Hi guys, new here. Been a shore bass fisherman for years, except at places where you could rent boats. I have a swamp area near my home that is loaded with nice largemouth and thought I'd pick up a small jon to scoot to the areas where I cant reach from shore. Well, it's turned into quite a project. Sanded, primered, painted, 50 lb thrust troller, front and rear carpeted decks from 5/8" plywood with 1x6 supports underneath, swivel seat mounted to back deck, and a 15" pedestal in front along with a fish finder. Also bought a small trailer for it. Went from a $75 boat to a $1000 piece of aluminum in my garage. I've been on 10 ft boats before, in small bodies of water and they seemed reasonably stable. My question is, since I've added around 110 lbs to the boat with the battery, motor, and wood, am I going to have a stability problem? I'm 210lbs, and my father in law is 215. I'm in back and he's in front on the pedestal seat. Would have bought a 14 ft'er if i knew i was going to do all this. I appreciate any experiences and feedback.

Can't help with your stability question as I haven't fished out of a decked jon.  Do you have any pictures of your boat?  Sound like you have set yourself up with a nice bass rig.

It's pretty cool. Just wish it was a little bigger. I hope we don't sink the f'er. I'll put some pictures up soon.

I'm having problems with my 12' now b/c the seats are to high.  So I am going to take out the petastool.

I think with that much weight that you will feel and be safer with a lower center of gravity. Wear your life jackets, you will need them.

ok Thank you I will.  I promised my best freind I will ware my life jaket

In my opinion a 10 footer is too small for a conversion like you mentioned? What is the weight capacity, I can bet your way over it as is with 2 guys and full equipment. Adding an additional 110....ouch.

Be careful.

The 10' Sears jon boat I just sold last year had a 250# rating. It had a 30" wide bottom.

On my 14' there is the max people weight and a max people plus equipment weight.

Max people weight is about 400lbs.

Max people weight plus equipment is 695 lbs.

Make sure when you check that you look at the people plus equipment weight.

Dangerous , too small of a boat to do what you did. Expect problems.

With my 1436 you would be at or above the weight rating for it with 2 200+ lb guys and the equipment you are talking about.

Course I take mine out in Lake Wylie, and I cannot get away with running it that close if I want to stay dry.

I was going to do two pedestals but I decided to keep my seat in the back as low as possible for a better center of gravity. It is a pretty wide bottom for a 10 footer, around 34 inches. The weight capacity is 350lbs. Can't go back now, so we will see what happens. Wish me luck. We'll find out when the weather breaks here in PA.

Mine is a 12' and weight max is 500lb or 3 persons.  I know I am nervous about adding extra weight.  So I am just dropping the seats back to the bench.  If the boat is nice and stabile I may put in a low floor were most jon boats have a ridge along the the walls to set the sides of the floors.

Here are a few pictures of the boat. It's a little different than the $75 piece of crap I bought a few months ago. So, how long before I flip it?

The swamp you are fishing is in Coxton I presume?

the first boat i ever fished out of was a 10ft flat bottom with a deck and as long as your carefull you will be fine. i now use a old town canoe me(250lbs) and my buddy(290lbs) with all of our gear, a trolling motor, battery and we stand up to fish so as long as your are carefull and dont excesivly move around it should be good.

bassmaster6

The swamp you are fishing is in Coxton I presume?

Yes Sir, The picture near my name is of my wife fishing for the first time in her life at the swamp. She caught a 3lber on her 2nd or third cast and then that nice one in the pic. Probably close to 4lbs. I caught 4 or 5 that day and she had me in weight no problem. I've been fishing there for years and have they're patterns down pretty well. You ever fish it?

No, I haven't checked it out...but I drive by often. I used to wade the river in Falls all the time before I got a bass boat. Now I fish upstate NY mostly. I have heard there are some good ones in that swamp though.

No, I haven't checked it out...but I drive by often. I used to wade the river in Falls all the time before I got a bass boat. Now I fish upstate NY mostly. I have heard there are some good ones in that swamp though.

There are some good ones. Biggest I got out of there was around six. It's very consistent with 2, 3, 4 lber's. If you ever decide to give it a shot, send me a yell and I could tell ya where the hot spots are. There are also 2 reservoirs on the top of Campbell's ledge that are awesome. Need av ATV for those. A fish every five minutes up there, nothing huge from there yet, 3 max, but tons of fun. Enormous bluegill occasionally on spinner while going for bass.

Thats a sweet looking 10 footer ya got there

I have a front deck on my 14 ft jon, with bow mounted TM, I usually fish alone so I put all the batts in the back of the boat to balance the weight. The boat is very stable.

Thats a sweet looking 10 footer ya got there

thank you.

you have inspired me to mod my 10 ftr!

If you ask me fishing in that boat is going to be like fishing on a 2x4, but I've been wrong before. There's a huge difference between a 10 footer and a 14 footer, just saying.

if your carefull i think you will be fine but im no expert....if i were you i would make sure u dont have all the weight on one side and fish sitting down b.c. i can almost guarantee it wont be very stable and wear ur life jacket but aside from that you did a helluva job in my opinion it looks really clean