Thread: 16' crappie boat rigging suggestions?

It's been awhile, but I went out for my kickoff trip this year, and it made me think of this thread. I never posted pics of the rear platform.

Well, here are some pictures. I made it from a single sheet of plywood, reinforced with some aluminum angle. Very light, and creates some very nice storage. I store a battery, 6 gallon fuel tank, preservers, throws, etc, and still have room for a second fuel tank, if desired. Very useful!

Oh, and the fishing today went well. Got about 20 crappie 10-13" long, and three stray bass, including one about 3 lbs.

Unfortunately, I have not progressed at all in my fishing. Still using the same jigs at the same locations as the two previous years. I really need to learn how to fish!

Congrats on the rear deck. Really enjoyed your thread and pics. Brings back memories of past boat projects of mine and friends boats that I worked on. I can’t explain it but every boat I see I have to walk up to it and ck it out. Also every boat I see sitting that has been abandoned after its glory years I feel sad. I think this feeling started as a boy bank fishing rubbernecking every boat that came by and daydreaming of having one someday. By Gods grace, I’ve had at least one boat for the majority of my life. Congrats on yours and you seem successful in keeping it slimed.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm with you on admiring boats. As a kid, I did pretty well using my bicycle to get to the hotspots, but I was really happy when I got my first boat, and that joy has never left. Now, I work on boats for a living, working on 2-stroke outboards, mostly, and I occasionally will renovate a boat for resale, but that is just work.

This boat is one I kind of cobbled together, and I've had lots of fun with it. Had someone offer to buy it yesterday, which is kind of funny, seeing how ugly it is, but the answer was NOOO......

Still, I DO have a boat I'm going to work on soon, but will probably be for resale. A 1998 Crestliner Fishhawk 1650:


It's not too bad looking, but the interior is really bad. Will need all the carpet redone, new or recovered seats, and of course, a motor. Trying to decide whether to put a 50 HP or a 70 HP on it. Leaning toward a 50, as it is lighter, and should push the boat close to 40. Last time I put on a 70, it was only 4-5 MPH faster, and it drank more gas. But some people can never have too much HP!

Any thoughts on that?

The other thing I'm going to do is add LED lighting. I'm very happy with my bow lights, and I just got my hatch switches to light up the compartments, so it should work out pretty nicely. I'll make sure to start a separate post and try to remember to take pictures this time. :D

Thanks again.

-Tony

That does look like a nice project. As far as opinion on the outboard choice and this boat is definitely a flip project select the most marketable motor that produces the sales profits you are targeting. Good luck.

Well, I have both motors, and I don't think either will change the value very much. It's just a matter of choosing which motor the new owner will want.

The last boat I restored was a 1990 Sailfish 170 CC. Nice, clean boat, rated for 90 HP. I had both a 70 and a 90 HP motor. Although the 70 HP seemed like a great fit, "Everyone" said to put on the max HP on, so I did:

When I took the buyer for his test ride, he felt that the 90 was crazy-fast. Truthfully, it was. It was so fast, that if you weren't careful with the throttle, you could easily throw everyone out of the back of the boat. It was like a hot-rod. A little bit scary. He wanted the boat, but only if I would be willing to swap the 90 out for the 70. I did, and he was very happy with the boat. But I ended up doing two engine installs.

I don't want to do two installs on this one. Just trying to pick the best motor to start with. My guess is that most people will "want" the 70, but that the most practical motor for this hull will be the 50. Same tough decision as I had with the Sailfish, unfortunately.

Put the 50 on it. If they want the larger bad enough charge them to swap the motors and they will either pay or take what’s on it. The above boat looks sharp.