14' Semi-V North West Fishing Machine

[Alex_c]

Thanks! It ended up a bit sloppier than i'd like with the wires looking messy, but everything is marine grade connectors, glue lined heat shrink and marine grade hardware. That box is sealed in there pretty well with 4200 so hopefully I won't have to work on it for a few years!

 

[Alex_c]

Did a shakedown run today to check for any bugs before I add all the finishing touches. Everything went awesome, except for my rear hatch caving in. I thought the 10 screws holding the hinge in would be enough, but I used short ones so they wouldn't poke through the underside of the wood...well they weren't strong enough and while I was kneeling on it to adjust the trim it collapsed! It's an easy fix, I will add some of the 3/4" square tube and bolt through wood and metal instead of screwing into just wood

I had some insanely beefy gunwale braces made up that attach to the middle seats, but the boat is so solid I will probably go with something a lot smaller and less in the way.

Everything is really solid :mrgreen: I tried to "jump" my wake and see if the boat had any flex or weirdness going on, but nothing budged. The 2 hp motor putts along at great speed for trolling, the 35 'rude ran awesome, and the seating position was perfect! I was worried that it might be a bit uncomfortable reaching back for the tiller, as some of the tiller boats I have run in the past have been a real chore to handle, but it felt great and I never felt like I was fighting it. I'll probably add a tiller extension for when I am running the river since there is no shortage of debris floating down, and standing up is the only way you can really see what's in front of you when visibility is at 4" (It's like chocolate milk early in the season, and full of little landmines.)

[youtube]K198Pj9PL6A[/youtube]

 

[kensho1976]

That's a beautiful view. We don't have mountains like that in Florida! Heck, we don't have mountains at all. We're lucky if we have anything classified as a hill.

The boat is looking great. Regarding the back hatch, I used a piano hinge and small screws as well, but I had a lip for it to rest on all the way around. I never had it give way or even bend. I mounted the hinge between the hatch and the deck though, instead of on top, so I don't know if that matters.

 

[Alex_c]

Yeah, I am going to make a lip for it to rest on too. There's a lip along the side where it opens and it's solid, but i clearly need one at the hinge too!

 

[DanMC]

Now i just envy you !....great job !

 

[Jonboat Jerry]

Excellent work Alex! Vancouver is a beautiful place.

 

[Alex_c]

Excellent work Alex! Vancouver is a beautiful place.

Thank you, it's a great place to live. The fishing opportunities are endless..

Now i just envy you !....great job !

Thanks! If you ever come to BC I can hook you up with a top notch guide if you're in to catching Salmon and huge 100+ lb sturgeon!

I still have a few things left to do on the boat, finish paint, finish building the anchor setup, mount rod holders, mount speaker boxes...but it felt great to get out on the water in my own boat after almost a year.

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Good progress buddy, looks like the splash went well! Definitely beautiful landscape up in your neck of the woods, I was just southeast of you recently. Ephrata, Washington which was beautiful also and would have been a dream to be out on some of the waters I seen while there. These were from between Moses Lake and Grand Coulee. Nothing in Kansas can compare!

 

[Alex_c]

That looks sweet Dobson, I bet the fishing there is awesome.

Took the boat out this weekend on the lake. Everything works great but the seat mounts kinda suck, I am probably going to have to bite the bullet and get some pedestals, if I can get something that sits low enough. After some real world use, the swivels just have too much flex in them and the seat corners dig into the deck when leaning back to run the trolling motor etc...no good!

If anyone can suggest a solid, cost effective swivel mount that sticks up less than a few inches that would be great!

Anyway, the boat ran great, went almost scary fast with 2 people in it on a 1' chop on the lake :mrgreen:. The 20 mile drive up the dusty dirt road I think got a bit of dirt in the carb of the trolling motor, and it didn't work the first day, so I took it apart at the campsite and cleaned the carb out. Few things were clogged but it fired right up after I went over it. Went down to the lake that night at sundown and caught a couple nice 1 lb dolly vardens from the shore with a spoon, casting by the outlet of the creek right by the site. Lake was windy and the boat took a couple dings while beaching it on the rocky shore, but that's why I have a tin boat. :wink:

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Alex_c » 8 minutes ago[/url]"]Lake was windy and the boat took a couple dings while beaching it on the rocky shore, but that's why I have a tin boat. :wink:

Ha ha yeah I got my first scratch in mine and knew it was then christened. Plus I like to think of them more as memories or battle wounds. Killer photography and scapes Alex!

If you can access the bottom side of where the seats mount, you could weld some bolts to the swivel mount locations to act as studs (or even double nut and "sandwich" the swivel plate) and use a wing nut on the back side for quick attaching or detaching. Assuming that the quick change bracket is where the seats are deflecting.

Again....awesome splash! :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

 

[Alex_c]

The deflection looks to be happening in the actual swivels themselves, they use a plastic bearing and don't have the big rivet thru the center like the standard ones. Only problem is that the standard swivels, which I have 2 of, don't fit the quick mounts, so you have to use the special springfield ones. Anyway, it kinda works for now but I'll change it soon. My priority now is finishing my river anchor setup so I can catch some 10-30lb salmon!

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Good luck on the salmon that is too cool! You ever need a second just holler.... 8)

I am headed out tomorrow on some local lakes with a friend, searching for bass mostly but may try for some catfish early morning. Not a whole lot of sights and such in Kansas.... but here is a taste of what we have available in the catfish world! I caught this from the bank on a private pond. 31 inches roughly and 16 lbs.

 

[Alex_c]

Nice! I have never caught one before, they're pretty good eating arent they?

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Some people like them some don't. I do like them. Deep fried anyway, I have put some fish on the grill and it is okay but not like a grilled salmon by any means. Just my opinion though.

No luck for my fishing trip today. Cruised all over the lake and didn't catch anything other than some small bait fish. Lake that I went was over run with zebra mussels, wont be going back until those get under control.

 

[SCARNG2011]

dude, your tin is gorgeous! very impressed at the layout... looks soo good!

speaking of the seat pedestal... I bought a 7" from walmart and I don't like it. it flexes too much for my build as well... i'll stay posted on your build to see if someone submits an alternative.

great job again!

 

[Alex_c]

DOBSONFLY » 06 Jul 2013, 11:39[/url]"]Some people like them some don't. I do like them. Deep fried anyway, I have put some fish on the grill and it is okay but not like a grilled salmon by any means. Just my opinion though.

No luck for my fishing trip today. Cruised all over the lake and didn't catch anything other than some small bait fish. Lake that I went was over run with zebra mussels, wont be going back until those get under control.

I flew over Lake Superior recently and you could see how bad the zebra mussels are from 30,000'... They are pretty nasty buggers.

We have a few invasive species up here, which is why the use of live wells or live bait is banned in freshwater. They actually found a snakehead fish in a pond in the city recently, and they had to drain it to get it out. Those things are top of the food chain and would be pretty dangerous to native stocks. People that introduce these species whether knowingly or unknowingly need to get a clue!!

dude, your tin is gorgeous! very impressed at the layout... looks soo good!

speaking of the seat pedestal... I bought a 7" from <a href="https://www.walmart.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Link added by VigLink" class="vglnk"><span>walmart</span></a> and I don't like it. it flexes too much for my build as well... i'll stay posted on your build to see if someone submits an alternative.

great job again!

Thanks for the kind words. It's pretty comfortable to fish in and works great with 2 people fishing.

I did a bit more investigating and the seats themselves also flex a bunch. I think I need to raise the seats a bit, as well as stiffen the seats up a bit. I might return them for something better if I can't make something work.



Today I started the final step in the paint job. I primed all of the exposed metal with etching primer and metal primer, and then I wet sanded the yellow to prep for the final coat. Tomorrow I will lay down some paint. I want to take the boat out this weekend, but I might just hop in my buddy's boat so the paint will have enough time to cure and dry. I would like to do 2 more coats ideally.

 

[Alex_c]

Left the boat at home this weekend for the paint to cure and hooked in to a 10lb Chinook. First salmon of the year and first fish in my buddy's new rig (1546 Lowe Roughneck Frontier with a 40/25 Merc 4 stroke Jet). Caught this one at about 7:30 am and didn't have much more luck for the rest of the day.

The paint is done on the boat - all I have to do is put everything back on and I should be able to leave it alone for a while. I'll post some pics up later once it's all buttoned up with its fresh new paint.

 

[DOBSONFLY]

=D> Let's eat! :beer:

 

[Alex_c]

If I smoke some I'll mail it to you, lol :beer:

Here's a little vid of us goofing around at the end of the day. Water was about 4-6" deep at some spots haha.

[youtube]uiW_djImcxo[/youtube]

 

[DOBSONFLY]

Just about snagged you a goose too! 8)