1st fishing trip of the year

Well I finally got the boat on the water after its winter slumber. Went up to Depere WI for some early season walleyes. I have my first major tournament in two weeks so I needed to make sure everything was in good working order. The boat is a 2011 Puma FTD with a 250 ProXS with a 26 Fury. I put a 5 gallon Kool Ice cooler in the center front compartment for my minnows. The boat was loaded with a full tournament load. Every compartment was full and you could not get another drop in the gas or oil tanks. Livewells were empty. Holeshot was good (not great) and top end was 76.4mph. I played with the jack plate a little but is was cold (45 degrees) so we only made a few passes. This was on old 87 gas and I am sure that is costing me a little mph. I was hoping for 78 and I believe that new gas will put me there. This gas was over 3 months old.This was my first actual fishing trip out of the boat. It handled great and it is a real joy to fish from. Very stable and tons of room. We managed around 20 walleyes and had a lot of fun.My biggest beef with this boat is that it needs a 52″ shaft trolling motor. I am getting an extension put on in the next week or so but will not be able to open the rod locker once completed. I know I brought this up last year when I first picked up the boat but it really bugs me. I am not sure how you guys fish with those short shafted bow mounts. Even with it all the way down it was out of the water constantly and this was on a river. Having the lid so big is nice but I would much rather have it 6″ shorter and be able to put a 52″ on without any interference.I did get a bunch of compliments and a few even noticed the red motor stripe and “had to get one”. I love the boat even more after finally getting to fish from it and glad the first fish was the right kind. I forgot the camera or I would post some pics.