Inside Elite Boats: Chris Johnston

Take a look into Chris Johnston’s 2021 Ranger 520L powered by a 250 horsepower Mercury Pro XS!

Johnston was getting tackle rigged for Championship Sunday at Lake Fork but was more than happy to show us around his 2021 rig.

This is Johnston’s second season using the Garmin Force trolling motor.

The Force trolling motor is paired up with a Garmin Livescope transducer. “Everyone knows the Livescope is a necessity now,” said Johnston.

At the bow, Johnston is running dual-mounted, 10-inch Garmin EchoMap Ultras. His electronics are held by a GeigerTec mount.

The GeigerTec mount is a necessity on Johnston’s boat. The mount is completely bolted in which makes it a great mount for big water like he frequently fishes up north.

A mount that is not firm can result in damaged or even lost electronics when battling big waves.

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The Gamin Force foot pedel.

As you can tell, Johnston’s Ranger boat holds plenty of tackle.

One adjustment Johnston makes to his Ranger is cutting the rod tubes out of the rod locker. This allows him to carry a few extra rods. One thing he added was that having Rod Gloves is a necessity if you are going to take the tubes out of the rod locker.

The center compartment is home to a plethora of Bass Mafia tackleboxes.

Unlike many of his competitors, Johnston keeps a large amount of tackle in his boat during the event. “I usually load my boat up in practice with everything I think I’ll need,” Johnston said. “It stays in there during the tournament. I don’t try to lighten it up for an extra mile per hour.”

The small storage box behind the driver’s side rod locker is home to more tackle. Mostly of the hard bait variety.

Another thing Johnston keeps in the side compartment is a bag full of jig trailers or anything soft plastic that he thinks he will be using a lot.

Johnston was excited to have caught a fish on a frog at Lake Fork, so he had to show off is frog box.

A Spro Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog 60 is Johnston’s favorite frog.

At the console, he runs dual 12-inch Garmin EchoMap Ultra’s. Once again, mounted by a GeigerTec mount.

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Johnston keeps a Power-Pole switch on both sides of the console for convenience.

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The standard keypad that comes on a Ranger boat.

A very clean look for his console setup.

Johnston keeps a variety of different items in the compartment between the seats.

Unlike many Elite Series pros, Johnston chooses not to run a Hot Foot pedal. He is used to having to make long runs and feels as if it’s more comfortable for those runs.

Johnston tries to keep the back of the boat loaded down with his heavier terminal tackle.

“Lithium Pros batteries are so light that it takes out a lot of weight out in the back, so I try to add some of that weight back to the back of the boat.”

The adjacent compartment has more tackle along with a couple of life jackets.

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On to the business in the back.

Johnston runs two 36-volt Lithium Pros batteries in parallel to give the maximum amount of running power.

Then Johnston runs two more 12-volt Lithium Pros. “I use a lot of power running four graphs and Livescope,” he said. “I put the extra one in there just in case. Johnston also accredits the new Power-Pole Charge system for making sure everything is always fully charged.