@reelChris

No. But it is definitely possible to cram an extra group 27 battery in there if you reconfigure all 3 to maximize space.

Is fiberglass the superior material for pole anchors? Aluminum pipes can be found for about half the price of fiberglass of the same external diameter.

I don't, but I do know where you can get stainless steel rings you can tie off to a cleat with 550 cord and end up with essentially the same thing.

I've read about anchor pins made out of 3/4" schedule 40 PVC pipe. Has anyone tried that as a cheap alternative to fiberglass poles?

I have an old devil's horse that's missing the front prop. Is it trash or can I put a new one on?

Bass pro has Pleuger President XT spinning reels priced at $49.99. A reel trade in should get another $10 off that price once the Classic sale starts.

1/4" plywood is really thin. Any weight savings will probably be lost to the extra framing you'll need to keep it from flexing under the weight of a person walking on it.

Why not take the deck off and see what's under there first before committing? A magnet can help locate the screws holding it down

It really depends on how much you want to spend, how much time you have and how skilled you are at boat building. If you really want to go down a rabbit hole you can always use this 14' from Tiny Boat Nation as your model. TBN sells various kits of materials to help incorporate their ideas into your build.

I do the same thing except on the bill to avoid screwing up the painted pattern. Sharpie stays on pretty well.

You could consider adding a hydrofoil to your motor to get up on plane a little faster.

The Lunkerhunt pocket frog looks good and will catch fish, but short strikes rip the legs off and then they don't run right.

Fishing: Net, 3700 boxes, rod socks, rain gear, rags or baby wipes to clean hands with, polarized sun glasses, some way of keeping tools handy, tools including short and long pliers, small bolt cutters for cutting hooks, scissors, knife, bump board, live well additive Emergency supplies: dry bag with emergency clothing, dry box for emergency supplies, floats for your keys, day and night distress signals (flares & smoke/flag), radio if you're going to be on big water, spare truck key in your vehicle, spare boat key in your vehicle, full water bottle & a few power bars General stuff to have on board: extra props for both motors, waterproof box or bag for cell phone, sun tan lotion, tool kit, re-arming kit for any inflatable PFD you have, towel in case you fall in

Before you spend time packing anything, talk to your partner to see what kind of fishing they're planning on doing. You might not need jigs at all.

I think as long as you don't use a floating bait like a TRD you could catch something on a drop shot rigged ned bait, but it seems pretty unnecessary.

It's funny, I've caught pike on almost every kind of lure except full size plastic worms, but they really zero on in on TRDs. At some lakes I've given up using ned rigs because all I catch with them are pike. I'm not sure what the appeal is, it's such a tiny bait relative to the size of the fish.

A comprehensive first aid kit is a must for any boat, or car frankly. Keeping one dry is an issue though. Plastic bags always leak. Boxes are better but they're not always waterproof even when they say they are. I've started putting everything that must stay dry, especially extra clothing and emergency supplies, in dry bags. They're not too expensive and you can crush down bulky stuff like sweatshirts and towels into much smaller packages.

So looking at the various mounting videos for HDPE boards, it seems like getting them to adhere to a boat without bolts involves a lot of steps and voodoo. Is there any reason not to substitute ABS sheet, which appears to work better with epoxies and other adhesives? Edited to add - other than the price and how hard it is to find?

Great suggestion! I never really thought about backing material and I might be able to kill two birds with one stone assuming that this 3/4 x 12" x 12" hdpe sheet when cut in half could do the same job as This hdpe transducer board. Thoughts?

Has anyone put a 93sv on the Ram-recommended 115-D ball mount? The thing is huge!! What on a plastic console is strong enough to hold the combined weight of the graph and mount?

I had to look those up. For anyone else who's baffled - "The Steer Stop prevents outboards equipped with hydraulic steering from 'wandering' when trailering. Units clip onto hydraulic steering rams on either side of outboard to keep engine straight and prevent damage to motor supports."

If you're talking about adding gas springs to hatches that don't have any, you're going to need to do some measuring to get the right spring length, stroke length and spring strength. You'll also need to closely examine the type of mounts they come with and the shape and style of your hatches. Even after all of that, you'll probably have to do some trial and error to find the right mounting locations. A gas spring calculator like this one will help tremendously in narrowing down the right springs. I added one to an aluminum hatch and found that a single 10lb spring was enough to open the hatch and hold it open:

The lower your budget, the more time and energy you'll have to spend looking. But, as long as you are open to basically anything that floats, you'll eventually find something that gets you on the water. There are plenty of old kayaks and small plastic or aluminum rowboats out there for a couple of hundred dollars. Obviously, you'll have better luck as it gets closer to spring, but there's probably something out there now. Start asking around and searching on facebook marketplace, Craigslist, let go and similar sites.

Is there any reason to use an in-line fuse when direct connecting to a battery?

I second Wrangler's, but I prefer their synthetic pants. They're comfortable, dry quickly and Walmart has them for $22/pair. Just remember to zip the phone pocket. See my post in the embarassing boating stories for the full story.