Nate T
New member
So a few years ago I bought this 14' boat off a friend of mine with dreams of fishing on weekends for anything and everything. Well due to another friend of mine, I have been bitten by the bass bug and have almost solely focused on that with the exception of the odd musky adventure.
I have been a member of this site for some time now and love all the ways that people imagine and build their rigs. I have been using this site as inspiration for my build but I fear that the short Canadian bass season has rushed my build from trying to make a work of art to just get it on the water and catch fish.
So about my build,
It is an early 80's 14' vee that my friends father used to build their cottage on an island in the Georgian bay area. It is as rough as they come with leaks and everything but I have tried to make it water tight.
Initially this boat was used on Lake St. Clair to go bass fishing where in its first iteration it received all new transom lumber, fresh paint, new wood seat covers and a 1980 20hp merc tiller to make it go fast. This was a great combo but did not do what I wanted, so the boat sat for a year and a half until a few weeks ago I started over.
Grand plans of a carpeted deck with plenty of storage and all aluminum frame went out the window for a plywood deck and 2x4 framing. The motor guide trolling motor bought off a friend mounted up front like it was meant to be there and the wood deck sits on top of the old bench seats. The middle seat has the aluminum cover removed for battery storage. Again a new transom was made with wheels bolted to it this time to ease the stress on the hull while the winch on my trailer pulls it up the hill.
As you can see my boat is not that pretty nor will it ever be but it gets me into places that a lot of local guys cannot go and gets me some nice fish.
I will be improving this as I go on, building storage, a live well and a rear casting deck for my co angler.
I have been a member of this site for some time now and love all the ways that people imagine and build their rigs. I have been using this site as inspiration for my build but I fear that the short Canadian bass season has rushed my build from trying to make a work of art to just get it on the water and catch fish.
So about my build,
It is an early 80's 14' vee that my friends father used to build their cottage on an island in the Georgian bay area. It is as rough as they come with leaks and everything but I have tried to make it water tight.
Initially this boat was used on Lake St. Clair to go bass fishing where in its first iteration it received all new transom lumber, fresh paint, new wood seat covers and a 1980 20hp merc tiller to make it go fast. This was a great combo but did not do what I wanted, so the boat sat for a year and a half until a few weeks ago I started over.
Grand plans of a carpeted deck with plenty of storage and all aluminum frame went out the window for a plywood deck and 2x4 framing. The motor guide trolling motor bought off a friend mounted up front like it was meant to be there and the wood deck sits on top of the old bench seats. The middle seat has the aluminum cover removed for battery storage. Again a new transom was made with wheels bolted to it this time to ease the stress on the hull while the winch on my trailer pulls it up the hill.
As you can see my boat is not that pretty nor will it ever be but it gets me into places that a lot of local guys cannot go and gets me some nice fish.
I will be improving this as I go on, building storage, a live well and a rear casting deck for my co angler.
