My SS-235

[Line Dancin]

Ben if you need any help i am laid off again. I can come out and help you if you need it.

[BenLubbs]

Ok guys looking for some help. I'm mounting the downriggers on the rear corners of the boat on some custom made platforms. I'd like to have a ball cradle right next to them that I can put the balls in when rigging or whatever. When ever I search for anything the only things I can come up with are Big Jon mounting bases that have the cradles on them or traxtech cradles but I don't plan on putting any track on the platform. Does anyone know where I can get just a cradle that could be screwed right to the platform?

[KJ pluggin]

These should work for you as long as your not using really big weights.

[Line Dancin]

ball babies. they work great.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/Trolling-Gear/Downrigger-Weights%7C/pc/104794380/c/104784480/sc/104305680/Ball-Babies/700358.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fboating-trolling-gear-downrigger-weights%2F_%2FN-1100553&WTz_l=Unknown%3Bcat104305680

[Line Dancin]

Beat me to the puch on posting that link.

[Twekd1]

Autopilot: I have the same auto pilot and the only problem was the gear fell off the motor, it was an easy fix with some super glue. If it is dead i will but the broken unit for parts for mine. [email protected]

[BenLubbs]

So I'll give and update on the progress. As it always seems to, it's going slower than I had hoped. The main thing is that I have 95% of the wiring complete and the little I have to do still won't take long. I also have the seats back in the boat with all of the tears fixed. My goal is to have the boat ready to hit the water by Saturday, although that will be tough. The main thing is that I would like take her out for a shakedown trip before the WMFL event next Saturday

Some pictures of the progress:

Two of the seats had major tears in the corners with foam spilling out and just looked plain ugly. I tore the seats out to take the carped out and took the covers off to get them fixed. Came back and I couldn't be happier with the results.

Seats mounted and no Carpet

Helm w/o extra fan/electronics but missing hand held GPS w/ mount

New Wire Route (wires were running under the wooden hatch cover before, keeping it from closing and pinching the wires)

LED deck lights mounted under the gunwales (5 per side)

LEDs in action

Fluxgate compass for autopilot relocated (cudos to Nailer for the suggestion)

2nd Battery wired in

New LED trailer Lights going on

Old trailerlights that apparently held water well

Tackle storage on each side of the boat

Shot while standing on the Bow

Now for a few of the toys:

All of the rods

Walker Electric Downriggers w/ Chrome Dual Rod holders and swivel bases

Fish Hawk TD (If you fish out of Holland and would be interested in borrowing it let me know )

Yogurt Flies to field test

A few other things I remembered while I was typing.

First, as far as trolling bags go, what size should I be looking at if I want to run one per side. I am probably going to have a lot of novices driving the boat and want it to be as easy as possible so I'd like to run a bag on both sides when I run them.

Second, as far as naming the boat. I found out the boat did have a name before "Pete's Treat". Since it doesn't fit at all for me I'm not even considering using it. The two names that I have sort of narrowed it down to are "Rod Ben 'der" because it describes what I do for work and what I do for fun. The other is "Right Angler", which my Mom suggested and I like because it goes with engineering that I am studying. What do you guys think?

[OldCool]

I'm voting "Rod Ben 'der"

[killerbe20]

looking great! such an exciting time!

[BIGTREBLE]

Nice looking ride. I got my 235 last year and loved it in rough water. And I hope to see what it will do in waves under 3 feet:grin:

[MY2SONS]

So I'll give and update on the progress. As it always seems to, it's going slower than I had hoped. The main thing is that I have 95% of the wiring complete and the little I have to do still won't take long. I also have the seats back in the boat with all of the tears fixed. My goal is to have the boat ready to hit the water by Saturday, although that will be tough. The main thing is that I would like take her out for a shakedown trip before the WMFL event next Saturday

Some pictures of the progress:

Two of the seats had major tears in the corners with foam spilling out and just looked plain ugly. I tore the seats out to take the carped out and took the covers off to get them fixed. Came back and I couldn't be happier with the results.

Seats mounted and no Carpet

Helm w/o extra fan/electronics but missing hand held GPS w/ mount

New Wire Route (wires were running under the wooden hatch cover before, keeping it from closing and pinching the wires)

LED deck lights mounted under the gunwales (5 per side)

LEDs in action

Fluxgate compass for autopilot relocated (cudos to Nailer for the suggestion)

2nd Battery wired in

New LED trailer Lights going on

Old trailerlights that apparently held water well

Tackle storage on each side of the boat

Shot while standing on the Bow

Now for a few of the toys:

All of the rods

Walker Electric Downriggers w/ Chrome Dual Rod holders and swivel bases

Fish Hawk TD (If you fish out of Holland and would be interested in borrowing it let me know )

Yogurt Flies to field test

A few other things I remembered while I was typing.

First, as far as trolling bags go, what size should I be looking at if I want to run one per side. I am probably going to have a lot of novices driving the boat and want it to be as easy as possible so I'd like to run a bag on both sides when I run them.

Second, as far as naming the boat. I found out the boat did have a name before "Pete's Treat". Since it doesn't fit at all for me I'm not even considering using it. The two names that I have sort of narrowed it down to are "Rod Ben 'der" because it describes what I do for work and what I do for fun. The other is "Right Angler", which my Mom suggested and I like because it goes with engineering that I am studying. What do you guys think?

Being an engineer myself I like the "Right Angler".

[headshkr]

What Brand of Auto Pilot do you have on her? I would love to add one to our SS235 to free up a set of hands while fighting/landing fish?

[BenLubbs]

What Brand of Auto Pilot do you have on her? I would love to add one to our SS235 to free up a set of hands while fighting/landing fish?

The boat has a Autohelm SportPilot + in it, it was made by Raymarine but has been out of production for a while. From what I've found Raymarine stopped serviceing the units so if you have issues you are on your own. I'm hopping that mine is fine and the guy just didn't know how to work it.

As for an update, the rails are mounted, the trees are modified, and the downrigger bases are built. The bases and trees got dropped off for powdercoat today and should be done by Thursday. Right now I'm planning on making the first trip out Friday evening after I get out of work. Hopefully there won't be any issues and I will be able to wet a few lines. If everything goes good friday I will be out Saturday for sure. If you're going to be out Friday night let me know and I will give you a shout.

[headshkr]

Thanks for the info. We just pulled our out of storage. Need a few dry day's to get her washed, waxed and loaded for the season.

[BenLubbs]

So this evening was the maiden voyage of the boat. Got gas in it at 5:30. Put 25 gallons in and bumped the gauge from 1/4 to 3/4. After some delays getting the family going we got out of the driveway about 6:00. We got to the launch by 6:45. Boat loaded off the trailer great. After a couple tries with the throttle the motor fired right up and purred like a kitten. Mac was dead calm once we got out of the no wake zone and the boat got up on plane great. Went over a couple of wave and guess what, I didn't get wet (probably one of the worst things about fishing out of a 16 aluminum boat). The boat cruised at 29 MPH fine. Got to the NO WAKE zone before the channel and were met by soup. Visibility was less than 100 ft. and I was thinking oh great:mad:

It was literally so bad that when we got to Big Red we couldn't see it from the other side of the channel. When we got the end of the piers we decided to turn around because we couldn't see and it wasn't worth the risk. Once we got turned around the went back thru the channel the sun was peeking out thru the fog and it was starting to burn off quick. We rode around a bit more in the NO WAKE zone to see if it would disappear. By the time we made it around it was looking a lot better so we decided to go out fishing for a while. Heard some chatter on the radio and tried to get a radio check but didn't get any response after several tries. Finally figured out that it was in hailer mode and then got a response. Set lines in about 35 ft headed strait West. Went with a 5 color, 7 color, two wire divers (90 and 75 out) and two downriggers.

The fog continued to burn off and for a while we could actually see the tops of the dunes. We trolled out to 80 ft, made a turn south, then turned back toward the peirs. Had one very short rip on the 7 color with a blue dolphin in 65 ft but otherwise just washed the lines. I had one tangle when I tried to let out a third diver with a SD on it that was a combiniation of driver and my error.

Got back to the launch and got the boat on the trailer pretty easily. All in all it was a good shake down other than not getting any fish. I'm very happy with the boat and glad I made the decision to upgrade last fall.

BTW, saw Just Hookn' on our way out, not sure if they just were heading back in or if they didn't go fishing because of the fog. Also heard Plumbcrazy on the radio. Only hear of one fish caught all night so it didn't sound like anyone was doing real good. I will probably try to get out there some time tomorrow again if the storms hold off.

Edited May 21, 2011 by BenLubbs
added one more pic

[BenLubbs]

I got the autopilot on the boat working tonight. While we were out Friday my brother pointed out that one of the wires was not plugged in (its always the obvious things isn't it ) Well anyway, I plugged it in to night (it was the helm position sensor wire) and was able to get the autopilot to turn one way or the other by holding a wrench next to the compass. Now I just need to try it out on the water (maybe on wednesday evening)

[BenLubbs]

Here are some pictures of the final setup of the boat.

Downrigger Mounts and Lights

Rod Trees

Side View

[BenLubbs]

Here's a few pictures my Mom took as me and some friends were heading out on the 17th.

I'm basically done working on the boat for the time being. The one thing I do want to change is getting some spreader lights to clamp on the top to shine out more toward the rods (the lights by the downriggers light up the water great but you can't see the rods all that great). I also want to add more rod holders to put unused rods in but that will probably wait till this coming winter. Other than that, I keep adjusting the boat setup slightly after each trip and each trip out keeps getting smoother. See you on the water

P.S. Yes, I know the boarding ladder is down in the water. I didn't notice it until after we had run to 100 ft and went to set the downrigger

[Nailer]

She's a great boat Ben.

[sherman51]

im glad this is my first time posting this thread. now all i get to do is brag on your boat and all the guys that helped you. those riggers and rod holders were an awesome upgrade. i went with big jon riggers because of the price i got them for. last year i got 2 sportsmans electric. this year i got 2 more pro tournaments with 4 ft booms and auto stops.. got them new for 525.00, i couldnt beat that. then i couldnt use the short booms on the ones i got last year, so i sold them and got 2 more pro tournaments. i just wanted 4 electric. i,ve fished big water since 77 and would never spend the money until last year for elect. but my point is i love walker riggers. if price had been even close i would have walkers. you do know that walker has auto ball retrievers you can get dont you?? they bring the weights right up to the boat. you,ve already pretty much already done all the things i was going to suggest to you. looks like somebody may have really helped you out with those riggers and berts holders. you didnt go wrong with either of them. did you get the same help with placement??

i really had a hard time choosing ratcheting rod holders and tracks. berts looked good and cannon looked real good. but i found 4 cannon on ebay at a real good price. so i got them. they were the double axis. then when i started to get more. da$$ they were expensive. so i checked the single axis, and they were just great for what i wanted them for. i found then at amazon.com for 65.00 each. which is about what berts sells for on ebay. so i came out ok in the end. im not meaning to steal your thread. what i wanted to say was if you get more tracks my advice is get the longest tracks that will fit your boat, then you can add holders for more rods or just move the ones you have. i made the mistake of getting the shortest one that would work. now i want to add another holder there. and cant do it. i,ve got to get 2 more holders, so i may go ahead an get the longer tracks. i just cant really afford to do that tho. i dont use wire or copper, just the lite bite slide divers. and my 4 riggers and outriggers.( i have big boards but i am in bad health and just dont like to mess with them unless i just have to.) i,ve been running 3 divers per side, this year im going to try 4 thats why i need longer tracks and 2 holder. sorry this is so long but you and your boat just got me excited. go catch some fish.

sherman

[Gander Club]

I know that I am resurrecting an old post, but I sure wish that I could see the pictures from this old post!