“Must Haves”

If you are on a budget… I would skip things like hyd jack plates, stereos, hot foot, power pole, etc. You need a decent graph up front and on the console. Forget wheel upgrades, fancy color options, etc. Get a good trolling motor and set of batteries. Buy an engine that has a service center local that you can trust and works on that brand… (Im a merc fan). The blinker trim you mentioned is a good option actually because it is a cheap option and if your throttle trim switch goes out then you have a backup. A sabre will work fine but for most big water I would fish in at least a classic or something bigger. The puma advantage elitte might be something you want to check out…

Mojorig has it right, buy one that you can afford to fish out of, I know guys that have bought every bait made, have great equipment and a fancy rig, but they never fish except for tournament day. Then they wonder why they didnt catch them. Good batteries, a dependable motor, trolling motor and livewell pumps, then go fish, you can add anything else as you go.