ReedFish

A lot of good ideas here. Getting your motor set on the "right" speed for the wind or current is important too. A lot of people have the speed too high and are constantly adjusting right-left-right-left, a slower speed will help with this as long as you can stay on the pedal and make short adjustments. Like others have said, use the current/wind to your advantage to stay on the fishing location.

yep, pretty limited with only one battery. MKota has the edge option which would suit you well for short trips. However, you may run out of juice with that boat on a long fishing day in wind or current. Edge is a good choice if you can't find room for 2 batteries.

Not sure of any bass clubs up in that area, but a good place to look is the Iowa DNR website. Click fishing and search events for the area you are looking for. OKI is a very popular place for open tournaments you can jump in at any time.