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Posts: 569
Location: Williamstown, WV | hey guys,
Looking to buy a 12-14 foot jon boat for the little streams in wv and smaller lakes and was looking for ideas for add on's and setting it up right. This will probably just be a 14 plain v-bottom jon boat. I will add seats and other things, just looking for ideas.
Shawn | |
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Posts: 4266
| I fished out of a boat named John for a long time.
I made mine a platform of 3/4" treated exterior grade plywood with paint that had sand mixed in instead of carpet.
I didn't worry about seats. It was a big platform for 2 guys to cast from, and room from the back bench seat to the second seat for gear. I also added 2 "trapdoors" between the middle seat and the bow, but made sure to reinforce it. That way I could use the area between the seats for storrage. I had a bowmount trolling motor, but had the battery just about in the middle of the boat.
Measure twice, cut once.
Trolling motor in the bow or stern? I tried to keep the battery in the middle with and extended battery cable so I could spread out the weight.
Caught many fish out of a boat named John. Found feathers while fishing, and scales while fishing.
Beav | |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Take a look at the rigs that John Kaltenecker and Jim Moore have. Elevated swivel seats, with the battery up front and the troller mounted to the side of the bow. This allows the motor operator to be up front to guide the boat thru snags and riffles. They both run a tiller contraption in the back, which can be raised in areas of low water.
Be sure to allow for a way to load and unload the boat from your truck, since few areas of these backwoods streams have launching ramps. One device I used to use, carry a spare tire (no rim) with you. You can drop the boat onto the tire and drag it to the water by yourself. Loading it, you pretty much have to take everything out of it. Wal-mart carries a real cheap winch that has an attachment to fit into a Reese hitch that will greatly aid you in getting the boat back up steep banks.
With the streams I think you are thinking of, I'd not plan on standing and casting as suggested above, an elevated swivel bucket seat will let you do what you need to do without tipping over. Call John and I'm sure he'll help you out. m | |
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Posts: 569
Location: Williamstown, WV | Mikie,
Yeah fishing the streams I fish if you stand up your likely to be swimming real soon. Thanks for the ideas guys and Mikie that spare tire would work perfectly, definetly a great idea. It's gonna be a winter project I think. Something to do and maybe I'll have her sea worthy by march.
shawn | |
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Jon Boat setups