Retired to the Pond

[coosa]

Retired to the Pond

Not me, it's the old boat that is spending it's retirement years on my 4 acre pond. My dad bought this boat some time in the mid 60s, and it was really a step up from the wooden boat that he made himself. This boat was made by DeSoto Manufacturing of Memphis, and we spent many days fishing in it when I was growing up. Heres the only picture that I have that includes part of the boat:

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That is my father and daughter in 1979. After I finished college, got married, and took a job, I would still visit often and we would go fishing. It wasn't a very comfortable boat, so I convinced him to let me take to my shop and refurbish it. There were no places like this forum back then to get information on how to do it, so I just did what I could to make it more of a bass boat.

I added a foot control trolling motor, built a low deck on the front and put in a front pedestal with new seats. I also made a box for the battery behind the front seat, ran wiring and added running lights, and rod holders for each side. I painted it and the tilt trailer that he already had. We decided against putting a floor in the back and middle sections, and just put down marine carpet to try to deaden the noise. The carpet lasted about 20 years, but most of it has fallen apart by now.

We used it set up that way until he retired and bought a new Bass Tracker. He kept the DeSoto, but we seldom used it, so I got him to loan it to me for several years when I didn't have a boat.

My father passed away in 2000, and I really didn't need it, so a few years ago I decided to retire it to the pond. My daughter who was almost 2 in the picture is now almost 42. The years have been kinder to her than to the old boat. Here is a picture of it now.

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I originally had a 2x12 for mounting the tm , but replaced it with a a 2x6 when the first one rotted out. I got too much weight in the front with the initial refurbish job, so I went back as light as possible as I repaired it over the years. The front deck covered the entire front floor, and I went back with just a half floor; just enough to provide a level spot for the foot control. My belief is that the floor needs to be level for using the foot control, but only that part has to be level.

I first mounted the pedestal by putting 2 bolts in through the lip of the front seat and 2 toggle bolts through the seat. It still felt flimsy, so I found a piece of ¼" aluminum and put it between the pedestal and the seat. Those toggle bolts have held for 40 years. Of course, the front fisherman never sat in the pedestal seat when the outboard was running, so he had to arrange his gear so that he could easily move back and forth between the pedestal and the 2nd seat. During the years that I finished alone in it, I had to constantly walk the length of the boat when I switched motors.

She lives on the 4 acre pond now, so she is out in the elements all the time. The transom has completely rotted, so she is confined to the pond unless I decide some day to fix her up again. It certainly could be done; the hull is still solid after more than 50 years of work. I think it would be fair to say that this boat has been mistreated, but it has never leaked a drop of water, and I think that is pretty impressive. ..

Good boating to all!

 

[86tuning]

There's plenty of memories in that old hull. Thanks for sharing!

- Brian

 

[turbotodd]

Thank you for sharing the memories. Brings back a few of my own.

Years ago I lived in a neighborhood of 2 houses. Ours and the one down the road about 2 miles away, it was a farm. Behind our house was about 8,000 acres of undeveloped land that some doctor owned and said we were fine to use it, just don't tear it up or build anything. No problem. Well I was out exploring one day after school (I think I was 12?) and found a pond. Nothing big, just an old farm pond, maybe an acre and a half. I knew there was big snakes around, saw one with a frog sticking out of it's mouth. Big bodied snake kept trying to show me his teeth. Probably a cottonmouth. So I didn't bother getting INTO the pond to see how deep it was. Well, I kept my exploration up, and found my way home. About that time my dad gets home from work and says where you been. Told him I was out at a pond. He says what pond....then of course the curiousity got the best of him too. We hopped on his 3 wheeler and rode out there, found a halfway trail. Ain't nobody been out there in ages, don't even look like the doctor had been there. Also found an old house and LOTS of antiques that were scattered around it's remains. Anyway, dad and I stood there pondering the pond and dad said lets go get a fishing pole. Went back to the house, grabbed a couple rods/reels and went back to the pond. Caught our bait (grasshoppers) and wore out the bream. Big ones too. They were obviously hungry. That was memorable. A few months later in the dead of winter dad shows up from work and says lets go get a boat. I'm like whatever. Same deal, just an old 12 foot flat bottom that had a ton of leaky rivets but it would float long enough for us to figure out what was in the pond. Well we just left it on the bank, flipped over so rain didn't hold in it, only problem was the snakes liked to get under it and when we rolled it right side up, the darn things would come out mad.

So one of the things that we learned about the pond was it's depth (about 8' in the middle) so there were bound to be some decent fish in there. Dad and I fished that pond many an afternoon, caught TONS of bream, never kept anything but he always told me that if you catch a bass bigger than 4 lb, he'd mount it. Now I'd fished it a ton of times and never once caught a largemouth bass, not once. So I figured he knew and was just trying to make me feel good. Didn't stop me from trying, though. One afternoon I went out there alone, fought off the reptiles, hopped in the boat and had to shag another water snake out from under the seat while floating around in the middle of the pond. I seen a submerged treetop and threw a grasshopper and a worm together right into the tree and behold; the cork went under immediately and took off. Pulled up a 5 1/2 lb largemouth after a little fight (and it pulling me AND the boat around the pond). I was so excited I probably peed my pants, course you couldn't tell after I fell in the mud a time or two trying to hurry up & take the fish back to the house (on foot). Put it in a bucket of ice water and kept it there til dad got home, course he saw it and immediately we took off to the taxidermy. It's still on my wall, 32 years later. The boat? Still have it, but not on that pond. It's at my girlfriend's house. Her nieces like to use it when it rains a lot, they use it to float their ditches. They have a blast in it, as my dad and I did.

So yes, memories....that I can relate to.

The pond? Gone. The land? Nothing but low rent housing. Dad & mom still live in the same house; unhappily I might add (forced neighbors are mostly trouble). Thousands of cheap thrown up 900 square foot houses, most of them are sinking because the entire area was once a rice field and sits at the base of a 900' hill, water runs down the hill when it rains. All the landscaped yards and concrete don't do jack for drainage so the old neighborhood I used to live in stays wet year round, and the skeeters grow as big as the Robins. NOTHING good came out of building all those houses. Well maybe one thing. The rich doctor got even richer when he sold the lots. The cops are there multiple times daily with stabbings, shootings and drugs being the unfortunate norm.

 

[coosa]

Interesting story, turbotodd. It's sad that the neighborhood turned out that way, but it happens everywhere. At least you have the memories.

 

[cracker39]

Simple old fishing boats seem to hold the most memories - not the $100,000 fishing machines!