Thread: Rigging a boat on a budget.

To make a long story short, my beloved 16'x54 jon boat is in need of a facelift. It started life with a brand new outboard that was promptly stolen. Primary propulsion became a mud motor. I hunted ducks and gigged frogs out of this boat extensively in Central Florida for several years. I wanted to turn it into a dual purpose rig, but at the time I had a number of friends who owned every type of boat imagineable, from flats boats all the way to three engine go-fast center consoles.

I have since relocated to Southwest Tennessee and I have found that a mud motor is severely lacking around here. I am on a limited budget and spent over a year trying to find the "perfect" outboard and I finally came across it- a 2002 Merc 40 2 stroke that was never cranked. I hung it on the boat, added a prop, and we're ready to go.

Now it's time to get serious about rigging this boat as a dual purpose hunting and fishing rig. As it stands right now, it's virtually a bare hull with a rod/gun box running from the rear seat to the front casting deck. The rear seat pods hold additional storage. For hunting purposes, I have a Beavertail boat blind that is removeable. I am rigged with my batteries in the front storage compartment of the boat. A power box (not a fuse panel, but a set of wing nuts) is in the rear of the boat.

My plans so far include, in order of importance:

- Navigation lights wired to a switch panel located in the rear of the boat
- A bilge pump wired to the same switch panel
- Trolling motor
- Depth finder(s)- 1 in the rear, one on the trolling motor
- Rod holders for spider rigging and/or trolling
- Power tilt and trim
- Replace the plywood floor with an aluminum one. More on this later
- Hydroturf "carpeting"

What I really need help on is what to buy in terms of a trolling motor and electronics. What would y'all do?

Some things to consider-
1- I have about the same budget that a new teacher would have. In other words, I'm not in a position to spend $3,000 on a trolling motor and depth finder.
2- I like equipment to be removeable. For example, I went with the Beavertail brand boat blind because it could be completely removed from the boat. I completely understand that some mounting brackets are necessary, but some are certainly more flush and streamlined than others
3- I'm relatively handy.

Pics of the rig:







What would y'all do? What works and what doesn't work? Where should I start? As you can see, we're working with a relatively blank canvas and I'd be happy to post pics as it progresses.

Take care,
WK