My SS-235

[BenLubbs]

Well you guys have offered help so I think I am going to take you up on your offer My Slickcraft is in need of setting up and I have never had a boat this big before and have only fished on ones this size twice so I'd like some advice from the experts. Here are some pictures of the way things stand right now:

Sitting in the drive way after picking her up

In storage next to some trailers (She looks a lot bigger next to them )

The electronics include: Lowrance X-135 ? Fishfinder, Motorola Marine Radio, C/Star Costal Navigator, Osprey Trolling Speed Indicator, and Autohelm SportPilot +

Cockpit overview: not perfect, but not bad for a 36 year old boat either

Stearn: I will be the first one to ever name her! The name? I haven't come up with the right one yet

Now for the rigging

The boat only came with 6 rod holders (3 per side) 4 of them are Titelocks the rear ones on each side are an older style that are mounted on a ball and have a wing nut that tightens the end down on the ball to hold them in place. The problem with these are that they still can rotate some even when tightened down. To prevent this, the previous owner ran a chain from the open end of the rod holder back to a stand off for the rail. The rear most rod holder is about 4ft. from the back of the deck. The next two rod holders are about 3ft. from those and are within 1ft. of each other. (See the picture below to get a visual of the set up).

Right now I am planning on making some replacements for the rear holders (I have full access to a tool shop), or buying some if I find them for the right price (anyone? ). Also, I'm not sure about the whole spacing of the holders. On my old boat, I only ever ran one leadcore and one dipsey per side. Right now I have 4 leadcore set ups and 2 dipseys, but I'm not sure I want to run 2 leadcores per side, especially if the holders are that close together. I'm open to opinions and ideas.

Next for the rigging list is downriggers. Right now I have in my possession 6 workable downriggers. I have 2 old style Rivieras, the ones that the wire runs over top of the rigger arm. I have two newer Rivieras that the wire runs under the arm (they are old enough that they do not have clutches). For these, I have two bases, but I am considering making (or buying new from Riviera) bases for the other two. I have also considered converting the older downriggers to the newer style to reduce the chance of the cable coming of the pulleys and such. All of the Rivieras are manual, have 4ft arms on them, and all have working counters.

Next I recently purchased two Proos downriggers,both with 3ft. arms. One is an electric model, and one is manual. I tried the electric one and it seems to work fine other than the "clutch" plate not being tight enough. The manual rigger is in a little worse shape. It is missing the pulley that fits on the actual counter, and the rivet that goes trough the large pulley on the end is broken. Both of these are relatively easy to replace.

So, now for the questions.

Which and how many downriggers would you choose to keep, or would you get some different used ones (new down riggers really don't fit in my budget and there are enough used ones for sale that I could find almost any brand and type in good shape). Electric downriggers are appealing because they are very handy especially if I go fishing by myself. Opinions?

Next, how would you mount the downriggers? The Proos riggers do not have any swivel bases (again I plan on making my own or buying a used pair for the right price). If I were to mount only 2 down riggers, mounting them strait to the boat would be easy because the gunnels are flat. However, if I were to do corner and boom riggers, I would most likely need to mount them on a rigging board because the stern has a slope on it. Would you go with 1 downrigger per corner or 2?

Next, rod holders and spacing. Would you leave them where they are, add more, or just change the position?

The last thing is my autopilot. According to the previous owner, the autopilot on the boat is broken. I haven't had the boat on the water yet so I haven't tested it myself. I downloaded the manual from Raymarine's website and looked through it. My first thought is that it might need to be calibrated again for some reason. Other than that, all I know is that Raymarine doesn't service the units anymore so if it is something really bad, I am out of luck.

Anyways guys, thats my boat and the situation. Feel free to comment and give your opinions because as I said, this is the first boat I have ever owned of this size and I'd like to get the setup right the first time.

[Nailer]

I looked at a few of the 235 before buying my Tiara 2000. I must say, I didn't see any as clean as that one. Good job on getting the merc drive. Great find.

One rigger off both back corners is all you need. If you can get them on a swivel base, all the better. Keep the back of the boat open for netting fish.

As you get used to it, 2 divers, and 2 core/copper lines out each side will suite you just fine.

Get/make a tree for the high lines (2" alum. 1/8 pipe works great). I made mine short enough to keep the net in. The diver rods should be mounted mid ship.

I mounted a board (iron wood) on some stands along my gunnels.

Notice, the third pic v the other two on the tree. The tree in the third pic is made with too short of an angle ( I had to remake them ). A 45 and 50 deg angle works much better with a slight forward off set on the top holder.

I have a Raymarine Sportpilot on my boat. Where is the compass located? It should be as close to mid ship and at or near to the water line as possible. It is a good idea to Linearise them once and awhile.

[1mainiac]

3 riggers one on each corner and put the Proos in the center. Get better rod holders or build them for diver rods and trees or a rocket launcher for the core and such.

[JWheeler]

Ah.... The salmon fishing sickness started with my cousin on his Slickcraft. Boated a lot of fish in it. Big and stable. Have fun and good luck

[Grant Sadler]

Nice find Ben, you'll be very pleased with that boat a couple of my freinds have a S.C. nice boat. As for rigging don't be in a rush and do it right, the guys on here know what it take's

Good luck and keep the picture's coming as you progress with your adv.

Note: my wife told me I could get some new rigger's this winter so I may have 4 electric cannons for sale "cheap" we'll see how it go'es

[jay d]

2 words for you,track system.you can change your setup to the season.

[Just Hook'n]

I would copy Ken's setup in a heartbeat with a GREAT suggestion from Jay - traxstech or berts. This is not cheap, but in the long run you will be very very happy.

If you have access to a machine shop, I would just buy the track and then manufacture the mounts for rod holders, down riggers and the like. Racheting holders for your dipseys and solid holders for your core lines work best.

The TREE that ken has is the way to go. I actually run a big jon tripple, but a solid one is great.

I love the guys that run the trees that swivel. This way you can keep your rods right in the trees and swivel them to the side (when fishing) or the front (when docking). Great way to go.

[A-Fishy-Anado]

2 words for you,track system.you can change your setup to the season.

I have to agree with Jay on the tracks. It will allow you to create your own fishing style and play around with it and allow you to change up when you see some other set up you might like to work into the mix.

Best thing you can do is hitch a ride and see other rigs in action. Everyone fishes a little different and usually always pick up a little something from every strange trip i go on.

[jay d]

Best thing you can do is hitch a ride and see other rigs in action. Everyone fishes a little different and usually always pick up a little something from every strange trip i go on.

[Yoda]

Boat setup is a personal thing, look at the suggestion givin, look at the way YOU fish and go from there. The Track system is by far the best way to go because of this. The only thing our our boat that doesn't change thu out the year is our rigger setup. We run 3, 2 outdowns and a center rigger. Starting in the spring when everything is up high in the water collum we'll run 9 to 16 rods, Lots and LOTS of boards the more the maryer. In the Detour area we are trying to cover everything from the surface to 30 feet, and everything will take hits most days.

From Mid June to Mid Aug. we are back to running a 5 to 9 rod spread

From Mid. Aug to Season end we are back to flooding the water collum again for staging Kings, Steelhead and Lakers.

So Our suggestion to you would be:

1. Put as much of the track system on your boat you can afford.

2. Put as many "quality" rod holders in the track system as you think you might need and then add 4 to 6 more, one thing you can't have enought of are the holders.

[Priority1]

Ben, She's a beauty. It looks like she has had a lot of TLC her entire life.

[Nailer]

Ben, keep this in mind when setting up the boat. The rods closest to the boat are the ones closest to the stern. Ie, riggers in the back, low diver, high diver, deep core, shallow core. The shallow core would be the farthest out on a board, and the highest on the tree (farthest from the stern). With a set up like this, you will never have to move poles when one goes off.

[BenLubbs]

Worked on the boat a bit tonight. Took a lot of measurements and made a scale drawing of my working area that I can bring with me and use to think of setups. Also, started pulling up the carpet that the previous owner put down, man is is dirty underneath. What do you guys do on your decks. I am torn because I can see where carpet would be nice so that it doesn't get slippery, but leaving as fiberglass makes it easy to clean:confused: I also found some more stuff that the previous owner left me, 4 more life jackets and a bunch of sets of rain gear:thumb: Started to strip some of the old line off of the down rigger poles so that I can make a few light line spoon poles and started to shorten some of my leadcore setups.

[Line Dancin]

Personally i hate carpet. A wet deck or fiberglass deck is the way to go. You can get a floor paint for fiberglass boats that has a grit in it so it isn't as slippery when it is wet. A deck preped like that makes clean up a jiffy. it also doesn't hold the smell like carpet does. Carpet gets the fish smell in it and it never goes away. Does your deck have wet deck ports on it?

Ken is right on way your rods work out. The big thing is figuring what you want to run, and the spacing to run it. And you can never have enough rod holders on a boat.

[Priority1]

I agree that you can never have too many rod holders. Tracks are nice, and allow you to move rod holders easily if you don't like the location.

[BenLubbs]

Worked some more on the boat Saturday and this afternoon. Saturday go the old stinky carpet out. Today I spent a lot of time un-stringing and restringing wires throughout the boat. Whoever added the electronics to the boat didn't give two hoots about making it look good or even making good connections. Right now the boat looks really messy because the seats are torn out of it, there is dirt all over from under the carpet, and wires are hanging out all over the place. The good thing is that I am getting the boat set up the way I want it, which is better in the long run because I am a bit obsessive about making things work right and look nice.

[headshkr]

You will be happy, We fish off our 74 SS235, It's been in my family since new and still runs like a top.

We run two downriggers of the back corners out to the sides. I have a short track just up from the rear cleat that holds two berts ratchet holders and a longer track up by the back of the front seat. Here we have our Berts Tree's that rotate "worth the dough" and another berts ratchet holder. We also run two berts ratchet holder spaced out accross the back that I run high lines on, especially nice in the fall up close running short stuff. So far this has worked very well for us over the past few years. One much used addition is a 36" bag, this really settles the boat down in rough water and allows us to get the right speed. Oh, tacke the rear jump seats out, this makes life much nicer!

There is another SS235 that runs out of Grand Haven that has a very nice radar arch and raised canvas. That is another very nice way to go. Our is equipped with the Merc 188 (Ford 302) we can fish on pennies each trip.

Good Luck, post some pic's when you get her all equipped.

[BenLubbs]

only 3 more days of school and then I have all the time I want to work on the boat, I cant wait

[BenLubbs]

We run two downriggers of the back corners out to the sides. I have a short track just up from the rear cleat that holds two berts ratchet holders and a longer track up by the back of the front seat. Here we have our Berts Tree's that rotate "worth the dough" and another berts ratchet holder. We also run two berts ratchet holder spaced out accross the back that I run high lines on, especially nice in the fall up close running short stuff. So far this has worked very well for us over the past few years. One much used addition is a 36" bag, this really settles the boat down in rough water and allows us to get the right speed. Oh, take the rear jump seats out, this makes life much nicer.

Thanks for the advice. The previous owner already removed the seats in the back, I never even saw what they looked like:thumb: When you say you run a bag, I'm assuming you mean a drift bag. Where do you run it from?

[Nailer]

When you say you run a bag, I'm assuming you mean a drift bag. Where do you run it from?

Trolling bags are run from mid/forward ship. I mounted cleats near the front of my windshield on my 20' Tiara.

You run 1 off each side.

Bags are worth the $80 investment. The really stabilize you boat, as well as slow you troll.

The two best bags around are, Amish buggy bags, and Dick Boyajian bags.

Dick Boyajian in Manistee (231) 723-0013.

Dick is a local retiree who makes an excellent quality trolling bag at a very fair price.

[headshkr]

we run them out of the front cleats, about even with the back of the seat. The really help settle the 235 down in any water and help maximize speed.

[BenLubbs]

Well guys, the work on the boat has been going good although I haven't worked on it in the past week as i've been on vacation in Alabama. Needless to say the taste of warm weather has gotten me fired up to get the boat in the water as early as possible this spring. I got all of the re-wiring of the current electronics done plus adding some LED deck lights, spreader lights for night fishing, and a second battery to power all of the electronics and start the motor in emergencies.

Right now the seats are out of the boat to get a couple issues fixed. I also have the top off because it was not correct to begin with so I am going to get a new one made. Also I have the rails and other wood accents off to be refinished because they were all starting to get pretty beat up looking. I'm going to be enlisting the help of my little brother to help give the whole boat a good polish and wax before we take it out too.

Thanks to Ken (aka Nailer) I have a matching pair of Walker electric downriggers that I am going to be mounting on the corners of the boat along with some ball buddies. Also I have 4 Bert's ratcheting holders and 2 two rod Trees that that are going to get put on 4' Bert's tracks running up the gunwales in front of the down riggers. The downriggers and tracks are going to be mounted on custom made aluminum and wood pedestals that I'm working on.

As far as the spread I've made a lot of changes for this spring. I got two new lead core setups for a total of four. All are Penn 209 Reels on 9' heartland rods. I have 10, 7, 5, and 3 color setups plus some Stinger Dive bombs and Walleye Boards to go with. For diver rods I have Daiwia Accudepth 47LCs spooled with 50# PowerPro on Okuma Classic rods for the high divers and Okuma Magda 30 DXs spooled with 1000' of 30# BR wire on Okuma Blue Diamond Roller Rods for the low divers. For Downrigger rods I have Okuma classic 30s spooled with 15# Ande on Classic Rods.

Right now I'm hoping that I can get the boat on the water by the 2nd week of April. I'm sure the first trip will end up being strictly sea trials and making sure that every think works good there are no issues. I will get more pictures of the progress soon.

[Nailer]

It sounds like your making good progress Ben.

[FsnMachine]

Hey I like the boat. I had, but sold last spring an SS200. That boat and I had a lot of memories and caught a lot of nice fish. I sold it to get something just a little bigger plus the ss200 had an OMC outdrive which treated us fine but didn't want trouble.

Edited March 11, 2011 by FsnMachine
grammer

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

Sounds like you're having alot of fun with the ol SS, and can't wait to see the pics. of her now. Should fish real nice and be a jewel in the eye to view. Thanks for the update.