Northwest Fishing Reports

This is a boat similar to the one my family owns: http://www.richardmargolis.com/portfoli ... dakLOJ.jpg

I want a bass boat (who doesn't) and want to know if there is a chance that I could transform this wobbly piece into a bass boat (storage cubbys, livewell, trolling motor mount, carpeted dtanding deck, etc.). Is there any way?!?!?!?!

All I can say is anything is possible if you put your mind to it, so nothing is out of the question. good luck if that's what you want to do.

It could be done Trav,..no doubt,..but with the money you put into the renovation of the current boat why not just look around for a used Bass-Boat? I mean if you want 2 do it right and make it functional as a Bass-Boat your gonna spend some time and $$ doing so,..so in my opinion maybe sell the current one and save up a few more $$ for a real Bass-Boat,..it is what you REALLY want anyways,..yes? You might be suprised 2 see how much people are selling their toys for as soon as the new year starts!

BB

Both good points. Like BassFanatic said, you could if you really wanted to. But like BB said....boat renovations get expensive quick (floors, carpets, seats, livewells....ect.).

I would have to go with BB on this one TravisRush. It's hard to make a boat something it's not. And although that looks like an EXCELLENT boat to me, it is not a bass boat. It would take tons of work to get it close, but even then, it still wouldn't be a "true" bass boat. (just look at the hull design)

With that said....it doesn't mean you can't catch bass out of it. Remember the old saying??

The boat doesn't catch fish, the angler does.


I would say save a bit and look around for a decent "starter" boat. Or Hell....Just Finance A Brand New 40,000 Nitro!!! :bounce: :money:

Just my thoughts.

I personally would do this project in a heartbeat:



You could build what are typically called stern sheets aft by just adding some framing around the sides of 1x2, building thwarts across the boat and around the outside to make a nice little casting deck aft, and fill the hole in the middle with a removable plywood sheet.

Put a section of deck over the first 2-3 feet of bow, depending on her length. Put some dri-deck or build some sort of lightweight apparatus to hold your goodies off the sole forward, then take a piece of blue tarp and some snaps, cut to shape, and drape/snap it from the deck to the sole, making a light and weather proof storage area forward.

I wouldn't carpet the decks personally, just extra weight and your hooks get stuck in it. Instead, do a bedliner or no-skid paint coating. Easier to maintain in a good looking fashion, cheaper, more durable.

The electric motor will be a clamp-on deal on the transom. No issue there.

Do a portable livewell. These can be purchased from retailers like Cabelas, built of plywood (gonna need some fiberglassing skills for that), or the cheapest approach is a 20ish gallon cooler. Get an aerating baitwell pump from a sporting goods store, hook up some battery wires and a switch, then hook water tubing to the inlet and another to the cooler's drain. Make sure the drain goes through the hull somewhere so the water can flow out freely. Its all very well explained in the literature that comes with the pump, but if you need help I can run you through it.

Piece of cake, and could probably be done for just a few hundred bucks.

E

Gisteppo wrote:I personally would do this project in a heartbeat:

E knows his stuff....Just do it!

Chris

Remember that the higher you are in a boat like this (casting platform with seats), then the stability starts to become an issue. I remember seeing a boat with some PVC tubes mounted to the sides (6") with an endcap on the ends, and a removeable cleanout plug on the other. These were attached to the outside of the boat to keep it a bit more stable. Just an idea....We took a picture and were going to photoshop some flames on the end of the tubes, but just never got around to doing this.....

I would say if you think you can do it than go for it! A make-over like that always come with lots of compliments, and that makes you feel good knowing the hard work you put in to it.

Personally I tried to transform my 12 aluminum v-hull into a small bass-like boat. Not to change your mind for you but I ended up with a new bass boat instead. Let's just say I am not good with building things!

Brianh wrote:Remember that the higher you are in a boat like this (casting platform with seats), then the stability starts to become an issue. I remember seeing a boat with some PVC tubes mounted to the sides (6") with an endcap on the ends, and a removeable cleanout plug on the other. These were attached to the outside of the boat to keep it a bit more stable. Just an idea..

Walker Bay boats have some sort of system like that for stability reasons. My friend picked up a 8 foot dingy and I saw it when looking at their site.

You absolutely can convert a V-bottom jon boat into a bassboat. I have converted my 14' v-bottom boat into a bassboat last year and have even taken it out on Banks Lake and works great. I built a platform on the front and back as well as built storage into the front deck. I carpeted it myself and I also mounted a bow mounted trolling motor (this was tricky)with a on boardcharger connected. I will take pics and post them up so you can see sometime this weekend. It handles awesome on small bodies of water, you just have to watch your trolling speeds when turning (don't go full speed or you will get a little woobly). All in all it ran me about 1K to do and that included purchasing the trolling motor, battery and on board charger.

kickerfish wrote:You absolutely can convert a V-bottom jon boat into a bassboat. I have converted my 14' v-bottom boat into a bassboat last year and have even taken it out on Banks Lake and works great. I built a platform on the front and back as well as built storage into the front deck. I carpeted it myself and I also mounted a bow mounted trolling motor (this was tricky)with a on boardcharger connected. I will take pics and post them up so you can see sometime this weekend. It handles awesome on small bodies of water, you just have to watch your trolling speeds when turning (don't go full speed or you will get a little woobly). All in all it ran me about 1K to do and that included purchasing the trolling motor, battery and on board charger.

Did you paint it black if so I think I saw you on ST. Clair and it was a very nice make-over. Totally what I would have done to my small boat if I had the skills!

BMD, I have seen that boat as well however my boat is blue with the carpet to match. As soon as I get it uncovered I will take a few pics and post them. I do fish St Clair often as well as American and Scequalichew on Fort Lewis. Have to get it oput this weekend to get the Stabil running through the system.

There are a number of website which show photos of how people have modified jon boats and v-hulls into "bass" boats.

A good place to start is http://www.myjonboat.com/joel.htm

If you google "jon boat modifications" you should get a bunch of hits which may give you some ideas and hopefully an occassional v-hull photo.

Another place to check is calfishing.com. Here are some photos of a tri-hull mod http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/mem ... toms/rigs/
and a discussion about things to think about during the tri-hull mod
http://www.calfishing.com/dc/dcboard.ph ... full&page=.
Somewhere in the discussion is a link to a v-hull mod by Ken A. There maybe other mods lurking in the calfishing.com forums and/or photo gallery.

Having a "real" bass boat can definitely be advantageous -- especially if you want to fish larger lakes and boogie from one spot to the next. You could actually fish in bass tournaments!

I'm pretty much limited to small & medium-sized lakes, and the little bass raider is fine for now. It's very stable with a max weight capacity of 600lbs. Not too shabby for a 10 footer -- and it fits in the bed of a little Toyota truck, no problem-o. :thumleft:

kickerfish is right. My brother has a 14' Smokercraft that does quite nicely as a bass boat. The front section from the nose to the second to last bench has been decked over with plywood, the rounded floor between the last and second to last bench has had a piece of plywood placed down to "flatten" the floor out, and a pedestal seat was placed up in front. The rear seat is on an adjustable hight bracket, so he can drop the seat when under way and raise it when we're fishing. He put a bow mount electric trolling motor on the front with foot control and fishfinders front and rear. There is no live well, but there is room for one. It's pushed with a 15hp short shaft Evinrude equipped with a dol-fin and jumps up on plane easily. The gas tank and battery sit right in front of the transom and the area under the deck has an access door that serves as storage. All the plywood has been covered in marine carpet. It's perfect for 2 people and we've fished Snake, Yakima, and Columbia rivers quite frequently without any problems. It's not a huge boat, so storing it and launching it were very easy. My brother isn't the epitome of grace and he's never fallen over board, so it's not that unstable. When I was in highschool I could dang near jump around on the deck without feeling unstable (doubt I could do that now). Yeah, you wouldn't want to be out in heavy winds, but we never had any problems during all the summer trips we took. I think with any additional weight, you would definitely need a trailer, so if you don't have one keep that in mind. However, totally doable!