The right balance?

You want the load to be mid to rear of the boat, too much weight in the front and it will become a snowplow and won't get up on plane. When we used to race flatbottom boats I would even take my gas tank and move it between the rear seat and transom and had nothing in front of me. Got up on plane super fast and could even "bounce" it going down the bayou.

The best way I have found is to have my buddies walk the dike and carry most of the decoys out to the spot, That way me and the dog can get there fast and get a limit before they make it out.

Okay serious now, I always pile way too much on the front of my boat and it does slow me down. As "LL" mentioned keep the load in the mid to rear section if possible. Sometimes it doesn't give you a lot of room to stand when motoring, but it works the best. Also keep your loads evenly balanced, like 2 decoy bags side by side. It makes driving easier too. Now if I could just keep my dog from moving side to side I would be in good shape.

Every boat seems to be a little bit different, and it takes some messing around to get the most out of them. I've found that small surface drives are especially tricky to get balanced just right since they are so sensitive to where the prop sits in the water. Honestly the best way that I've found is to get a GPS and drive around the marsh for a while shifting the load around until you find your best speed. Obviously your boat won't be loaded the same way every time you go out but you can get a good idea of how the load needs to be distributed.