If you're serious, you should have six boats.  No really I'm not kidding, six boats is the ideal number of boats to seriously pursue trophy bass.  The six boats are a float tube, kickboat, kayak, pond prowler, jon boat and bass boat.  If you're not from California, you may think its nuts to want so many boats, but you have to understand that in California there are so many rules and restrictions on each of the lakes that if you want to be able to fish all of the available trophy bass waters effectively, you need all of the above mentioned boats.  You'll also want to have a high power transom mount trolling motor and a pair of those very expensive but very light marine batteries for use on lakes where you have to rent a boat. 

Now unless you are the Donald Trump of bass fishing and have a wife who doesn't mind you hogging the entire garage, you aren't going to own six boats.  The point I'm making is that having the best fishing craft for your lake is to your advantage.  The more lakes you can cover and the more fish you can put your bait in front of, the better.

Gas motor wise, the best deal going right now is 4-stroke.  4-stroke motors are going to spook the fish less when trolling or approaching an area.  I can't tell you how many times I see a guy pull up on a spot with a super loud 2 stroke motor and even though they might stop 200 feet out, the spot is burned.  They may not think they burned the spot because they might pull up and catch several small fish, but if you want to give yourself every advantage and get close to huge fish that hear motors whizzing by daily, a 4-stroke is only way to go.  You can get whatever brand you prefer, just listen to how much noise it makes before you buy.

In the trolling motor department, there are two major brands to select from, Minn Kota and Motorguide.  Which one you pick is personal preference.  But some things to consider are: 

Does the motor make a clunking noise when you are going fast then suddenly let off?  Clunking noises are bad. 

Does the motor have a long enough shaft length for your boat?  A short shaft in rough water means your motor is going to be popping in and out of the water.  Big bass really like to bite on windy choppy days when this is likely to happen.  Noises that sound like a blender going full speed are bad when you're trying to get bites.

Does your motor turn quickly?  We all know what it's like to see a big fish and think STOP STOP STOP.  Being able to reverse direction quickly might get you an extra bite from time to time.

Let's touch also on accessories.  A few accessories you might consider are:

A good fish finder to paint the bottom and the fish as clearly as possible.  Fish finder in front and back if possible on a regular boat. 

An Aquaview type underwater camera to learn underwater structure and fish holding locations. 

Two good anchors to hold you in the wind on a nasty day and an anchor retrieval system to save time when you have to pull up.

Alligator clips to hold your boat to trees, tullies, docks etc so you can be extra sneaky.

A gps to mark open water spots.

A digital camera and video camera to take pictures at the lake when the water is low.