You asked for advice, so here is mine. I have a 24' Premier with almost identical seating as yours. I have a problem (when I load it down with people) with it listing to the port side. I simply make the heaviest guy sit behind me/captain's chair in a folding chair to help or eliminate the problem. The list makes it hard to steer and hold course.
But, my biggest problem and it sounds like you might run into this too, is it is "MY WIFE'S BOAT". There will be no modifiing for fishing. I used it to place some brush with Nimrod a couple of years ago and placed some condos in Ouachita. My sins were explained for some time after. You have probably heard me cry about my fishing boat becoming a storage bin;...that is different.
We do have plans for some re-upholstering and a new bimini for this summer. We love to cruise the river to sand bars for an afternoon of grilling and swimming.
DP