as others have mentioned but i forgot to post about is boat speed. you really need some type of fish finder/gps. the gps will give your speed. early in the yr you'll need to run in the 1.5 range with cranks and raise speed as water temps rise. with spoons in warm weather you can run anywhere from 2 to 3 mph and catch fish. depending on where you fish will let you choose how you fish. you can start with cranks on boards or use snap weights on the cranks to get them deeper in the western basin. you wont need tt's for getting cranks down but will need them for spoons or harnesses.

my first piece of advice would be to fill a few open seats before hitting it on your own. but you can start with 2 boards and 2 cranks out each side. if you want more lines in the water you can add 2 cranks off each corner. or you can go to 4 boards 2 off each side and a crank off each side. as the water warms then you can think about spoons or harnesses. to get them down on the boards you can go with inline weights from rednekoutfitters.com they have a depth chart. also if you move east to deeper water you might want to think about a dipsy off each side with inline weights on your boards.

don't forget the open seats!!!