Help with openbow casting deck

[sidechoke67]

I have an open bow boat that will be used mostly for family rides,
tubing, skiing, etc. I will also bass fish from it, and would like to
make some kind of casting platform on the bow. Whatever I do needs
to be removeable for tubing trips, and I really don't want to modify
the boat much. Would love to hear any ideas or suggestions on the best way
to do this.

The bow has 3 cushions. The front most cushion is removeable, the two
side cushions are attached on a hinge. I don't want to remove the hinges,
or have to screw cushions in/out to convert from tubing boat to fishing
boat.

Idea one is to remove the bow-most cushion when fishing, and build a casting
platform only where that cushion was, and over the walkway. This is by far
the easiest, most removeable, and would probably give me all that I need/want.

Idea two is to build a casting platform in 2 or more pieces that would go
over top all three cushions and the walkway. This would give me more casting
room. My concern here is that the plywood would dig into the cushions,
and damage them over time. I could cover the plywood with some sort of
padding, and I/O carpetting, but I would still be nervous about doing
damage over time. My other concern is that the inner sections of the
cusions are about an inch higher than the outside part of the cushions,
so I don't know that the deck sections would be that stable - meaning that
they would be more likely to pivot around, and dig into the cushions.

Anyway, if anyone has done a similar project, I would love to hear about it.
Any other ideas or suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks in advance!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

i would make a complete plywood cover for the bow, you are going to drop fish stuff on the upholstery. cover both side with carpet to protect the upholstery. you can mount a removable pedistal seat. to make it easier to install and remove. you can build a filler around the outside edge to account for the rise in the cushions.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

i would make a complete plywood cover for the bow, you are going to drop fish stuff on the upholstery. cover both side with carpet to protect the upholstery. you can mount a removable pedistal seat. to make it easier to install and remove. you can build a filler around the outside edge to account for the rise in the cushions.

Interesting idea T-Daddy, do you mean a cover resting on the upper deck area? or down in the Bowrider area at the maximum 'cup height' surface area? I'm curious as to some of the ideas around this myself
Side choke how far does 48" go width wise in that bow? Would you make it the maximum inner width?....or shy by a few inches per side or?
BP

 

[stevenw00]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

I'd go w/ a full cover, resting on the seat cushions. I piece of plywood w/ 2x4's laid flat around the edges, should cover everything and compensate for the raised front edge on the cushions. Cover it w/ i/o carpet, install a pedestal seat post, and put a few 2x4's under it that will brace against the deck to take some of the load of the cushions and keep it from sagging in the middle. If you hinge the sides of the 2x4s underneither, then you can fold them to the side for storage, and they will hang down as need when you install it.

 

[sidechoke67]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

Side choke how far does 48" go width wise in that bow? Would you make it the maximum inner width?....or shy by a few inches per side or?
BP

The max width (side to side) is 5'

The distance from the bow-most point to the start of the openbow
area is 4'.

After tashasdaddy and stevenw00 suggestions, I'm wondering now if I can go over the cup holders to get most of the support I need to compensate for
the drop in cushion height. I'm not sure why, but I was just assuming I would leave the cup holders exposed, but now I need to look at things again...

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

 

[stevenw00]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

It looks like the cup holders are even w/ the back of the seat, which means the front of the seats are still your high point. You'd have to put something back there to raise you up, but at least w/ the cup holders you would have a firm base instead of supporting off of cushions. Either way, I think you'll be able to make a nice stable platform pretty easily.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

I did this exact thing with a bowrider. Covered the entire forward area with 3/4inch PT plywood after removing all cushions used for seats. Left backrest cushions in place. Cut removable hatches in the plywood to access all storage areas. Covered the plywood with carpet and installed pedestal seat. Worked great and was easily removable. Only used a couple of holddown bolts to keep it from flopping in rough water. Good luck!

 

[RyanSS]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

Seems to me like it would be a better idea to make the side cushions easily removeable somehow. Maybe rig them so that they are attached with snaps or something. How are the cushions attached now to the storage bin lids?

 

[sidechoke67]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

How are the cushions attached now to the storage bin lids?

They are on hinges. The hinges are screwed into the fiberglass on the
sides.

I basically like the layout of the boat, and like that they are on hinges. My kids are young (7, 5, and 3), and I like that they can get something out of those storage areas without unsnapping anything or messing up the seats.

Whatever I do with the bow, I want it to convert back to family tubing boat, reasonably easily...

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

I am assuming by "hinges" on your storage bin seats, you mean strip/piano hinges. If so, just remove the screws and replace them with machine screws and wing-nuts for quick-change. You probably will only need a couple for each instead of the numerous screws. Good luck!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

leave the existing alone, and just make an insert to fit the inside of the bow area, like i said. easiest, will do the least damage. works very well. i have done many this way.

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[hotwls13]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

leave the existing alone, and just make an insert to fit the inside of the bow area, like i said. easiest, will do the least damage. works very well. i have done many this way.

Sounds like a really cool idea. I would love to see a picture of one you have done.

One question, if you build this to go inside the Bow area, are the bow area seat backs exposed? It would seem that you will get blood on the seat backs then. How do you cover the seat backs to prevent this?

 

[sidechoke67]

Re: Help with openbow casting deck

It would seem that you will get blood on the seat backs then. How do you cover the seat backs to prevent this?

It sounds like your fishing involves a lot more blood than mine. Are you using a gaff in saltwater? I am just freshwater fishing for bass with lures. My fish may bleed a tiny bit - but not enough for me to worry about getting blood on the seat backs.