Carl Jocumsen just picked up his boat after having it rigged for the 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series season. If you have ever wondered what goes into rigging a boat for Elite Series competition this gallery covers it all, from start to finish.Rewind to a few days earlier. Jocumsen’s unrigged boat is inside Hennessey Outdoor Electronics, in Dayton, Tenn., near Chickamauga Lake.
For 14 years, Hennessey Outdoor Electronics has built a solid reputation among professional anglers for its expertise in creating the highest-quality rigging solutions for marine electronics and accessories. The custom shop does rigging for many top tour level pros. The shop uses an integrated approach in tying in all the accessories to perform at their optimal level to meet the demands of tour-level competition. Sales and service are specialties, and customers can get customized rigging layouts at any level, from start to finish, all under the same roof.
The shop offers all major electronics brands, related rigging components and all of it specifically customized for each customer’s needs. The shop environment is transparent, as you can see from the window located at the lobby. Inside is Jocumsen’s boat awaiting the rigging job. The shop is busy, and a full crew of professional riggers are working long hours to get boats ready for the tour season. That includes the likes of Gerald Swindle, who recently picked up his boat.
Meet owner Brig Hennessey, who will join his crew in going all-in for the rigging of Jocumsen’s boat.The shop is spacious enough to handle multiple jobs, with an assembly workbench lining the rear wall, where the specialty of the business is made in house. More on that to come. Jocumsen’s ride for the season is this Falcon F20 Predator spanning 20 feet, 2 inches from bow to stern, with a 99-inch beam, 50-gallon fuel capacity and made with 100% composite construction. It rides on a custom tandem-axle trailer with disc brakes, a swing tongue, LED trailer and backup lights and much more.
The boat is powered by a Yamaha VMAX SHO VF250 outboard. The newest model features new alternator power output, up to 70 gross amps. “That now means twice the amps are going back into our batteries, which is huge for the power needs of multiple electronics, a trolling motor and all the related accessories we run,” Jocumsen said. This was the scene at 9 a.m. when the crew began pulling together all the tools and related parts for the rigging job. Following a quick lunch, the pros would work until after dark. That’s Jocumsen in the blue hoodie, recording video and taking photos to be uploaded to his Instagram and Facebook pages.
Here is the most important area of the shop, and what influenced Hennessey to start his industry-leading business. When multiple graphs and other accessories run on the same wiring system, voltage dips and processors slow down. Loading maps, dropping waypoints and other features become less effective.The solution is creating dedicated wiring harnesses to keep electronics running at optimum performance for long days on the water, and without compromising the power requirements of trolling motors, accessories and starting power. The results are the spools of heavy-gauge wiring on this wall and the assembly table.The power switches, circuit breaker systems and other small components are designed by Hennessey and made to his specifications, with the final assembly happening on this bench.
Here is the complete wiring harness custom made specifically for Jocumsen’s boat. A 6-gauge wire runs the entire length of the boat, from the batteries to the bow for three electronics units, a trolling motor and other high-powered accessories. In the middle are two 10-guage wiring harnesses for the dual Humminbird Apex 13 units at the console.The black cable with positive and negative connectors to the battery includes a master breaker box that Jocumsen can operate from the rear compartment.“This harness was built specifically for my needs, including the main power switch with a 60-amp breaker that makes it easier for me to troubleshoot any problems by turning it on and off.”
The 6-gauge wiring from stern to bow provides a dedicated power source for the needs of the three Humminbird APEX 13 units, the Minn Kota Ultrex and the Humminbird MEGA 360 Imaging and the Humminbird TargetLock. All of those components are wired through this breaker box that features dual fuses (operating and spare) for quick changes if needed. The box will be mounted inside the port storage compartment on the front deck. Everything on this rack will be installed as part of Jocumsen’s custom rigging job, including accessories from Humminbird, Minn Kota, T-H Marine and Scosche. This season, Jocumsen will run Humminbird Apex 13 units. “They have a faster processor, which I wanted to utilize for the MEGA LIVE Imaging,” Jocumsen said. “Humminbird gives you those choices to meet your needs and budget.”
APEX also has HDMI in/out ports for connecting to a recording device. “I can record and share footage from the APEX, including my catches, to my social media pages, and use for future tournament research”Hennessey also specializes in custom mounts specific to the needs of an angler. This is the bow mount for the three Humminbird APEX units. Laser-engraved into the mounts is the Hennessey logo and Jocumsen’s “Fear My Heart” brand.
Hennessey recognized the larger, three-unit brackets can obstruct access to flush-mounted bow switches, such as the outboard trim and tilt. The solution is this remote switch on the mount at floor level, allowing operation using the foot. The mount and three APEX 13 units get test mounted to the bow for fit and trim inspection.
At the console is another custom-made mount specifically designed to fit the Falcon F20 Predator and dual APEX 13 units. Like the bow mount, the console features branding for Jocumsen, Falcon Boats and Hennessey Outdoor Electronics. This custom-made switch enables Jocumsen to cut power specifically to his electronics as a foolproof way of saving the settings for use the next day.
Meanwhile, the console wiring harness install is underway. This Minn Kota accessory mount is used to increase the effect of lift assist for anglers who choose to mount both Humminbird MEGA Live Imaging, TargetLock and MEGA 360 Imaging to their trolling motor. The bracket serves as a direct replacement for the existing Ultrex bracket.
The heavy-duty 6-gauge wiring runs from the battery compartment to the bow is underway.
Here is the circuit breaker box shown previously as part of the bow install inside of the front deck port storage compartment. “I can easily access it, and there are spare fuses for each circuit,” Jocumsen said. The cables connected to the various units are easily identified for rigging and maintenance. ...
The front mounting and rigging job is finishing up. Using this hand-drawn diagram, Hennessey collaborated with Jocumsen on his preference for the Humminbird Ethernet cable system as part of his One Boat Network setup. ...
Another Hennessey custom mount is designed for a closer, tighter fit between the TargetLock, MEGA Live transducers and the Ultrex trolling motor shaft. ...The rigging work is in full swing at the stern, where the Minn Kota 8-foot Raptor shallow water anchors are about to be rigged.
The Raptors feature Active Anchoring, automatically anchoring again if wind and waves un-anchor and move the boat, with the Raptor also part of the One Boat Network allowing integration with Humminbird and Minn Kota units. This T-H Marine ATLAS Hydraulic Jack Plate with a 10-inch setback is Jocumsen’s preference for matching lift and performance with his Yamaha outboard. ...
With the Raptors installed, more custom accessories are being mounted to them by the crew. “I never worry about plugging in, removing and storing a stern/anchor light,” said Jocumsen. “It’s permanently mounted to the Raptor.”Like other custom mounts, these feature Jocumsen’s branding.
The stern light is wired directly to the navigation switch on the Falcon.Next, the pumps get installed inside the battery compartment. Hennessey’s high end, custom-made wiring plates add protection and durability to the entry point into the battery compartment.
...This Minn Kota Precision On-Board Battery Charger features five banks, ideal for Jocumsen’s setup. He uses two banks for the X2Power AGL Marine batteries and three banks for the X2Power Lithium Marine batteries. The rear compartment of the Falcon is spacious and provides ample room for five batteries, the on-board charger, the Raptor pumps, wiring and in the middle, a spare prop.
On the console is a Scosche MagMount Pro that instantly locks in place a smartphone, proven by Jocumsen to keep it secure even on rides across big water, choppy waves and inclement weather. ...Another Scosche accessory is more necessary than convenient. Bassmaster Elite Series pros are required to operate a GoPro from takeoff to check-in during competition days as part of tournament rules integrity. That presents a challenge, as the camera requires an external power source to run it all day long. This is the typical setup mounted at the stern of the boat.
The solution is this Scosche PowerUp Portable Power Station, equipped with a 32,000 mAh/115Wh lithium-ion battery that includes the USB-C connectors required for the camera. Jocumsen uses a Scosche STRIKELINE lightning cable to get full power to the camera. Done in-house, customers have the option to add laser-engraved logos to the available premium foam flooring used exclusively by Hennessey. Jocumsen opts for flooring throughout, including the cockpit, compartments, deck areas and the trailer. ...
...Jocumsen mentioned to Hennessey about his desire to have a work light to illuminate the cockpit installed at the stern and this is the result. Hennessey designed and made an LED light mounted to the Raptor with an accessory switch at the console.
The crew is all hands on deck as the final rigging gets underway. Back in Jocumsen's shop, soon to come is the final task of having the boat wrapped.
