deadkitty
Well-known member
After using the snot out of my 12' valco and pretty much modding it to be the perfect one man fish slaying machine, my family decided they too like to go fishing ....
Unfortunately due to the weight restrictions on my lil' tinny, adding 200+ lbs really dragged down the experience. While still fun, I became concerned with safety especially when even the mid size wakes came rolling through. One big wave over the bow and the "Good Enough" would be sleeping with the fishes.
So with a sad heart she is being sent to Ye olde Craigslist.
But the good news is, I get to start again and take all the knowledge I gained from my first big project and use it to go at a bigger platform. The combination of safety issues with the small boat and the fact that I just moved to a city on some big water (Columbia River) , I'm excited to have something to go chase those salmon in.
So here she is. Craigslist find for $900. Came with an electric start 25hp 1984 evinrude. Tilt lock is broken. But started right up. The transom is shot, and will need replaced immediately. Galvanized ezloader trailer is in decent shape, but the bunk mounts are rusted out. It is also about 3 feet too short, so I will need to extend it for maneuverability and safety. Lights are also gonna need to be replaced. The rest of the boat is in good order.
Here's my plan of attack:
- Replace transom
- Fix trailer (bunks,lights,length, maybe bearings)
Then on to the fun stuff:
I saw this exact boat on CL with a mod already and I really like the aft layout:
Nice open flat space toward the rear.
Definitely going to add that in, it'll give large storage areas on both sides as well as good fish fighting maneuverability. I plan on using aluminum square tubing and rivets this time around for framing.
At some point, probably next summer, a new paint job is in order. Will probably use coat-it to seal in the rivets. I'm also not a huge fan of the white and light blue.
I'm not 100% sure what I will do with the bow yet. But I will need to reinforce the cap so my 80lb terrova doesn't rip right off.
I will likely put the dual batteries for it in the bottom of the bow space (good to balance weight when I'm by myself) then a storage space above the batteries for life vests etc.
I plan on installing downriggers to each side, interior lighting, Bimini top transferred from my previous boat, possibly a stereo. I will once again rock my humminbird helix 5 SI at the tiller and my garmin echo 200 at the bow.
She's definitely gonna go crabbing and bay fishing, so any tips on what I might want to add for such purposes would be much appreciated.
One thing I was considering, in my head it sounds like a lot of fun, but not sure on the practicality. I was thinking of adding a side or center console. My concern is that it might take up all that awesome new space I added by getting a bigger boat, lol. Is it too much of a space killer? Are there ways to make the footprint smaller than a traditional console. I see benefit as far as moving visibility forward, better weight distribution. But not sure it'd be worth the loss of deck space and might be a pain to work around when fighting a fish.
Anyway, TLDR... "Many hours of work yet to done..."