Check out the lakes that your are going to be fishing on and make sure they are going to be OK with 2 stroke motors. More and more lakes are not allowing the 2 strokes. I agree with the other guys, the more motor you can safely put on your boat the better. I've fished on a 14 footer with a 9.9 Mercury for years and on one lake it takes at least 45 minutes at full speed to get to "the spot". That is with two guys and gear, add another guy and you might as well use oars. Alright its not that bad but its close, especially when you're racing some bass boat to the same spot.