Looking to get an All-Purpose Jon Boat to mod. Any advice?

[FLBoatman]

Hey everyone-

I'm apparently new here on the forums, just not to boating. I currently have and use a 20ft Open Bow Sea Nymph with a 100hp, 9.9hp, and all the goodies necessary on it. This thing is a beast of a boat, and weighs a ton because it's extra deep and has crazy high sides! :shock: It's great for the Great Lakes, or Chesapeake Bay, or the Gulf of Mexico, but I don't necessarily live near the ocean(unfortunately! :| ).

I live in Western PA where there are lots of lakes that don't let you use greater than a 9.9, the Big 3 Rivers around Pittsburgh, and of course, tons of small waterways all over the place! So here is where I stand now.

I'm currently trying to get rid of Miss Beastly, and go buy a 16-18ft Jon boat. I'm looking for a very basic start- no mods on it or anything. I'm going to modify that sucker until it's exactly how I want it- white colored, adjustable center console, bimini top(or something like it), live wells, and room to take 4 people out on the water. As for where I want to be able to go with this boat- well, the Big 3 Rivers(so I'll need power), small creeks and little water ways(so I'll need to run shallow!) and because I live in Western PA and spend a lot of time visiting family in Baltimore - Lake Erie & Chesapeake Bay. You may say it's crazy to take a jon out to sea, but I grew up near Panama City and had buddies that went out in them all the time without a problem. Some even went out over 8 miles....(yes, that IS insane! :shock: )

So now you have an idea of what I'm looking for. Are there any suggestions y'all have for me? Here are some pics of what I have in mind as the end goal-






Thanks everyone! I really look forward to hearing back from you.

 

[gillhunter]

Welcome aboard! I'll take a try at this. :LOL2: If I'm reading your post correctly you want a light, center console, with live wells, shallow draft boat to use in HP restricted lakes, shallow water, rivers and larger waters that will fish 4 people. That is a tall order.

I would suggest a starting point might be a MV 1648 NCS. I would eliminate the center console because if you are fishing both HP restricted and bigger waters you may want to have a 9.9 and a 25 or 30 to switch back and forth. A tiller set up would make this much easier to do.

A layout like this might meet many of your needs.

Good luck! I'll be looking forward to see what design you come up with. opcorn:

 

[FLBoatman]

Thanks Gill!

A tall order indeed, lol. I'm known for being a bit crazy like that, but if I can mod something overtime to meet all of my ridiculous expectations, then I'll do it!

That's a lot like what I've been looking at. G3 has this -

That's at the larger end of things for me, but it's roomier and has a nice 80" beam. All that extra room would be too nice! A 9.9 might have a hard time pushing it around though. :?

I honestly despise tiller setups, lol. I just don't like they way they feel when I'm movin around! But that's just me. Because of that though, I really don't mind the work involved in yanking things apart to swap out motors. It's not a big deal. In fact, I'll prolly build it in a fashion that makes it easy to pull everything out quickly, and snap it all back in with something else. I'm not sure how yet, but I'll come up with something!

Speaking of a center console on a 16ft jon, here's a great looking setup I came across! Definitely inspiring - https://youtu.be/4EhbccDRYGg


I'll work on some drawings here later with what I've got in mind, and upload them.

Thanks for the input again!

 

[craveman85]

I know the answer to this..... you need multiple boats silly! Just like me. 12' canoe, 16' tinny canoe, 10' modified Jon, 14' tinny skiff, now looking for a 16' tiller deep v and an older 13-17' Boston whaler.

 

[cva34]

You know what you want so IF ITS USED and sitting on carpeted bunks ..Look at surface under bunks..Maybe its not around fresh water but around this salt water..used boats sittin on carpet/treatedbunks tend to get pockmarks corrosion/electrolisis...whatever its called..Seen way more than I want too around here to have it fixed is 400+ depending on how bad it is...Just a heads up

 

[Jonboat Jerry]

Troll Craig's List every day. I snagged this hull, 50 HP motor for $700 and the guy delivered it.

A whole lot of work later this is what it looks like.

I fish AlumaZilla the gulf area around Hudson & New Port Richey.
Hope this helps...Jerry