11' Sears Gamefisher

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FishCat

Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Messages
18
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Location
Twin Cities/MN/USA
Hello all!

You have done some amazing things to your boats. I am inspired! Recently, I inherited, what I thought was, a 14' jon boat and decided to mod it out. I've been reading up and doing Internet research and drawing plans; basically getting way ahead of myself. First off, I’m not even mechanically inclined. I own a hammer and a wrench; that’s about it. I currently fish form a little pontoon float boat. Never owned an engine. But I’m a quick learner and pretty determined to see this project through.

So, yesterday, I pull the boat out from under the deck and start measuring. To my surprise, I come up with 11’ long, 36” wide. Oops. It seems that most folks are modding boats in the 14-17’ range. I thought I should re-think my plans. I also thought it was time to seek advice from folks who know what they’re doing. So I signed up here.

It’s an 11’ Sears GameFisher, model #61251S. The tag says it’s rated for 2 passengers at 240lbs, plus a 3hp/40lb motor. I was thinking I might have to scrap the deck plan and go with a raised floor instead. I’m not too worried about storage. No plans for an outboard either, just a trolling motor. I’d love to hear what folks would recommend. Here’s a pic:

d523246a9cf2.jpg
 
Welcome aboard fishcat!

Thanks for joining!

Your boat is perfect for a floor. I would not do anything else to it because of it size. A nice floor and maybe a couple of seats for all day comfort and I think you will be good to go!



Jim
 
A boat that small, I would probably just fit a thin wood floor in between the seats... any extra weight at all will hamper your stability very quickly in a boat that small. I would just consider one of those clamp on seats and a trolling motor and call it good.
 
floor it and put a 10-15hp on it. half the fun of going fishing is running the boat, without an outboard you lose half the fun. but yea, a floor and some transom work shouldn't be too hard for a beginner, woodwork is easy. i don't know how old you are but maybe ask your pappy for help, even I had mine help me with some of the decking.
 
I'm 36 Bub. Ha!

I guess I'm doing this as a learning experience as much as anything else. But I'd like to end up with a craft that I can use to hit up the small lakes all around me here in the Twin Cities.

I've read about folks using some kind of foam under their floors. I don't think I've seen it mentioned on this site though. Would something like that be helpful on my little boat? Does it actually add to its buoyancy? What would "thin wood" be? 1/2 an inch? Or would that even be too heavy?

Now this will really show you how much of a novice I am - what should I use to clean with? I was really surprised the boat came out so clean looking in that picture. The inside is, dingy, to say the least, but the outside is covered in grime. I'm thinking it's dried weeds, or algae maybe?
 
lol ha ha, for some reason it really sounded like you were young to me... well i feel like a jackass. i would pressure wash it, if you dont have a pressure washer, simple green and a stiff brush. 1/2 is pretty light, i would use that. i have 3/4 on my deck but i need weight up front.
 
Welcome abaord mate :D

Love the boat, all tho it may be short, what others have not commented on is the width, thats a perfect 36 width on a short size boat :wink: You will be very confident in it on the water. :)

I still would not raise a deck on it, but if it were mine [-o< I'd put a 1/4 inch floor on it and carpet the intire inside, set me up with all the little fancy knobs and tricks I wanted. If you plan to night fish with it you could have even a better sweet set up with lights, TinBoats has a sponcer here with lights-our on https://www.bluewaterled.com/ :D

I'd get me some nice seats too, I mean nice :mrgreen:

TM or gas is would be the only hang up I would have, love the fun on a gas motor, but love the electric approach a little more :?

Even tho it may be short, you'll make it up in a big way on flooring size and dress ups 8)

Seriuosly sweet boat and keep us posted :D
 
No problem HC! I really appreciate your advise.

And thanks for the encouragement FB. I hadn't thought about carpeting the entire inside. I guess that would help cut down on clanking sounds, but it would make things look a little nicer too. Would I just glue carpet to the sides? I’ll do search for other carpeting posts too.
 
on my boat i glued the carpet down on the sides with3M interior/trim adhesive, in the black tube. that stuff works really good for bonding carpet to aluminum if you want to run the carpet up the sides. but if i were you i would just wrap the carpet around the wood floor real tight and staple it on the bottom side. i don't think more flotation will be necessary unless you have too much weight, which with just a floor and a small outboard you probably wont. but if you do want to put something between the floor, actual flotation foam is the way to go. i think you can get it at any boat store.
 
I'm going to start with a thorough cleaning and probably a repaint to spruce things up; inside and out. Since my inside work will be minimal, maybe I’ll get a little creative with the paint. I'll limit my wood & carpet to a floor, but I think I'll do all 3 sections. Stapled, not glued. I’ll stand on some ¼ ply to see how much I make it bend. I’m hoping I can get away with that. It will depend on how I mount it, I suppose. Clamp on swivel bases for the two benches and a couple of smaller, but cushioned, seats to go on top. Then I can add a few cup holders, a place for pliers, lures, etc. to the sides. I’d be pretty happy with that.

Thanks to everyone who helped me think this project out loud. It's not the most complicated, but it really helped to get this feedback. =D> Thanks again all!
 

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