Any Pelican Bass Raider Owners Out There?

[ginger ashcraft]

Thanks!  I will check these out.  Tired of having to use the shop vac!

[Bomber7]

Hi all,  I'm new to this forum - first time posting.  I meet a guy from this forum while I was trying out my new boat - Sportsman Sun Dolphin 8' at Walnut Creek in Papillion NE.  I bought it at Dick's Sports - it was listed for $449 but I got a 10% discount for applying for their in store credit card.  Well any way my first day out was Monday morning and that afternoon first thing I did was go upgrade my seat.  The boat comes with these elementry school cafeteria type seats - got a nice folding padded one at Wal-Mart for $32.  Well the guy I met and was talking to goes by jaaron01 here - saw some of his posts recognized this boat - sweet ride I might add.

 

So I got some great ideas from seeing his boat and reading this forum - I'll post pictures of the mods I make to my boat once I figure out how to posts pictures - need to make the file smaller it tells me - first thing I'm working on is that rudder thing.

 

Anyway glad to be a part of this forum - great site.

 

Doug

 

 

[Bomber7]

Here are a few shots of my boat - right now I use a milk crate for my bait bucket - I do a lot of crappie fishing - I attached pvc pipe to the sides of the crate for pole holders.

[Bomber7]

I want to mount my trolling motor to the front my boat but it does not have a metal mounting plate like there is in the back - any ideas to the best way to do this? 

[jaaron01]

On the front of these little boats they are re-enforced with a wood mount under the plastic.  I just used some thin Ply (or whatever your have) and made a sandwich type mount.  Thin Ply on one side/Thin ply on otherside and screwed them in.  Gotta watch the thickness of the ply or when combined with the thickness of the plastic your TM wont fit over it.  Also some intertube rubber will help keep the TM from pulling off the wood when making sharp turns, and forgetting your TM was set on "5".

 

JIm

[Bomber7]

Thanks Jim - appreciate the help and suggestions - I just talked to a co-worker - he has a work shop at his house and he is going to make me rudder and also two metal plates to mount on the bow trolling motor mount area.  Don't know why the manufacture of these didn't do that but oh well something for me to do I guess. 

 

Doug

[Bomber7]

Another question - is there wood under any other parts of the boat - for like screwing pole holders, cup holders, etc?

[Pondkiller]

hey all, glad to see the thread still going. need to catch up on the many many posts in the past couple months. been busy out fishing so i'll try to catch up and keep up. PondKiller is doing well. LOVING the new HB Fish/GPS system. My wife called me a redneck for working on a pond boat and I said I KNOW RIGHT!!!!!! So far had it out on a couple local runs. Will test it out this weekend. Picked up an bigger deep cycle batt to run the HB/GPS/Sonar etc. Still running the TM off the back and seems to work for me.

[jaaron01]

Another question - is there wood under any other parts of the boat - for like screwing pole holders, cup holders, etc?

Only other place with wood is the rear transom area.  As for cup holders I just got mine and put them in the slots were the cupholders go, and used a fat/short sheet metal screw and went thru the bottom of the cup holder and into the boat.  I don't think anything else will really hold in that plastic.

[Fishes in trees]

It has been a number of years since I've had my pond boat out, but as a matter of principle, I always avoided drilling holes in it.  For light things like a cup holder, I would use double sided tape or duct tape and not really care how it looked.

 

Bomber 7 -  I know that the vertical storage for the fishing rods is kinda practical and saves space, but if you spend any time fishing around serious trees and brush, it is asking for it.  Also it is easy to forget that it is there and you can break a rod by snagging it on the back cast.  JMO

[Bomber7]

It has been a number of years since I've had my pond boat out, but as a matter of principle, I always avoided drilling holes in it.  For light things like a cup holder, I would use double sided tape or duct tape and not really care how it looked.

 

Bomber 7 -  I know that the vertical storage for the fishing rods is kinda practical and saves space, but if you spend any time fishing around serious trees and brush, it is asking for it.  Also it is easy to forget that it is there and you can break a rod by snagging it on the back cast.  JMO

yeah I thought about that - what I did when I'm tied up to the trees which I do a lot is just lay the poles on the side trays that are built into the plactic - or since all my poles are two piece I can always just fold them up.  when I'm tied or up anchored next the the trees I usually just have one or two poles in - I fish for crappie and walleye a lot so normally I'll have one about 1-2 feet off the bottom straight down and another one with a bobber - anymore gets too much to worried about. 

 

thanks for the tips

[Bomber7]

I'm working on a modification to mount a canopy to my seat - it will fold down behind it when not in use - when I need to get out of the Nebraska sun it will flip up.  I'll post pictures when I finish it and of course if it works.  What I'm using is one of those fold out chairs that has the flip up canopy.  I'm going to cut the metal support for it - keep the plastic mounting hinge then mount it on two pieces of wood that I screwed into the seat back. I'm also making a holder for my throw cushion and life vest on the seat back as well - hopefully it won't be too much on the back for the seat - but as everyone with these pond boats knows space is limited. 

[Bomber7]

Well the canopy didn't work the way I hoped it would - so for right now I'll just go with a hat and sun screen

[Bozz]

My first cast into these waters. Bear with the old guy. Would anyone believe I have read (and re-read  in some cases) this entire 53 page expose' on my favorite little boat? This has been somewhat of an education and the ideas contained in this section of the forums has been inspiring to me, to say the least. I'll just start by saying a big Thanks to those of you that have posted and shared all the great ideas thus far.

 

I have owned a Pelican Bass Raider 10 since 2007 but life got in the way and I didn't use it much. Moved closer to the grandbabies a few years ago and left it with my brother...he used it a little and it sat outside. So it's faded a bit but never took on any water inside as we raised 'er up on end and took the plugs out...no H2O. After a little shellcracker excursion this past month, I decided to bring the striped Raider back home and apply some of the ideas, with my own twists, to my boat in anticipation of using it in the rivers and lakes near me in central Bluegrass.

 

I'll start with an image or 2...or 3. I ordered a pair of padded high-back camo seats for my tired nether regions. I'm a cheapskate and I like bang for the buck so I shopped quite a bit before pulling the trigger. I'm happy with these Wise seats so far.

 

 

I made a floor using 1/4" ply but I did mine in 2 sections, meeting in the center. Shoulda went with gray marine-backing but I thought I wanted green. Glued and a staple or 2 to keep it put. Angled the rear corners to match and wedge in the boat. Before laying it down, I ran a pair of 8 gauge cables from one end to the other...mine is not the "E" wired model. It is now. The center ridge down the floor worked well for this to keep the floor sitting right on the raised ridges. I had anticipated placing 12 volt receptacles in a couple or 3 spots along the inside kick panels and I can tie into this cable just about anywhere along the length of it should I decide to do so later. Haven't cleaned the floor yet cause I'm in the middle of several other mods.

 

 

 

Continued...

[Bozz]

So I read a lot about the rudder idea and running the TM on the bow. I have always had mine on the transom and just thought that was the way it was. Yep, I endured the aggrvating wind maneuvering but thought that was the price of admission to my little pond crawler. Thanks to the previous posts, I have now turned my MK Endura 50 head around (one single bolt/nut) and she's mounted up front. I studied the various rudder ideas here and came up with my own little piece of custom. I had this 24 volt battery weedeater in the storage shed for a few years after it had died after the first season of use. I just can't stand throwing something like that away when I just got one season out of it. Maybe I can do something with it someday, methinks. I dug around and found it and studied it for a cigar or 2 and I come up with this.

 

 

I've ordered a small section of black ABS plastic sheet 1/4" thick from McMaster that will fit in a "keyway" slot that runs the length of the telescoping aluminum tube at the bottom. I'll use 3 stainless band clamps around the 1 1/8" tube tightend through a few holes I'll punch/drill in the ABS. I took all the components out of the top housing retaining the outer case only...including the little padded handle. I found a gent locally that had a MK mount on Craigslist for cheap $ so I drove over and picked it up. It came with a couple extra factory collars with the thumb tightener, one of which I saved for my TM extension handle on the other end of my boat. Later on that. Kinda cool that I still got the adjustment on the length of the tube section...not that I'll ever need it once I set it where it needs to be. In doing this, I was keeping in mind a good place to mount a transducer and I believe I have created the perfect spot here on the bottom of this tilting, telescoping, adjust-o-matic super dooper Raider rudder. Also I am eyeing the top of that rudder for a pole light or other accessory mount. Maybe a cigar holder??? :-)

 

Rudder tilted up...sans the actual rudder material at the moment:

 

 

 

Next...

 

 

 

[Bozz]

I took the advice...twice...here in this thread about the BigFoot TM momentary switch. EEEEE-Bay. I found a pair of them new and have them here, just not installed. Checked em out...simple wiring...splice in on the negative side only and it says if you want to run 2 switches...wire the same as one. Reason for 2 is I have got all the materials together to make me a casting deck like in a previous thread. Thanks to the poster. Great idea. Sometimes I go solo and a lot of times I've got a buddy along so I'm making the casting deck for my solo trips. Butt seat and pole and deck will make my little Raider convertible in a second by either laying the deck in or taking it out and leaving it home. For those casting deck days..one of the BigFoot switches will be mounted on the deck with quick detach plugs on the underside. The other BF switch will be in the carpeted floor all the time for when I go 2 up. With casting deck and the BF switch...all I needed was a good way of bumping the handle to steer without bending over and reaching too far. The extra factory collar/sleeve from the used MK mount for the rudder came in handy here. I like the gent that made the statement about PVC pipe being grown man Legos. I have yet to get the boat off the table where I'll make the final adjustments to length and height on the PVC steering handle but I will finish it with camo tape or black paint and slide a handlebar grip over the end when I get it where it needs to be. Very pleased with it but will have to do the final tweaks on the water I guess. In the pic, it's up high...I just haven't set it yet until I get to climb aboard and see where I'll be with the deck installed when I get it carpeted and in.

 

 

Enough typing...my finger is worn down to the nub. EverStart Maxx group 29 battery, 8 lb navy anchor red/green LED, pole light in the back, rod holders, paddle & mount, etc etc etc...yet to come. Oh...then there's this nice little dual jetski trailer down the road...

[k9gee]

Can anyone post the exact size and measurements of the ply wood you used for the bass raider 8. I wanna stop by home depot after work today and build the floor

[Bozz]

k9,

 

I came across this previous floor post from Bill Porter with some dimensions. He did some really nice work on his:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/25442-any-pelican-bass-raider-owners-out-there/page-30#entry1124252

 

[Bozz]

Just a thought for attachments to the hull for various non-stress items. I really wouldn't have a problem drilling holes in my boat well above the water line but I understand some might. There was an early post in this thread about the RivNut tool and that's a great idea. I picked up a bag of these well nuts at Lowes the other day and have used them for other things in the past but haven't installed them yet in my Raider. I will once I get the rod holders, etc and figure out exactly where I want them. They will seal the hole required to drill for install. I got the smaller ones which call for a 3/16" hole and they use a #6 - 32 screw but there are many sizes.

 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_427027-37672-3319_0__?productId=4189131&Ntt=wel+nuts&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dwel%2Bnuts&facetInfo=

 

[Bomber7]

ok got my rudder made or at least all the parts for it - just need to put it all together this weekend and hopefully trolling motor mounting bracket I found on e-bay will arrive too.  A co-worker cut all the metal pieces for me and I drilled all the holes to assemble it today using my work drill press (man I need to get one of those babies).  Also he made me two metal strips to make the trolling motor mount on the bow more sturdy - so I got a busy weekend of working on the pond hopper. 

 

my boat is wired for a bow trolling motor with a 3 prong female plug - anyone know the best place to find the male connector - saw some of you talking about a foot on/off switch - if I do that do I need both?  Plus keep in mind I do not have a floor installed yet - so where and how to mount it will be an issue.  Thinking maybe after I do the floor. I'll get that foot switch - right now I'm going wait on the floor. 

[flacrawdad23]

Hey Bomber7, I have a Basstender boat. It is different from the Pelican, but this pic will show you where mine foot switch is.

[Bomber7]

Hey Bomber7, I have a Basstender boat. It is different from the Pelican, but this pic will show you where mine foot switch is.

thanks for the input flacrawdad23 - I think I'm going to wait on the big foot switch until I install a floor.  Right now I'm trying to wire the plug I picked up yesterday and wondering what to do with the orange wire (see picture) - my TM only has the black (ground) and a red/black (hot) wires - should I just cap this orange one off - I'm no electrician.

[Bomber7]

well finished with making my TM bow mounting brace - used two pieces of metal on each side (pictured) - also finished wiring the TM to the bow plug, I'll get a big foot switch later after I put in a floor.  I'm a little hesitate on doing that right now as I have to load this in and out of the truck (no trailer) so I don't want to add too much weight.  I do use two ramps to load it and it has made it easier then when I was picking it up and putting it on the tailgate and then pushing it in.  With the ramps it slides right up and in. 

 

I also put together my rudder - buddy of mine made it out of an old road sign he had and then I mounted it to a steel pipe - I got a minn kota TM mounting bracket off E-bay for $30 - looks like it will work out great - I'll take it out tomorrow morning and we'll see how it all works out. 

 

Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas from this thread.

 

here's some pictures

[flacrawdad23]

thanks for the input flacrawdad23 - I think I'm going to wait on the big foot switch until I install a floor.  Right now I'm trying to wire the plug I picked up yesterday and wondering what to do with the orange wire (see picture) - my TM only has the black (ground) and a red/black (hot) wires - should I just cap this orange one off - I'm no electrician.

 I would call a Boat store and ask them what they suggest. In my boat, there is only 2 wires, so I am not familar with the extra wire.

[oldfoggy]

Coming up with ways to save space in these little boats provides entertainment beyond the actual fishing. I still prefer using my trolling motor on the stern, especially when we're using the boat for water skiing. Since I sometimes fish alone, having the heavy battery placed at the bow end really helps to keep the boat riding level. I have a Humminbird portable locator that I previously purchased for Canadian fly in trips. It gets me by nicely for the kind of fishing I do with my Bass Raider.