New Boat and Some Bass

[shimmy]

Have spent the past year working on restoring an old jon boat. This is your typical jon boat to bass boat. It took a very long time and there were so many times where I needed help for a 5 minute thing, but ended up taking an hour just to do. The boat and trailer itself are probably from the 70s? I sanded it down to bare aluminum, did self-etching primer, regular primer, than top coat. My wife gave me permission for this project since i needed a boat, and gave me an excuse to buy tools. Most importantly, i have no idea what i am doing so this was a challenge that i, without fully knowing what i was getting myself into, started. I chose to do all aluminum bracing. Towards the end, i started to get the hang of it all and would have changed several things structurally to improve it all around, but it is what it is. I tell myself that i will know what to do next time to improve it even more, but after the amount of crap i went through with this project, i don't foresee a next time. It ended up costing twice the amount i anticipated, which could be due to various aspects, but mainly, i didn't know what i was doing the first half of the build. I really tried not to take any shortcuts. The build is still not fully done, but it was good enough to fish from and catch my first batch of 5+ pound bass.

 

Boat's old look prior to renovation.

 

[shimmy]

After redoing the transom, painting trailer and outside, scrapping the inside, re-riveting the leaks...

 

Finished-ish Boat

 

First 5+lb Bass in the Boat...no smiling allowed

[TnRiver46]

Nice job, took me darn near a week of "after work" work to do a transom in a jon boat. I figured it would take like 4 hrs. I also made a giant mess with fiberglass resin and wasted one tub of it that I soilidified in like 5 seconds somehow

[Steveo-1969]

Very cool. Was your boat's maiden voyage in the canals of Lakeside Park?  I remember catching a big carp at that very boat launch almost 30 years ago...

[Darren.]

Looks awesome! Nice framework, and end result! 

 

Oh, nice bass, too  

[A-Jay]

Very Nicely done my friend ~ 

Great way to break her in too.

Here's to many years of memories for you.

Congrats Shimmy

A-Jay

[J Francho]

That boat is bad!

[Jar11591]

Nice work on the boat. Sure doesn’t seem like you “have no idea what” you are doing! Lol and some nice fish to break her in. Awesome.

[nosdog2]

Great job!

[shimmy]

7 hours ago, Steveo-1969 said:

Very cool. Was your boat's maiden voyage in the canals of Lakeside Park?  I remember catching a big carp at that very boat launch almost 30 years ago...

Good eye! It is indeed. Beautiful park. Giant carp in there.

5 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

Nice work on the boat. Sure doesn’t seem like you “have no idea what” you are doing! Lol and some nice fish to break her in. Awesome.

Thanks for the compliment, but no ideas were my own. I read 100s of forums and watched 100s of youtube videos of guys with different ideas. I guess my part was picking and choosing how to combine what i read and apply it to my boat. But, I literally did not own one powertool prior to this project. So...to me, having no idea what i was getting myself into seems pretty accurate. But, i am stubborn. I think that helped with making it look and work like a boat.

 

 

Thanks all, forgot to mention boat specifics. The boat is a 1444 jon boat (14 feet - 44 inches at the hull). While it was wobbly like a 14 foot jon boat, it was actually a lot more stable than i anticipated. I could stand with another grown man in the back and never worried about falling in. I used 3/4 inch plywood surface. I knew it was on the heavier side, but it adds additional stability and will last longer. Some carpet has different colors, but when i ran out and reordered more, the new (exact carpet mind you) was still slightly different color. I still like the way it patterns out. I have 2 batteries inside with a battery switch. My aerator system, I added a timer to it which is pretty awesome. I also added a recirculator, emptying, automatic livewell switch. I also added a 4 gang marine switch panel for navigation lights, bilge, 12 volt system, and USB port. Fuse box is stored near batteries. I have a 25 hp motor i can put on the back which will even out the weight distribution. I can also turn it into an electric only boat if needed. Must say, the possibilities of creating your own boat made a lot of it fun. Oh, and my favorite, it has an 8 foot 6 inch carpeted rod locker storage that holds 12 feet of a power pole (8 and 4) so i can mount it inside it's bracket on the back and hold myself in place. Pretty excited to put it all to use. 

[Dwight Hottle]

Looks like a sweet new ride. I'll bet you will catch your fair share of hogs while enjoying her. 

[Bankbeater]

That is one nice looking boat.

[brgbassmaster]

Boat is sick! I would like to do something like that when we move back to northern Michigan and the hundreds of small lakes I won't need my bass boat for.

[wdp]

Agree with everybody. The boat looks awesome. Nobody would ever guess this was you're 1st time doing it & that you didn't know what you were doing. ?

 

Congrats!

[lonnie g]

something to be very proud of!! looks great. gaurantee it will make fishing more fun. I redone an old johnboat myself this year , nothing as extensive as yours. and I love fishing out if it, part of the reason is because I know I made it. big congrats on the boat and the fish