I've inherited a 12' small fishing boat without an outboard motor, but has a trolling motor. I live on a small 55 acre lake. Can I expect the trolling motor with an adequate battery to be up to the task of bass fishing the perimeter of the lake?

Depends on battery size and trolling motor.

I already assumed those points, I'm trying to understand from a fishing perspective of different bass fishing techniques, what are the possible shortcomings of using a trolling motor without having an outboard motor?
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In Texas wind, you will want power to spare on the trolling motor thrust rating, especially if you are over 190lbs.
Always wear a PFD and have a paddle back up.

CCTX, I agree with those points as I am an experienced kayak fisherman. I don't see a lot different fishing techniques between the two types of fishing, but needed to see if I was missing something.

I've gone pretty much all day with a digital Minn Kota 45# and a deep cycle group 27 on a two man 8ft plastic boat.

Absolutely. I fish Wheeler Branch for 4-6 hours out of a 12 foot aluminum boat with a 55 lb thrust TM and a group 27 deep cycle and still have plenty of juice left. (Wheeler Branch is 180 surface acres BTW).

Not really sure what you are looking for regarding techniques. Sitting upright in a boat gives you better perspective for sight fishing, and the height allows you to pitch or flip. Possible shortcomings would be getting stranded in the middle due to a dead battery. Always take a paddle with you as a backup.

My guess is that with the existing battery, you will not be able to power completely around the perimeter your 55 acre Lake without stopping and if using only maximum speed- without running out of power. That might be a good way to test what you have in the existing system, if you have another way of getting back. But That is not the same thing as bass fishing with it's stops and starts, which should last longer- especially with a new battery.

Besides the size of the trolling motor and Battery, there other factors- and person-to-person experience can vary widely, just like with any electric vehicle.

- the greater the total time spent at maximum power, the exponentially poorer will be the overall performance for remaining battery's capacity, range and speed (see Peukert equation).

- after around half of a fully charged battery's capacity is used, the maximum speed performance of the TM will be noticeably degraded.

- most new lead batteries increase in power slightly each time until around 50 Cycles is reached, then they decrease in power slightly each time after that until they become unusable.

- cold weather can degrade the overall performance of a lead battery severely if it is not kept warm.

Bill years ago I used to spend the entire day on a 100 acre lake in a 14 Jon boat with a $79 walmart special trolling motor and an old battery removed from one our irrigation pump motors(old Chrysler slant 6's).I remember running the battery all the way down maybe twice..............this is why I always packed oars.You should be fine

I have a 14 Jon boat with a 31 marine battery and it will run all day while fishing the shore. It will run wide open for about 4 miles. The age of the battery will make a big difference on how far you can go. For all day trips or very long runs, I will take 2 batteries. My maximum speed is just over 3 mph.

Thanks to all of you for giving such good input. I can now work out a plan for the lake. I usually only go out for 2-3 hours at a time. Next project will be installing a solar system in the boathouse to recharge the battery and for an electric fileting knive.

Have a great fishing fall this year.

Might give you some ideas for the solar system

Remember as long as you are on a private lake you don't need TX numbers but if you go to public waters you will need them.

With Texas wind you need to over do the trolling motor. My Tracker 175 had a little 40 lb edge coming from the factory. I switched to an 80 lb motor after I was blown into the bank on a windy day. Better to over do the motor than suffer the consequences.