Deck/hatch layouts

I'm in the planning stages.... Getting ready to gut my boat out and redo it all... I like it the way it is and been fishing in it for a couple years now but the 1 storage box is hard to keep organized...(I carry a lot of tackle)... And I want a bigger deck with a rod box and a smaller storage box/day box... And I'm thinking about doing a built in cooler rather than carrying a cooler... I want my floor to be free and clear, nothing on it during the day to stumble on or into when stepping down to net a redfish..

Think modern bassboat front deck.... I fish alone 99.9% of the time so I have no problem decking the whole front half of my 15 foot boat... And I fish daylight to dark, flipping/pitching mostly, so the deck is where I'll be all day...


Let me see some pics of layout ideas..

This is what I'm working with... I absolutely hate having that cooler there...

I love the nice clean look of this... Big front deck.. But I'll have flush hatches for storage...

I have seen many homemade coolers to fit a particular application.
either with the shell made out of aluminum or 1/4" plywood glassed over
with 2" foam glued to the outside. Drain hole in the bottom and boom - done.
if you can find an old live well, you could foam the outside of it and have your cooler.
The one I made was to convert the center console seat to a cooler the same way.
Then the big white elephant would be out of your boat.

i'm almost ready to redo my decks.probably next fall. i've been collecting aluminum sheets to replace the plywood.i'm going to build a cooler in the section between the front bench and bow,with a small deck hatch and a hose along the keel running into the rear where the bilge pump sits so i can just let the ice melt and run back to pump it out.right now i just keep a small cooler in the middle hatch section.