My new jon boat "sun shade"

When I went catfishing on lake Conroe a few days ago, the fishing was a bit slow and I ended up fishing from about 8am to 3pm. The Texas sun is getting pretty hot, and I decided that I needed a little shade on my boat. Bimini tops are nice, but I have never liked them even when I had a boat with one . . . because they restrict the "fishability" of a boat quite a bit. They also add a good bit of weight to a boat. For much of the time I'm on the water I don't even need any shade.

I went and bought a 6 ft beach umbrella from Academy for $14.99. They unfortunatly did not have any neutral colors in this size, but I guess it adds a bit of style to my boat :LOL2: . The pole fit almost perfectly in the 1 1/4" pvc that I have been using for pole holders on the boat. I just added two more holders closer to the center of the front deck. I usually sit on a 5 gallon bucket on the front deck, so I just cut the pole down until it was the perfect height for sitting up there under it. I think it may work well, as long as the wind does not tear it up too bad. A bit of shade is a definetly real nice on a hot sunny day, and when it is not needed . . . there is nothing in the way.

I've seen many on the lakes like yours. I have a bimini top that I use on two different boats, but as you mentioned, sometimes it's a pain to fish with it up on my tin.

BTW, there is a beach umbrella that is a little thicker and cuts out almost all of the light coming through it. I used one when I worked out in the field for Ma Bell. I paid for it out of my own pocket, but it was much lighter and easier to use than the heavy vinyl stuff they gave us.

Nice repurposing! Love seeing people be inventive with everyday things.

Small world! I just did the exact same thing on my tinny Great minds clearly think alike The umbrella was listed at $15 at Wally World, but the only charged me $9 I used pipe clamps as an umbrella holder, but they weren't quite strong enough so, I'm going to use the PVC rod holder like you did. By having several different holders around the boat and using it's build vertical height adjuster, you can position the umbrella almost anywhere to block the sun. You can also take it out of the boat all together to use on shore as a beach umbrella. I was also trying to find a connector that I could use to make the top tiltable, but so far no luck. Oh well, the vertical adjustment is pretty good and considering the whole rig cost less than $10 vs. $100+ for a bimini, I'm happy.

love the stripes,too bad they don't come in plaid :LOL2: i screwed a golf cart umbrella holder to the back of an old seat and it works ok.couldn't bring myself to try it on my new tempress hibacks though.

Yeah, I went with the stripes because after taking an unbiased pole . . . it was the umbrella pattern most preferred by Lake Conroe channel catfish.

I can relate to the sun being a killer in the heat. NOT fun.. Have two of these in our G3. We just used a solar heat reflecting umbrella I found on amazon for bout $15

Badbagger gets the award for coolest (literally) umbrella I love the metallic reflective surface.

Yeah, I bet that one works great. I may have to look for that one when mine falls apart.

I don't get up to fish Conroe very often, but now I will have an easy way to find another tin-boater. Where do you launch? I usually bass fish, not catfish, though. Rich

kfa4303 said:

Badbagger gets the award for coolest (literally) umbrella I love the metallic reflective surface.

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Thanks LOL... works great and keeps us cool. Actually pics mounted on the old boat but same ones on the new boat.
They really work!

G Lap said:

Yeah, I bet that one works great. I may have to look for that one when mine falls apart.

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They really work great and with the reflective properties and being a solar umbrealla, makes a BIG difference.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032DUNR2/ref=oh_o03_s00_i00_details

Just under $25 now but worth every penny!

fyi, those sunshades fit perfectly snug in a scotty rodholder mount.i happened to have a few laying around and thought i'd try something.now if only i can find that striped one.

richg99 said:

I don't get up to fish Conroe very often, but now I will have an easy way to find another tin-boater. Where do you launch? I usually bass fish, not catfish, though. Rich

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I used to always launch at Scott's Ridge over in Caney Creek, but during the drought over the summer they closed that ramp because the water was too low. So, I have been using the boat ramp at Cagle . . . which sucks because it is an extra 30 min drive time. The lake was as far as about 8 & 1/2 feet low, but now it is back up to about 2 1/2 ft low after all the rain. They still have not reopened Scott's Ridge yet because TPWD said they needed to cut some trees up from the boat ramp area.

I always fish for channel catfish, but maybe I will see you out there sometime. Lake Conroe was said to have more catfish than any other lake in Texas in a magazine. It may have been Texas Highways, or one of those other magazines about Texas.

Yea, I used to launch at Scott's Ridge also. Sorry it is still closed.

Cagle is also a bit further for me from FM1960 near Willowbrook mall.

I have had very poor luck fishing for LM bass on Conroe, but, since it is the closest lake to me....sure would like to find a spot or two that held some fish. I drive all of the way to Fayette (85 miles one way) to have a really good chance at bass.

Hope to see you out there.

Rich

I would like someone to post the "rig" that holds the sun shade. I've been hesitant to drill holes in my boat since I recently acquired it so want to make sure I'm not damaging the dextirity of the hull.

I'm not sure what you are asking for - there are a few pictures above showing how they are held...

rprice1012 said:

I would like someone to post the "rig" that holds the sun shade. I've been hesitant to drill holes in my boat since I recently acquired it so want to make sure I'm not damaging the dextirity of the hull.

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This may be what you're looking for: (my review of the mount on my boat)

https://www.crappie.com/crappie/member-sponsor-classified-ads/184202-umbrella-ez-mount-one-mans-review.html

rprice1012 said:

I would like someone to post the "rig" that holds the sun shade. I've been hesitant to drill holes in my boat since I recently acquired it so want to make sure I'm not damaging the dextirity of the hull.

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For mine, I just made two more rod holders near the center of the front deck to put the umbrella in. These are for holding extra fishing poles upright and out of the way while I am fishing. I made these with a piece of 1 1/4" grey PVC conduit and some conduit clamps fastened with SS screws. These parts are found in the electrical section of a home improvement store. White 1 1/4" PVC could be used as well, I just like how the grey looks a little more.