It really depends on the water. Regardless of big or small, I prefer a V-hull. They track much truer when trolling, especially if the motor is transom mounted.
If you are short on space or money, a tiller boat is hard to beat. They fish bigger without the consoles, so you can buy something smaller and not feel too cramped. Even a 14 footer can do ok. You also get a lot of control with a tiller. The downsides are the ride can be a bit wet in choppy water, long runs just aren’t as comfortable, visibility underway isn’t quite as good, and you tend to have a lower HP rating.
If you fish big water and run long distances, a bigger boat is a must. The longer the boat, the less likely you’ll bow-dive into chop. Big water gets choppy, no way around it. A console boat in the 18-20ft range really shows its benefits when you need to make a long run. I can get up and go from 42 to 45mph and cover a long way in a short amount of time. A 20 mile run isn’t a big deal at all.
As far as electronics, a gps chart/depth/down scan/side scan is really helpful. I have Lowrance units in my boats. I’ve found anything less than an HDS processor can be slow to load on the fly.
