Inside Elite Boats: Cory Johnston

Take an inside look at Cory Johnston’s Ranger 520R bass boat powered by a 4-stroke 250 horsepower Mercury outboard.

Johnston has ran a Ranger bass boat for many years as a professional.

The Canadian pro had just come off the water on Day 2 of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River.

The bow of the boat is home to a Garmin Force Trolling Motor.

Johnston’s trolling motor houses a Garmin LiveScope transducer.

Johnston runs two Garmin EchoMAP Ultra 126SV units at the bow of the boat. One unit is used strictly for LiveScope while the other is used for mapping and traditional 2D sonar.

Both of Johnston’s Power-Pole switches are positioned to the left of his trolling motor pedal.

The 520R has a large front deck, making it easy for the Canadian pro to have a number of rods on the front deck, yet plenty of room to fish.

A closer look at the lineup of rods that got playing time at the Upper Mississippi River.

Johnston also mixed in a couple of spinning rods.

Despite the fact that Johnston was just coming off the water after a day of Elite Series competition, his center compartment was still relatively organized with Bass Mafia boxes.

…

Johnston shows off the new SPRO CJ Smasher worm that he and his brother Chris helped design. This bait has helped both Johnston brothers in a short period of time.

Despite having room for plenty more, Johnston typically keeps around 15 rods in the rod locker during competition.

The rod locker is extremely deep which allows him to store a ton of rods if necessary.

The large compartment on the starboard side of the boat is relatively empty with the exception of a few items like a throw buoy, camera mount and a spare lifejacket.

The smaller compartment next to the console serves as a day box.

Johnston keeps jig trailers and other soft plastics in the box.

The 520R has a giant cooler for snacks and drinks.

Both sides of the cooler feature slots for tools like scissors and pliers.

…

He keeps a variety of items in the console between the passenger and driver seat including a scale and fizzing tool.

One thing that was mentioned is how big and comfortable the seats are in his Ranger 520R.

Johnston’s console is home to two more Garmin EchoMAP Ultra 126SV units. One unit is used for mapping while the other is used for side imaging and 2D sonar.

Johnston’s 520R features Ranger’s RIDE system which allows him to control almost anything on the boat from the console with this simple touch screen.

One thing that is extremely important to Johnston is his GeigerTec Marine graph mounts. Given that he fishes giant bodies of water like Lake Ontario on the regular, having graph mounts that won’t fall short is a must.