Rocketvapor's Journey to Stardom, with a Bass Raider 10E

[Rocketvapor]

Old guy and wife, retired just starting out fishing, in the small rivers and bayou's in Southeastern Louisiana.  

I opted for the 10 foot long plastic Pelican Bass Raider 10E as something small enough for the wife and I to manhandle but still have room to fish.  

Reviews showed it to be stable enough we shouldn't drown and more room than a two person Kayak.  

It wasn't long before I got the bug to start modifying it though.  

One trip with paddles (better than a gym membership), then a 30lb Mini-Kota, and now a 3.5hp Mercury.  

(this may not be the last in propulsion).  

 

My first modification, which I recommend to anyone putting an outboard on the back of the 10E, was to tame transom flex.  

Using my GoogleFu i saw that flex was a common problem especially with the 3.5 (or bigger) and two people and lots of necessary stuff.  

A couple pics of my mod, using standard aluminum mill strips and angles, attached to the inside vertical plastic with slotted well nuts (open into a cross on the inside).  Since these would have the tendency to 'pull out' of the plastic in tension, all loads should be seen as shear.  I still had a little flex so I extended the aluminum to the seat rails so my weight would help.  The wood is exterior ground contact 3/4" ply.  It is connected to the transom with an aluminum angle and 3 diagonal braces in tension.  Looked good but needed testing

To test the Transom mod, which came in under 7 pounds, I attached a rope to the motor at the prop centerline and using a small digital crane scale applied forward force in increments of 30lbs up to 150lbs.  

Here is a link to an edited Youtube video showing the test.  

 

[Rocketvapor]

The scupper can be seen in one of the pics above but I improved over most others I've seen on the interwebs.  

The inner/outer shells have a 0.4" gap between them.  I cut a short section of PVC pipe, heated it up, coiled a little and used as a spacer between the shell halves.  Then tightened the drain and cut off the end. 

[Rocketvapor]

Went on another 'fishing' trip with the 10E Friday morning.  No luck.  Used a couple soft baits on jigs but obviously used the wrong colors .  The water level at the Bogue Falaya launch we use was HIGH from coastal back up.  We tried small water streams, gave up and moved to bigger water, gave up and called it an exploratory trip, out past the mapped water on little streams.  Like a nature walk.  

Weekend is here and we don't go out and share the water with the jetski's and party barges so time to rest up and hit it again next week.   

 

This post I'm gonna show my bow mods to help stop plowing from filling the little boat.  The shape at the bow is like a big scoop IF you take on water from a wake or wave.  Heavily loaded you're only inches from taking on water which then takes away inches and you get more water.  At least the boat floats when full.  

First I tried a Splash Shield made from a double later of that thin plastic wall panel you get at the home improvement shops.  That worked and was easy to form around the bow and held in place with a dummy TM mount.  No new holes required. 

 

[Rocketvapor]

After the splash shield and a week of bad weather predicted I built a small forward deck.  Weight is an issue for us with all the junk we carry with us but I didn't weigh the deck.  I guess it's around 12 pounds or so.  It provides a clear area to step on at the dock (one at a time) a little storage and blocks the funnel effect at the bow.  

Support at the front is a 'box' tied into the front transom and wrapped around the sides.  I used a 1X4 PVC plank formed with a heat gun.  Split sections of the 1X4 were used down the sides of the deck shaped to almost be water proof.  A few pieces of aluminum and SS fasteners.  All the holes were gooped up.  

The deck itself is ground contact 1/2" plywood with some reinforcement ribs from old mahogany and aluminum angles.  Two short aluminum straps are attached at the rear using one slotted cross nut (1/4x20) on each side.  

Carpeted and added our mascot, La Tortuga with Velcro.   

[Rocketvapor]

A splash shield might not be needed for pond use, going slow, or with light loads but it seems to deflect water funneled into the boat due to the bow shape.  

[FishinBuck07]

Looks like a neat little rig man!  

[Rocketvapor]

Did some work on the Bass Raider electrical system.  

So far we have run a GPS/Sonar with some left over 12v drone batteries but they are getting old and puffy.  

Just in case we do any night fishing I've put on some nav lights and mentally adding fishing lights.

Edge of marsh floundering at night is something I did when younger.  Not going to be a lot of lights (or onboard generator) 40 to 50 watts should be enough.  So, it's battery time

 

I bought some small Lipo packs (a bunch of them) to put together into 12v batteries.  

The packs are 4400mah 3.7 volt (actually a pair of 2200 cells with individual BCMs)  in a 3S4P 12 volt battery tested to be a little over 16ah.  Used the first one on a boating trip and it worked great.  Used a large peanut butter jar for a temporary case

3 of these fit into a plastic 30 cal ammo can and come in @ 8.25 pounds including the can.  

That's 50ah or so.  Still have to brain storm switches, breakers, connectors, etc. 

Put out some coonfood in the front yard while working on the packs

[Rocketvapor]

Hope I haven't run into a snag.

Just got a email reply from the Louisiana DWF about the registration request sent in via email 90 days ago. 

Thank you Covid.  

It seems a copy of the Declaration of Origin isn't good enough, they have requested the ORIGINAL. 

I think everyone knows what the form, from page 7 of my manual looks like.  

I filled out the info on the boat but the transfer information, like date and invoice number, from manufacture to dealer (probably Academy Distribution Center in Atlanta) is missing.  I bought from a local Academy.  

I'll mail the ORIGINAL I have, but suspect I will need something more. 

Wish me luck.

 

 

UPDATE:  Contacted Pelican International by phone and received a better looking 'Original' via E-mail.

In the mail with the check to the group supervisor at LDWF.  

Hope this works  

[Teal]

Awesome little rig.  I like the posts and updates

[Rocketvapor]

I know this is a Bass forum and I haven't caught one yet but will keep trying

So, Friday got to get on the water again, still mostly exploring our local waterways in this little plastic boat.  

Put in at Bayou Cane and ran down about a mile and a half to Lake Pontchartrain.

Went around Goose Point and a NE wind stirred up the water once we lost shore protection and decided to turn back. 

Spent most of the day on the water.  Here's a short video and the path we took mostly @ 5.5mph.   

 

 

[Tatsu Dave]

I like how you are hitting and solving problems, shortcomings, and making it more fishable. Your skills and tweaks are awesome, It won't be long before you are the envy of fellow Pelican owners  Try the stickbaits I recommended and just throw them out texas rigged and let sink and retrieve in twitches. They will catch bass and you will quickly perfect your skills at feeling bites and setting the hook. keep up the work on your fishing machine and keep us posted!     Dave

[Rocketvapor]

Thanks for the tip.  There are just so many places around here it's mind-boggling.  

 

[Rocketvapor]

There's a chance we might try some night fishing so worked on the lights today.  

Got things mounted just need to wire up a switch bank.

 

 

If those aren't enough, I have more