Inside Elite Boats: John Crews

Bassmaster Elite Series veteran John Crews poses with his 2021 Bass Cat Eyra, powered by a 250 horsepower Mercury Pro XS outboard.

At the bow of the boat, Crews is running all three major electronics brands.

“I’m running the Garmin LiveScope because it was the first live view that came out,” Crews said. “I plan on adding the Active Target for the Lowrance as well.”

“There’s nothing like the Humminbird 360 imaging, so that’s why I have the Humminbird up front,” said Crews. “Plus, I can have the LakeMaster map up front as well as the Navionics map on the Lowrance.”

Sponsor logos line the inside of the boat as well.

Crews is running a Minn Kota Ultrex in 2021.

Crews originally chose the Ultrex thinking that it would be most compatible with the Humminbird 360 bracket, but he mentioned that they are actually all compatible.

Crews’ full electronics layout at the bow.

One of Crews’ favorite things about his 2021 Bass Cat Eyra is the storage layout on the front deck.

Crews is a huge fan of the coffin lids on his Bass Cat.

“The rod lockers are very big.”

“You can put more rods in this boat than about any other 21-foot boat I’ve ever been in.”

Crews show the Cashion ICON rod he uses for Carolina rigging. It was a bait Crews planned on throwing at the Pickwick Elite event until the water came up.

Crews loads up the driver-side rod locker with all sorts of accessories, including more rods.

Crews never leaves home without his Striker rain gear. “I’ve had them all and this is by far the best I’ve ever used,” Crews said. “We fished in dumping rain at the Tennessee River in Knoxville, and I was as dry as a bone. Not even the cuffs of my sweatshirt were wet.”

One of Crews’ middle compartments is home to an abundance of Missile Bags.

“I designed these bags from scratch. We went through about four different prototypes before we got it how we wanted, but it’s cool because they stand up on their own and they last.”

Crews shows off the world-famous Missile Baits D Bomb.

The center compartment next to his plastics is home to a variety of different hard baits.

Crews uses Spro and Gamakatsu boxes to store his hard baits.

Crews shows off his Spro Little John collection.

Crews’ day box compartment is home to his collection of “lucky lures.” All of his lucky lures have been acquired via friends or family.

“My lucky lures have been in all my Bass Cat boats.”

The step to the front deck also serves as a cooler.

Crews uses a set of T-H Marine non puncturing cull clips during Elite Series competition.

See, they’re non-puncturing!

Bass Cat adds storage underneath the seats, where Crews stores extra tools and various other accessories.

A docking rope is a must have for Crews.

“I try to get in 2,000 calories a day during competition days,” said Crews. “You burn so many calories that if you don’t replenish you’ll end up run down.

Under the driver seat Crews carries a scale as well as other accessories.

At the console, Crews runs a Lowrance Live 12-inch unit and a Humminbird Helix 12. A Bass Boat Technologies mount holds both units in place.

“I really like this mount because it is as solid as a rock,” said Crews. “I have the perfect little gap between graphs that I can peak through if it is raining.”