OldReliable wrote:
I recently bought a 10' Jon Boat with an Endura 30 12v trolling motor.
It's a 2004 boat, with no upgrades at all. I want to put sometime and
elbow grease into this boat and upgrade it both so I can fully enjoy
it, and in addition so I can sell it for a good price when I eventually
decide to get a bigger boat.

I will be using this boat mostly to launch from the tidal creek in my
backyard, head a mile down the creek to the intracoastal waterway and
fish for whatever is biting that day. I'm a beer enthusiast and I'd
like to find a way to make more storage available, use the boat at
night, and do any other interesting upgrades that won't be incredibly
expensive.

What upgrades do you recommend?

I've got a 12' that I use for small pond/lake fishing around here.
First thing I did was put fishing seats in it. I attached the base to
the metal seats. Next, I glued a strip of carpet to each side of each
seat, about 6" wide. This keeps pliers, lures, etc from sliding all
over the boat.

Good idea about the carpet basskisser, I like it.

As for the bigger boat, I've already got an 18' fishing boat so I don't
need to get anything bigger right now. This boat is mainly to keep in
my backyard and play around with when I didn't want to hassle with
dropping my big boat. I like the beer cooler idea too.

The creek is very shallow during low tides, and I often have to lift
the shaft out of the water and paddle through the shallow parts if I
don't leave/return within the 3-4 hour window of High Tide. I'd like to
find a way to more evenly distribute the weight from the battery so it
doesn't drag the boat in low water as much. I'd also like to make the
seats more comfortable and perhaps hollow them out so I can use at
least one for storage. In addition to drinkin beer, I do intend on
using the boat to do a lot of fishing, travel over to the islands that
divide the waterway and the ocean, and simply enjoy the scenery of
summer in Wilmington, NC.

What are some other good ideas?

You might get an idea or two here..
http://www.redchaser.com/flatsboatonbudget.htm

--
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
..

On 21 Feb 2006 14:26:36 -0800, "OldReliable"
wrote:

What are some other good ideas?

If you are really going to spend a lot of time in the boat I'd get one
of those clamp on swivel seats with a back rest. Also, what about an
inexpensive fish finder/depth sounder?