The (almost) finished product

Today I was supposed to be out on the lake with the (mostly) finished boat, but learned the hard way that you should have your front seat in place while deciding where to mount the TM. I discovered this morning while doing some last minute things that the seat interfered with TM lifting up... only by an inch or so but that's all it takes. So instead of fishing today I got to rearrange the front of the boat.

Here she is. Finished enough that I can take her out on the lake. I still have to finish off the rear and get a seat back there but after 3 1/2 months of tinkering on it in my spare time, I'm tired of working on it and just want to get out on the water.

Nice set up.

Looks good! 8)

Great job! The battery compartment looks perfect.

What battery charger are you using and what's the round red item to the right of the charger unit?

great lookin rig

Awesome job Poolie!!! I can't wait to get out on Varner with you on that bad boy!


MikeA57 - that is a Bass Pro Shop XPS 5/5 output battery charger... so you can charge 2 batteries with 5amp output. That red thing is a battery selector switch - it allows you to have both batteries hooked in parallel for 12v; but, that switch allows you to run only battery 1, battery 2 or both batteries at the same time to control the trolling motor

I like that setup a lot. I might have to consider getting me one of those switches. I had originally thought I would just have one batter dedicated to the trolling motor at all times, but it does sound like a good idea to have a choice to switch it back and forth. Did you have to put your trolling motor on that pedestal? I'm about to mount mine and had planned on just mounting it directly to the deck. Then again maybe for wiring purposes it may be easier to put it on a mount. Oh boy.

That's a great looking rig! Very neat and well done. =D>

looks great!

cybereyes said:

Did you have to put your trolling motor on that pedestal? I'm about to mount mine and had planned on just mounting it directly to the deck. Then again maybe for wiring purposes it may be easier to put it on a mount. Oh boy.

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You have to have it up atleast level to the gunwales... otherwise it will never "seat" itself in its' mounting bracket.

I think he could have got away with out using that 2x or whatever he used, but it does add strength and takes the pressure off the deck when it's mounted like he has it. Plus the cord coming out of the head of that that goes to the foot control can get in the way of the gunwhale if it's too low... that's the problem I have with mine and it's mounted directly to the deck.

cybereyes said:

I like that setup a lot. I might have to consider getting me one of those switches. I had originally thought I would just have one batter dedicated to the trolling motor at all times, but it does sound like a good idea to have a choice to switch it back and forth. Did you have to put your trolling motor on that pedestal? I'm about to mount mine and had planned on just mounting it directly to the deck. Then again maybe for wiring purposes it may be easier to put it on a mount. Oh boy.

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I believe i got the switch at Cabala's. As Russ mentioned, you can choose from either, both or neither battery. The last option is nice to cut off power to the rest of the boat for wiring etc.

The only reason the TM is up on the pedestal is that I have the front platform hinged at the front so that I can take a couple screws out and flip it up for access to bolts, wires etc. But Saturday when I discovered that the TM was hitting the seat I needed to move it (the TM) forward a couple inches which prevented the platform from hinging because the TM is slightly hanging over the front of the boat. The easy solution was to put the pedestal there which provided clearance. See the pic below for a visual of what I mean by the front platform hinging.

I'm not so sure I like the pedestal the TM is sitting on. In retrospect the hinged front hasn't been all that useful. I would have better served by just having an access hatch cut in the middle of the platform somewhere. I will probably add that hatch sometime in the future and move the TM back down on the platform. I think it looks cleaner.

Poolie

russ010 said:

Awesome job Poolie!!! I can't wait to get out on Varner with you on that bad boy!

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As soon as I get the back seat mounted I'll hold you to that. From the looks of what came out of Yahoola we might have to hit that one too.

I think I lucked up a little at Yahoola - but, most of my success comes from fishing the crap out of one spot where I know bass should be.. I'm not a power fisher by any means, and I'll throw 9 different baits (that's how many rods I carry with me at once...) to the same spot. When I find what is working, I'll stick with it to get a limit, then move on to bigger baits for bigger fish... but at Yahoola, that one was hit or miss and they were killing it.

but I've got a new technique (well, new to me) that a lot of people don't fish - and it has started showing results...

russ010 said:

but I've got a new technique (well, new to me) that a lot of people don't fish - and it has started showing results...

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Did they stop the ban on dynamite in your part of the country?

:shock:

Jump This said:

russ010 said:

but I've got a new technique (well, new to me) that a lot of people don't fish - and it has started showing results...

Click to expand...

Did they stop the ban on dynamite in your part of the country?

:shock:

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haha... well you can't use dynamite in the reservoirs that are drinking water... but no one said anything about not using the old phones that you wind to dial out...

russ010 said:

Jump This said:

russ010 said:

but I've got a new technique (well, new to me) that a lot of people don't fish - and it has started showing results...

Click to expand...

Did they stop the ban on dynamite in your part of the country?

:shock:

Click to expand...

haha... well you can't use dynamite in the reservoirs that are drinking water... but no one said anything about not using the old phones that you wind to dial out...

Click to expand...

Ha... I like your thinking there. Does sound a little scary to be sitting in an aluminum boat trying that technique though.

it doesn't shock you... I don't know why though. Honestly though, I've only done that once at my pond back in South Carolina because I wanted to see how big the fish in there were... it's amazing how the fish just roll up to the top of the water

Makes sense I guess. The boat isn't the path of least resistance to a ground, unless of course you had an anchor down with a metal chain.