What are your 12-14 ft Jon Boat Configs?

[TheCastaMasta]

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

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2017 by TheCastaMasta

[fishnkamp]

Welcome back. First I need some info. Is this primarily a river/stream boat or a lake reservoir boat. Are you trailering or cartop/back of truck hauling situation?  Or will this be left at the water's edge and just pushed into the water. These facts change my suggestions for you. I have had boats that I did all of those things with.   In fact my first boat was a 12/32 jon boat we used on a reservoir.  So far I have owned 11 boats in a 40 year span. So let me know where and how you will move and use it.  Also was that a transom mount trolling motor?

 

[TheCastaMasta]

 

thanks for the quick response.

 

2 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

Is this primarily a river/stream boat or a lake reservoir boat. 

 

lake / reservoir

 

4 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

 Are you trailering or cartop/back of truck hauling situation?  Or will this be left at the water's edge and just pushed into the water. 

 

I have a trailer that I will be transporting this around on

 

5 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

 Also was that a transom mount trolling motor?

 

yep!

[fishnkamp]

Great, then here is what I suggest and it is not hard to do.  I would first try out the boat with both batteries in the rear and my tackle moved forward to say the middle.  See how the boat acts.  My batteries would be in a battery box like this one.

 

Minn Kota Trolling Motor Power Center

Average rating: 4.5out of 5 stars163 reviewsratings

Q&A

By: Minn Kota

Walmart #: 550389590

 

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Then I would move them from the rear compartment and see how the boat would act if they were pushed forward to the area just behind the front bench. this will require you get some quality humber 8 gauge wire probably. I would test it with wiring up only one battery.  If the boat feels like it responds better with the batteries moved forward, that is what I would do. I would mount the battery boxes with one on each side and use either the semi rigid pvc type wire conduit or the flexible wire loom used in auto and marine industry.  Places like West Marine carry that stuff.  I would bring a run down the sides along the floor or under the gunnels then have them come together in an electrical box.  That way all you have to do is put a 3 way plug on your trolling motor. If you buy one of the Shumacker battery chargers you could cut off the alligator clips and install a 3 way plug on it. Then just plug the charger into the 3 way plug outlet on your boat and the batteries can charge.It can be done just that easily.  If you use a Quick disconnect plug on the charger you could have two pig tails made up. One would give you the boat plug and the alternate one could give you the alligator clips back so you could use the charger as it originally was made.

Here is a picture of the charger i mentioned. It is available from WalMart. i used three for my reservoir rig/

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[TheCastaMasta]

Thank you for the input! any chance you could draw out the circuit you are describing? that would help me visualize it better.

[ThePolkFolk]

I have a 14' semi V set up similar to the way you described. I have a group 24 and group 29 sitting in the back with the trolling motor and have no issues. All my gear is loaded mid to front for balance and I usually stand in the mid-rear to middle (I have a handle extension on my TM), it is pretty stable on my boat; you will want to see how yours acts with weight at different areas. The 55lb Endura Maxx I have gets the job done and having two batteries brings peace of mind. I use forward thrust for moving spot to spot and I fish the boat backwards in reverse since it is easier to handle the boat when the TM is pulling the boat. Transducer is mounted at the rear under the waterline.

[Wayne P.]

When I had a 12' jon boat, I used a 24V bow trolling motor and 9.9 HP gas outboard. Both batteries and gas tank at the transom. Typically had at least two sonar units at the bow.

 

Did the same before that with a 10' jon boat I had but with a 2.2 HP gas outboard.

 

 

[TheCastaMasta]

5 hours ago, Wayne P. said:

When I had a 12' jon boat, I used a 24V bow trolling motor and 9.9 HP gas outboard. Both batteries and gas tank at the transom. Typically had at least two sonar units at the bow.

 

Did the same before that with a 10' jon boat I had but with a 2.2 HP gas outboard.

 

 

Those setups sound nice. Thanks for the input. No issue with balance? I feel like my rig is going to be tough to stand in with two people 

[Wayne P.]

1 minute ago, TheCastaMasta said:

Those setups sound nice. Thanks for the input. No issue with balance? I feel like my rig is going to be tough to stand in with two people 

Sure with two clumsly overweight people it is definitely not a standup rig.

You need hull width to have a steady platform for a high center of gravity.

[ThePolkFolk]

Absolutely as Wayne stated. More hull width = more stability.

[fishnkamp]

I would not expect to stand up in a narrow width boat. Instead look to add these type seats

or any other seat and clamp on bracket set. Now you have a seat with a comfortable back. 

Here is a pic of a 15 foot boat I converted from a gas to an electric reservoir rig. If you look just in front of

the rear bench you can see two battery boxes. What you can not see is the two other battery boxes located behind the rear bench.  The wire you see coming over the rear transom is a transducer cable.  One person ran the boat from place to place using the two rear 55lb trolling motors. We fished using the front 55lb trolling motor. The black arm you see nest to the front seat was a depth finder mount.  The three colored things below it was a set of buoys.  I also had 4 fishing rod holders to troll for white perch with. 

 

 

 

 

 

In the picture you can also see an Anchor Mate on the front deck. It consists of the hand winch ( where you see the white rope) and the anchor assembly.  These are very handy.

[Chris186]

Here is my setup

http://

 

My phone is giving me trouble, I'll post more pics when I get home.

[Chris186]