Thread: Greetings and salutations to all

Just coming aboard. Thanks to the welcome notes in the welcome thread posted. Been crappie fishing for better part of 20+ years. My first exposure was from Bill Dance tv show. Thought I'd like to try it. A few years later I caught my first crappie on a 6 & a half foot Ugly Stick with an Ambassador 6500C. Not what one would consider crappie gear but it was what I had at the time. Caught it on a Beatle Spin. Hooked ever since. First 15 years fished only springtime spawn along the Tombigbee River since at the time I was limited to blind fishing with telescopic cane poles with no fish finder. Once the kids were all grown and gone I upgraded and began to fish year round. I'm a project nut. Bought an XPress all welded aluminum bare bone hull and began customizing little by little over the 9 years I've had the boat. Built everything, including the trailer, in the boat myself from the aluminum false floor, the spider rigs, to the battery compartment. Due to age, I had to convert my tiller steer to a remote steering center console. Built all of that out of aluminum too. For organization I built an elevated side rod rack. Upgraded my fish finder and built a pedestal for it too. Only addition left to do is a remote control trolling motor. Finally narrowed it down to two models. Once I decide on which on I'll pull the trigger.

I also do a lot of fly fishing throughout the Rocky Mt. region from northern NM to MT. And do quite a bit of Midwest deer hunting both bow and gun. And predator control at home on the farm, mostly hogs, with a few coyotes, bobcats, coons, and possums to protect the turkeys. Also a long range shooting fanatic. Below is a few upgrade stages of the boat.

Original project was just gunwale false sides, side rod racks, rod holders and seat pedestals ( pedestals and rod holders were purchased, not fabricated by me. I just mounted them.) and indoor/outdoor carpet for noise control.


Second upgrade, raised Spider Rigs.


Third upgrade, steering conversion and center console.


Fourth upgrade, elevated side rod rack and console rod rack.


Gone fishing.

Welcome from Mississippi .