Bass boat to bay boat??

Discussion in 'Fiberglass and Composite Boat Building' started by nanoskiff94, May 24, 2016.

  1. nanoskiff94
    Joined: May 2016
    Posts: 4
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    Location: South Carolina

    nanoskiff94 New Member

    Hello! I am new to the forum and this is my first post... I have a 1984 pro craft bass boat that I am in the process of restoring. The floor, stringers and transom all need to be replaced. I currently have the cap off of the boat, but I have put the project on hold until I finish the build of my nano poling skiff. I enjoy salt water fishing much more than bass fishing, so I have been thinking about turning the pro craft into a "bay boat". I was thinking about doing away with the top cap, and making a deck glassed in flush to the top of the hull along with adding wide gunnels and a center console. I wanted opinions on using this bass boat hull to make a bay boat. The boat will be used for inshore fishing only, but I am still unsure if the shallow hull will be okay to use for this purpose.
     

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  2. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Welcome to the forum.

    In a word, nope, don't even think about it any more. That bass boat has many attributes that make it a good shallow water fisher/skier, but these same attributes make it a very poor bay or semi protected waters boat.
     
  3. nanoskiff94
    Joined: May 2016
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    Location: South Carolina

    nanoskiff94 New Member

    Thanks for the quick response PAR. I saw a post on another forum a while back about a guy who did something similar to an old bass boat, but he was going for more of a flats boat. I considered that idea, but figured the 115 mercury I have would make the boat too heavy to pole and cause the boat to not sit level in the water. Would making it a "flats boat" be out of the picture as well?
     
  4. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    There's not much difference with a flats boat, compaired to a fish and ski, like yours. They're both shallow deadrise, fat and relatively short. The fish/ski usually has more power, to snatch up several fat teenagers on a tube, but that's about it. Flats boats tend to be lighter and skinnier, so they're easier to pole around, but with modern trolling motors, not as much of a problem now.

    If you want to go into deeper, less protected waters, you'll need more freeboard and steeper deadrise. You'll also want a boat that's not quite as fat, so the ride is easier in a chop. It's not that you can't do this, but that it's just not well suited. Your boat in anything more than a modest chop will pound pretty good, with waves coming over the bow, etc. A skilled skipper can handle this, knowing the limitations of the boat, but the average guy could find himself in a world of hurt in certain sea state condisions.

    I don't know where you are, but down here, we lose a few skippers and crew each year in boats like that, trying to take on too much water, chassing a fish. Summer storms can rise up in minutes, turning a perfect day into a death match with mother nature. Simply put, your boat has about 18" of freeboard, so you need to stay in places where wave heights are no more than 1/2 this. A 2' chop isn't much, but tall enough to climb right over the rail on your boat.
     
  5. nanoskiff94
    Joined: May 2016
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    Location: South Carolina

    nanoskiff94 New Member

    Thanks again for all of the information. I will be using the boat in SC and NC ICW and inlets. If it would be too dangerous in these areas, I will continue to restore the boat to factory. I really want a boat that has a center console and would be a good setup to fish the icw and the waters behind oak island NC, and murrles inlet in SC.
     
  6. nanoskiff94
    Joined: May 2016
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    Location: South Carolina

    nanoskiff94 New Member

    Will this hull be okay to make a center console out of for fishing in the inlet and ICW in South Carolina and North Carolina??
     

  7. lake pirate rrr
    Joined: Aug 2016
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    Location: nashville

    lake pirate rrr Junior Member

    methinks no .. skip says unless ye like hammerheads keep it n fresh water ..

    ye an olde thread .. but i just sayin'
     
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