes. He carries a wide variety of different color options.
The next box is a box full of shallow-running crankbaits.
Two of his favorites are the Berkley Frittside 5 as well as the Berkley Squarebull which is a more traditional squarebill.
The Georgia pro shows off a couple of his favorites.
Again, as a herring lake specialist, Wagner carries a wide variety of different topwaters.
The Berkley Cane Walker is a popular choice for his home lake. “The chrome Cane Walker is probably my favorite topwater Berkley makes,” he said.
This compartment is also home to a wide variety of bulk soft plastics.
The Berkley Powerbait Maxscent General is a favorite for a wide variety of different rigging methods.
The foam pad that is adjacent to the front deck holds a number of different hooks, jigheads and more.
Wagner was preparing for the final Elite of the year at the Upper Mississippi River when this boat tour was being shot, so he was ready to sling a buzzbait around.
The Crock-O-Gator Head Knocker is one of his favorites.
As mentioned previously, Wagner was REALLY excited about throwing a buzzbait…
Wagner takes fish care extremely seriously, so he keeps a bag full of fish care products in the boat.
The BuzzerRocks Livewell Treatment keeps the water quality high for the fish in the livewell.
The rod locker on the driver’s side of the boat is home to a variety of different items.
Of those items, one of the most important items is his AFTCO rainsuit.
The smaller day box is home to soft plastics he knows he will use throughout the day.
The convenient tool holder is home to pliers and scissors for easy access.
The cooler stays stocked with waters and protein for quick snacking on the water.
The smaller compartment next to the cooler is home to Sharpies, line spray and more.
At the console, Wagner has two Humminbird APEX 13 units.
One unit is used exclusively for side-imaging and the other is used for his LakeMaster Maps and a sliver of 2D sonar.
The compartment between the seats is home to a variety of different items including a scale, sunglasses and much more.
Wagner keeps a wide variety of different Waterland Sunglasses in the boat.
He keeps different lens colors on hand at all times for different light conditions.
A peek into the 921 Elite livewells.
The back compartment behind the passenger’s seat is home to more tackle. This includes both soft plastics as well as hard baits.
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The back compartment behind the driver’s seat is home to even more soft plastics as well as a Plano bag full of frogs.
At the Upper Mississippi River, the frog is always going to be a player so he has plenty of Berkley Swamp Lord frogs on hand.
A look at one of his favorite colors of the Swamp Lord — Bone.
A darker frog like the Maverick color was a player for him at the Mississippi River.
On to the battery well.
Wagner relies on Powerhouse Lithium Batteries to keep his boat powered.
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A big thumbs up for the performance of his 250-horsepower Yamaha VMAX SHO outboard and Minn Kota Raptors.
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Thanks for the tour, Emil!

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