First time posting in a while! [edit: I guess this is my first post under this name! all of my other posts came from the alias Castamasta]
I might be the most excited I have been for fishing in a long time. Primarily because i will have my first boat! But, as the title of this forum explains, it is a small jon boat...........still a boat though! First, I wanted to see what you guys have done with your smaller jon boats. Especially with regards to how you rigged your electronics and organized your batteries. I know there is the thread with "show your ride", but I wanted this to be solely smaller craft / jon. Second, id like some input on what I am currently thinking of doing for my configuration from all your small boaters / jon boaters out there. Any advice (even if it is..."come on man, get a bigger boat!") is welcome!
Here is what I am working with:
tracker 1232 riveted jon (http://www.trackerboats.com/boat/specs.cfm?boat=3829)
two 12V batteries
2x battery box
55 lb minn kota trolling motor
humminbird helix 5 si gps
3 amp fuse
2 x rotating foam seats w bench clamps
1 x bait monkey
Concerns / inexperience:
Weight balance - I am thinking of putting one battery in the mid section of the boat and one in the back to balance the weight a bit. Do you guys see this as necessary due to how small the boat is? I want to be clean with cable management, but there aren't too many locations to hide the wires (just stuff it in the box is what I am thinking). Wondering if this baby will sink if I put two people in it.....from the specs it kind of seems that that will be the case.
Battery charging - I am thinking of buying one of the portable chargers for like $60 at bass pro. Anything that I could put on board that someone would recommend? Ideally, I would want to just keep the batteries in place and be able to run an extension cord to my boat to charge the batteries, but that seems expensive ($150).....but kinda worth it.
Transducer mounting - If I am going to be using the trolling motor as my main thrust, I was thinking that a TM mount would not be ideal due to how much error steering will cause. Is this the correct thinking? Instead, I was going to get some silicone sealant and just drill the transducer right into the transom and seal it up. Other option would be to suction cup it....which might be good as well.
Again, I want to see what you guys have out there first, so I can potentially steal some ideas. if you can steer me in the right direction with some of the stuff i have outlined above, that would be great too!
Thanks,
Casta
