fishnkamp

Boy Wallenpaupack is a great lake. I used to fish if for smallies back in the 90's. What I would do is store the boat at the lake house and put it in when I got there. Put it in once and take it out once during your time there. Doing this you will save money towing it there.Maybe you can get one of those metal roofed carports to store it under.

I would design it like this. I am not sure how much room you have in the transom area. If there is enough room to put a portable 3 gallon or 6 gallon tank I would center it. Then I would get two marine deep cycle batteries and mount one on each side. I would deck over that whole area and mount your seat. That will give you some coverage and you could also lay rods on top, using some of the plastic holders with foam in them. I think they hold four rods. Now I am pretty sure you will be fine pulling out just the middle seat. You could easily make a wood frame and install the plywood over it. That could easily be level with or slightly above the existing floor. Do not use pressure treated 2x4 directly in contact with the aluminum, as Ed found out it reacts and caused lots of little pin holes in the hull. He used something called Azek, it is sorta plastic wood. You also could use untreated 2x4s and paint them first. If you build the floor the way you envision it, it could cover from just in front of your seat right up to the front deck. In fact i think I would make the front deck a tiny bit longer and build a top door to store more stuff, like anchors, life jackets, and a waterproof box to store wallets,keys, phones etc. I would eliminate the middle seat and move dad's seat a few feet behind the the front deck ( behind enough he would have plenty of room for his legs) In the middle area where you removed the center seat you could build two storage boxes say 14 inches long and 12 inches wide to store stuff like tackle. Obviously how large depends on how things layout. I am miles and miles away so I am just going off the pictures, but I am sure you could make it fit nice.If you look back at the pics of my Polar Kraft it essentially was this floor plan. If you look close the boat had a seat mounted to the rear bench and two storage boxes on the sides going forward to the front seat which was mounted on top of an aluminum box that contained a battery. In the front of the boat was a small front deck. I think it will be safe to remove the middle seat and wood bench since you are not removing the front or back one. With the addition of a flat floor and a couple of storage boxes you will still have a nice wide open area between the seats. The rod holder I was thinking about is this one http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Twist-Lock-Rod-Rack/product/1402150935301/

I own a 2010 Lowe Stinger 170 which is a big heavy wide 17 and a half foot aluminum bass boat with a 75 hp 2 stroke. I pull it with a Chevy S-10 ZR2 pickup and it has a 4.3 litre V6 and I go everywhere from MD, PA, VA,TN, and KY with it.I am sure you should be fine with your V8

The best Marine deep cycle batteries I have used have been the Cabelas group 30 AGM batteries. I have 3 of them in a 17.5 foot Lowe bass boat and am very pleased. They are really as powerful as when they were new and this is their 6th season.

It would be okay. I would suggest the Minn kota Endura C2 50 Pound thrust 38 inch shaft. It runs $209 at BPS but look elsewhere as other places could be cheaper. I would make sure you have two marine deep cycle batteries so when 1 dies he has a full one to return with, Your batteries are your gasoline so to speak. I also suggest you get a good charger to recharge them. WalMart has some that work great and they cost about $40 to $50.These are special "smart chargers" and will let the batteries really last longer.

Your benches are part of the structural integrity of the boat so here is what I would do. Dad's chair could be removed and one of these adjustable seat mounts would work okay. http://www.basspro.com/Economy-Boat-Seat-Pedestals/product/1205150503201/ In the rear I would not remove the bench as it is. I would remove the seat and build a box to encapsulate it using 2x4 vertical supports. I would then remount my seat with one of these http://www.basspro.com/Boat-Seat-Swivel/product/421852130/ You could also build that box to stretch back to the transom, including a hatch lid to make it work as storage. By doing this the seat will get supported by the 2x4 frame and the top piece of carpeted wood, but you would not actually modify the structure of the boat. All it takes is some imagination and some wood, carpet ,a couple of seat mounts and a little time. One reason I prefer the large diameter seat posts rather than the flat plate and a "Pin type" post is stability in a narrower width hull. If you go back to the pixs of Ed's boat you can see he used them on his boat. He has had the more popular pin type post on many boats over the years, but his 16 foot jon is different. He knew many of the members of his fishing club are over 65 and he designed the seats to be more stable.

You do not need pedestals since your seats have swivel mounts as is. You are safer not raising your seats. You will see a lot of similar size boats with seats that are raise high above the floor which is level or almost level with the gunnels. Unles they are super wide hulls than they are less safe than they should be. Since your floor is low enough to have your legs fit comfortably under you, using a raised pedestals is harmful not helpful. If you look at the Polar Kraft boat I posted earlier, you will see my back seat is mounted right down on the bench just like yours. My front seat is mounted to a box that also stored my 12 volt battery for the front trolling motor. It to left me low and inside the boat. That boat was only 1 foot longer than your boat, but much wider than your boat. Width equals stability but it still was not wide enough to run a raised deck and raised pedestal seats.

Batteries are one of those items you get what you pay for. I usually run the group 30 Cabelas AGM batteries. They weigh a ton and the three I am running now are 6 years old. I got 7 years out of my old ones. I use an onboard charger set for agms and recharge them every time out or at least as close to right away as life lets me. They are expensive also. Right now a group 30 cost $200 on sale regularly $249.99. I think they are worth it, I get a very long use per day and they last a good long time before I have to replace them.

thomas15 has it right. I would remove the old transducer cable, the screws and hold down clamps. That pass thru cover is a nice way to cover the hole the cable goes in the hull. That looks like a Hummingbird transducer which have smaller connectors on them. If your dad's "new old" fish finders cable fit thru the hole great. If not I would patch the hole where the cover is. Then I would go get another plastic clamp from BPS or West Marine,or whatever you have as a boat supply store. I would use either 5200 or Life Caulk silicone sealant. Squirt some in the holes and on the threads of the screws as I reinstalled the plastic clamps on the new transducer cable. It makes for a nice clean install and eliminates any water leaks. I would use the 5200 on the old transducer mounting holes, let it setup for several days and then install the fake wood board. After that had a couple of days to setup i would go ahead and install my new transducer. As for the four holes on each side of the hull I am guessing the previous owner had something mounted there perhaps floatation pontoons. I would remove the oar brackets on the outside and use the 5200 to fill and smooth the area .You can lightly sand it and it will just blend in when you give it a new coat of paint. All in all I like your new boat. thomas15 mentioned something else, we typically mount the bottom edge of a transducer so it is level with the bottom of the boat and the rear edge of the transducer tilted down. That is the correct placement forone mounted on a high speed fiberglass boat. Over the years I have come to realize on slower boats and especially aluminum boats the transducers work better lowered down about 1/4 to 1/2 below the transom and with the body of the transducer mounted level.; The previous owner mounted hi with the entire body of the transducer below the boat. For that hull it probably worked well like that. Make sure when you mount your transducer you mount it so the bottom of the transducer is parallel to earth and not the curve of the boat in order to get good readings.

Let me help you this way. I lived above Duncannon for 5 years and am familiar with many of the waters in your area. Your boat needs can best be determined by several factors besides cost. Do you own a truck or SUV and can you tow a boat and trailer? If so, you could pull up to a 17 foot v bottom or jon style boat on a small trailer. It can have nice seats, and you can permanently mount things like batteries, a fish finder, anchors, a trolling motor and even a small gas engine, as well as rod holders and more. A boat like this will cost more to purchase too. This boat is terrific to fish out of in lakes like Wallenpaupack or Beltzville and even on the Susquehanna River . On this setup money will be your determining factor. If you do own a truck, SUV or a car and use a roof rack then look at a plain jon boat. This boat will allow you to fish smaller ponds or streams. You would need a boat more like the ones I have provided links to that had no trailer. These are much more plain with most costing less than $600. They have to be smaller like 10 to 12 footers so you can turn them over and mount them to a rack on top of the vehicle You also do not need a boat sitting on a trailer if you intend to park the boat next to a river, stream, or lake. Good luck with your search. Obviously the water you wish to fish affects what style boat to look for. After you decide where you would like to fish, and what your budget is, we can try and find a boat that will work for you. I understand you are busy budgeting for rods, reels and tackle, but those needs vary a lot, again depending on the body of water you fish. My wife and I have owned 11 boats over the last 4 decades. Some were small boats used to fish small electric only ponds, and lakes. Others were outfitted for fishing larger reservoirs and big lakes. We have also owned big boats that allowed us to go over 70 mph, and fish big tidal waters like the Potomac and the Upper Chesapeake Bay. Each of these bodies of water have had a different list of needs to work well enough.

Here is another one for $550 or best offer. http://york.craigslist.org/boa/5715741703.html You did not say what your budget was and if you are looking for a boatto trailer of put in the back of a pickup. Anyway I doubt you will find anything much cheaper that you would want to own.

If you test the boat and have no leaks I probably would just give the boat a coat of bedliner paint and then a coat or two of a light grey paint. Something close to the color it is right now. Then you could give the area that is blue a nice fresh coat of dads favorite color. I like the blue, but he might like it another color. I would not bother painting the inside unless you feel like it. Just a note, Ed goes over to Tractor Supply Company to get his paint. he likes to use an exterior grade oil base paint. It takes a lot longer to dry but it has worked out well. I believe they will have a farm implement grey or some tractor color blue like a ford Blue.I think his red might be like an International tractor red..

Let me explain why he did what he is doing. The previous owner built a floor system in it. He made the mistake of using pressure treated 2x4s. Over time the acid or chemical leached out of the would where it was in contact with the rivets and aluminum of the hull. When he was given this boat it had tiny pin holes around the rivets and hull. So he removed all of the finger smears of silicone around each rivet inside and out, added 5200 around any suspected spots (nearly the entire bottom on the inside). Next he purchased several gallons of bedliner paint , I believe it was from Rustoleum, and coated the inside and out with it effectively giving it a completely sealed surface. We shall see tomorrow how well it was done, as that is when he intends to splash it. He has since created an entire labyrinth of wooden cross members making a frame to support a new floor. He made the entire floor support system out of Azek or as he calls it a man made plastic wood. I believe it is intended for outside decking. Anyway his floor is complete and he has built storage, installed wiring, accessories, a bilge pump, trolling motors,etc. His job tomorrow will be to off load it from the trailer then watch it as it its tied to the dock awhile. Next if it stays dry then he will go for a spin for a while, if it stays dry he can go home and start final painting and numbering. In your case I would fill my holes as needed and install my options. Next splash it for some quick testing. If it stays dry then I would not bother with a coat of 5200 during the winter, but the idea of using the bedliner paint and a roller may be a good one. A simple couple of coats to seal it all, and then some nice paint to make her pretty sounds good and it will help protect it. The boat Ed sold before he started working on this one was a mid sixties Grumman V bottom aluminum boat. Man Rosie the Riveter knew how to install rivets in those boats!!! It weighed almost nothing for a 14 footer, but I think the rivets accounted for at least 2/3 of its weight.

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No! The boat is designed to have the people sitting down in the boat. If you add a raised casting deck you will raise the center of gravity and make it more unsafe or unstable. If you do anything, consider adding some of the nicer seats that have clamp on bases like these. This is a seat assembly sold at Cabelas, but Bass Pro and others have these as well. Some are in camo, some come in grey or green, but they will make sitting in the boat more comfortable than on a bench

Define "Cheap". What is your budget and what part of PA do you live in. I have a good friend that runs Lakeside Marine PA. Go to her website and look at their inventory. There are several v bottom and jon style boats for less than $600. Look at these. The first is an old boat and newer trailer for $700 http://www.lakesidemarinepa.com/index.php?view=inventory&viewid=800 Here is a 1999 16 foot jon boat for $600 http://www.lakesidemarinepa.com/index.php?view=inventory&viewid=813 Here is a 1987 Grumman V bottom boat for $499 http://www.lakesidemarinepa.com/index.php?view=inventory&viewid=705 Here is a 14 foot jon with 2 seats for $350. It is located in York Pa http://www.lakesidemarinepa.com/index.php?view=inventory&viewid=705 Here is a 12 footer with a good trailer for $475 or best offer http://lancaster.craigslist.org/boa/5717983047.html These are easy to find you just need to go looking for them. If you noticed the baots from my friends dealership are a little higher remember she test them and makes sure there are no leak and the trailers will pass inspection. She can also do all of the paper work to get them registered as well.

That is okay, I only saw it because someone else on this forum shared it a few weeks ago. This is what makes Bass Resources the great place it is. Lots of members willing to help other members.

Well I have never used one. However it might work out well for you . The advantage would be this. It is not just a fancy batter holding box. It includes a high amperage resetable circuit breaker which is just a good insurance policy so to speak. If you take dad's "new old trolling motor" out the box you can cut off the alligator clips and solder or crimp some ring end terminals which would make solid connections that are easy to remove without opening up a box. It would also allow you to hook up your battery charger easily . Now for your fish finder you could easily attach a cigarette lighter plug on the end of the power cord and just plug it in. Now the cost is about $53 at WalMart online, not sure if a store sells it. If you choose not to go that way I usually get the battery connectors that have wing nuts on them for like $4.00 each. That is if my battery only has posts and no wing nut. I like to add a circuit breaker on mine as well.

I think he was trying to take advantage of the smaller diameter of the braid sailing out fast to hep get a little bit of extra distance.

For any really light lures like unweighted plastics or lightly weighted plastic worms Sencos,tubes craws etc I like a 6'* to 7 foot medium spinning rod. It just plays so much better. Bryans setup, the Avid X 6'8" Medium Extra Fast spinning rod with the RTX30 is so lightweight in your hand it is amazing

Oh yes it is super strong. I would use it to eliminate all of the unwanted holes and then make her pretty during the winter. As for mounting the transducer, you can do it either way. When I mount one I do not use anything besides drill and mount the transducer right to the hole. Presently my 6 year old boat has had two mounted on it.The boat is black and I sealed them up using the black 5200. I just made a patch about the size of a dime and then drilled and mounted the other transducer. They even sell some blocks just for mounting electronics , they are made of some kind of abs or something. The nice thing about using one is they allow you to adjust and redrill for a mount without adding new hole to the boat. Most time you drill and mount the block with screws, but the 5200 will work fine since you are not going 70 mph with this boat. Make sure if you drill and install any hardware use some marine silicone on the screws or bolts and feed some silicone into the holes as well.

First I would put an Irod Genesis II IRG704C or an IRG744C in my hand. If I wanted to go to a ST Croix I would go for an Avid X AXC70MHF, It is pretty close in spec to your Dobyns. It is a split gripped cork handle rod. If you feel you want to go back to a full cork handle the an Avid would be your series.

I believe it is probably most like an old IM6 version of the SJR 722. My wife and I have owned several of that exact rod in different graphites (IMX, GL2, GL3). The rod rates as a 6 foot Medium with a fast action taper. It is rated for lure weight from 1/8 to 3/8. We still fish G Loomis 6 foot SJR-721 and SJR-722 s regularly.. They are terrifically sensitive and with today's modern love for 7 foot or longer rods these shorter rods still work best around and under docks and tight cover. Like you these rods were purchased back in the day when the best boat I could afford was a 17 foot aluminum which could only fir a 6' rod. Now I pull them out of a big modern bass boat's rod locker and just really enjoy how good they fish. Earlier this spring we were fishing 1/10 ounce Nwd Rigs along deep bluffs on Dale Hollow. Instead of hooking a nice fat smallie my wife tagged a 6 1/2 pound catfish on a her SJR 721. That is the 6 foot light action rod which rates 1/16 to 5/16 of an ounce rod. To watch her chase tht cat from the front to the back of the boat and hear the loosened drag on a Pflueger President scream was hilarious. She fought it for about 10 minutes before i grabbed it with a catfish lipper. That rod held up perfectly although I doubt G Loomis ever thought about it as a catfish rod when they were designing it. It is scary when you are battling a fish and you can see the arbor under your line.

I would not use rivets personally, to me it just opens up a chance for trouble later. I would use the 5200. Since we are talking about holes the size of small screws I would use spread the 5200 like body putty in a circle about the size of a quarter or a bit smaller. Once it dries totally (read the directions on the package) I would lightly sand it and find some spray can of paint that will blend inclose. Touch up the area and forget about it. Here is a picture of my friend Eds boat. He has been sanding around every rivet, removing some silicone "repairs" the previous owner did and then hit each one with 5200. It kinda looks like someone riddled it with bullet holes. He has more patience than anyone I know, but he is going to have a beautiful boat when it is done. Since that he has covered the entire bottom with several coats of bed liner paint in black. I helped him work on it for a while one day. It takes some time but he has made amazing progress. In fact tomorrow it will be dumped in the lake for the first time.

That rod is probably a little light for throwing those baits in that kind of cover. Their 6"8 Medium might have been better. In your case i would probably load 20 pound Power Pro Spectra. It is the same as 6 pound mono but will cut through the pads better. I might experiment with a 8 pound P LIne CXX leader but probably tie direct instead.