BASS BOAT BUILD

TINNIE TO BASS BOAT

I bought a tinnie around 12-18 months ago, I decided to build a front cast deck add a sounder and  an electric to create a Bass boat. Now I have really decided to go all out on the old faithful and build it into a sport Bass boat complete with latest sounders and electronics. here is the process so far.

This is the way I originally purchased the boat, it was painted with a brush and what looks like house paint. This became an absolute nightmare at later days, the paint was on their so thick it couldn't be sanded off and ultimately in the end I made the decision to book it in for sandblasting.

I originally had the plans to only build a front cast deck and began the build with 17mm ply wood, I shaped it out with cardboard and after I had my template all cut out I used it to cut out the deck with a jigsaw.

After the deck was shaped and fitted on top of the two front bench seats I braced the underneath with galvanized braces for extra strength and carpeted it with blue marine carpet. I then cut out the remainder of the wood I had left over from the sheet to fit the floor between the deck and the rear bench seat, then braced it with 4 by 4 planks for the floor support and then again carpeted it.

I wired and installed a basic Lowrance Elite DSI (Down Scan) 5 inch sounder on a temporary box which done the job (For Now)

After adding the deck, floor and sounder I screwed down some seats in the rear and Installed a MinnKota cable steer electronic motor to the bow and took to the water for some Bass in the river.

Boat went well on the water and even found time to anchor up and have a BBQ breakfast on board. serenity at it's best.

Since the original build I began to think that this setup is just not doing it for me anymore, Having an annoying sentimental quality to this boat I decided to strip the boat and have it sandblasted to take off the ample amount of house paint the boat had endured from it's previous owner and build it all again, basically from scratch, only keeping the original front cast deck. stripped the carpet from the ply wood as the ugly blue was just horrible and re-carpeted it with a more natural light grey colour. adding an adjustable and swivel  front pedestal seat to the deck and moving the Lowrance DSI (downscan) unit to the front and installing the transducer to the electric (with the use of Lowrance's Trolling motor transducer bracket)

I had a box made up that I turned into a console for a sounder rod storage. battery compartment, switch housing and had a screen cut out of tinted perspex to keep the sounder reasonably dry from wash spray in which I then mounted the Go-Pro to the screen. then had the console painted from the original plastic colour to the teal colour the boat is being painted and then had the hassle with wiring the switches for on board lighting, live well and navigation lights.

Then came the live well, marking out the cut in the centre of the deck and cutting it out with a jigsaw, recessing the the hatch and screwing the tank the bottom of the cast deck.

Installing the filter pump for aeration and a bung plug for draining through the bottom of the boat, the live well was actually one of the easiest and less stressful tasks to the build.

Easy rod storage on the side of the console takes all those rods off the floor of the boat and thus has no chance of feet stepping around or even on the rods.

Matching the upholstery to the colour of the boat was a very cool effect but..... I have a feeling this seat wont be final pick as I am going to have a more comfortable and more stable seat installed.

                               A cool view from the front of the boat before the paint is being laid.

I then began the rear cast deck, same process was used in building the rear as I done with the front deck. fitted in and carpeted with the matching grey carpet and cut out the holes for the rear hatches for storage and fuel tank.

A low profile fuel tank was added the rear of the boat before laying down and fitting in the rear deck.

Storage hatch has plenty of room for lure boxes, camera gear and various gear. Under the rear cast deck is also a false carpeted elevated floor so the water flows under it keeping the storage compartments dry.

                                                 Left side view of the boat before paint is laid.

                                            Right side view of the boat before the paint is laid.

After the console had paint laid custom plastic capping outlined around the perspex screen to give it a better finish and go pro detachable mount installed on the screen. 

Running out of money and really over budget, I will be using my original MinnKota cable steer electric on the bow until the new year, after then I will be installing the new MinnKota Riptide Ipilot, with so much more hands free to concentrate on fishing.

Front cast deck light was hidden under the console and puts out just enough lights to illuminate the deck with any light escaping from the boat.

Lights were also installed into the rear hatches for nigh time fishing. my aim was to eliminate the use of head torches while nigh time fishing.

One of the best decisions I made on this build was to have the rods traditionally stored in rod holders mounted to the side of the console.

A photo of the pump in the live well before it was actually installed properly. 

I have chosen to run with Lowrance's new HDS 7 Gen 2 Touch sounder unit as all the features Lowrance has incorporated in this unit is incredible. 

Stay tuned for updates on this page to come as the rest of the boat is being built and paint laid. new engine, electric and sounder also still to be installed..... expensive build for a boat i can't part with with a really annoying reason. But a tinnie can be converted to a Bass tournament boat. 

NEW UPDATE

The install on the new Lowrance HDS 7 Gen 2 Touch begins. This unit comes with a built in structure scan unit as oppossed to the previous HDS models where you had to actually install the Structe Scan added unit for structure scan, with the new Gen 2 touch units you just need to run and install the LSS-2 structure transducer as well as the standard skimmer. 

The Lowrance Gen 2 Touch has a pack full of features. including Moon and Sun phases, tides, fuel management, Broadband scan, Broadband and Sonar overlay, Touch screen, Down Sonar scan, Weather rader, Chart plotter, Structure map, Side structure scan, Lowrance to Tablet data transfer via Wifi, Engine management, VHF compatible, Radio connectivity and IPod connectivity, Sonic hub. 

The new touch screen makes things so much easier, instead of using the left, right, up and down button to move the cursor on standard HDS models, you simply just touch and it's activated, very easy.

I mounted the new HDS on the console new to the onboard electronic's switches, My intentions in the new year is to have a standard HDS Gen 2 screen to replace the Elite model on the cast deck and data transfer structure scan from the HDS 7 Touch on the console via an Ethernet cable under the flooring directly to the back of the HDS unit on the cast deck. This will give me instant structure scan on the front HDS unit.

 

With paint still yet to be laid, still with a few minor things to add to the boat layout itself like install a new customized teal seat, Navigation and stern lights, New deep cycle 12 volt battery to run the cast deck lowrance unit and electric Minn Kota, custom side fly rod holders and floor hinges, 

Boat next week will be stripped and prepped with primer and few mods ready for paint in the shop, the colour I have chosen will be Aqua Teal in 2Pac paint and clear. Rub rails while also be installed on the sides of the boat to prevent scratches from wharfs and jetty's. 

Overall the boat layout is reasonably finished if I don't find other things to tweak with, it's quite a long process to do it all yourself and has cost me more money than I expected I wont lie to you. but as I see it at the moment it's been kinda fun and the boat layout has been customized for everything I want, not someone else s style of fishing.

The boat will also have some very cool boat decals from my sponsors very                                   special thanks to those companies cheers.

              A simple Pelican hard waterproof case will keep your camera gear dry from water.

I am getting quite eager to have it on the water, and im estimating it will be just before christmas. Hope to see some of you out the on the river sometime.

 I will make another blog entry on the boats progress in a week or so.

 The turn out this console housing has made to the boat's look and practicality is immense, the console itself has so many uses. A housing for the sounder and chart plotter unit with dry spray screen, rod mounts, boga grip holder, switch housing, battery compartment, storage and Go Pro mount.

After the paint was laid the process of bringing the whole boat together came.

flooring, rear and fromt cast deck fixed. Console, seat and minn kota electric all installed. then the fun wiring for the lights, live well, two sounders began.

Lowrance HDS Gen 2 touch sounder was installed on the console, skimmer transducer and LSS-2 structure transducer also installed to the transom of the boat. Lowrance HDI 5 insalled on the front cast deck with the transducer mounted on the Minn Kota. New outboard engine to come early this year.

Installing the new Lowrance Sonic Hub audio system to the boat just added to the wiring process. But I must say.... the sound that comes from this boat is quite clear and very cool.

Tweaking the things I needed to tweak before the few last things added.

had the trailer painted with Black, DUO Lures boat decal laid, and The boat name "The Fish Cure" (Of Course) laid on the side of the boat. as well as the custom registration "OZBASSN"

And  a memorial tribute to my late Grandfather who taught me to fish.

Couldn't wait for this day any longer..... Launched the boat in style off the river's beach.

I must admit with all the work and cash I put into this boat. It really was worth the time. 

The boat was very practical, electronics went well, boat was quite stable on the water.... but definitely time for that new outboard, and electric.

Looking forward to spending hours on this boat. Stay Tuned!!!

UPDATE!!!

SO....... I had decided to bolt on a 30hp outboard to the transom to give it much more power and plane a lot easier and quicker.

I also equipped the boat with the latest 55lb Watersnake Slider Pro remote electric and also a new Lowrance HDS Gen 2 5m Chart plotter bolted next to the HDS 7 Touch for an ease of location waypoint fishing.

Also new from Lowrance I have fitted the latest Go Free WiFi to enable fast data transfer and data transfer between units and a tablet.