Aftermarket Adaptations
Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2020
By: Dan Armitage
They say any boat represents a compromise. By design, a particular vessel will be better suited for accommodating one activity over another. However, one of the joys of boating and boat ownership is that the majority of watercraft are adaptable, allowing passengers the opportunity to engage in multiple on-water pursuits. For example, any boat, including one with sails (!), can provide a suitable platform from which to fish—if not particularly comfortable, convenient, or efficient.
We’ve touched on the topic several times in these pages: rigging a boat to better fit a desired use. But it’s usually been about how to rig a pleasure boat for occasional fishing. The flip side is, what if you own a boat designed for angling, but want to explore the pleasures of more active watersports? Can you adapt a fishing boat to allow you to enjoy tow-sports, overnighting aboard, or comfortable cruising?
You bet you can.
Get Adaptive
I’ll start with rod holders, which I always begin with in articles about how to adapt any boat for more convenient fishing. We’re talking flush-mounted, usually angled, rod holders that are used to secure a rod while trolling, dead-sticking, or drifting. Popular accessories that allow rod holders to serve double duty include adapters that turn them into cup holders, support bases for overhead shade covers, and barbecue grills, cutting boards, or portable racks for SUPS, kayaks, skis, or boards.
Check out boatoutfitters.com for one of the most diverse selections of rod holder and cup holder alternatives.
Get Towed
To adapt most any boat into a functional tow-craft, bridles made of coated wire cable or polypropylene have been around for years. They snap onto the lifting rings found on either side of most boats’ transoms and center the angle of pull for efficient towing. Most of these tow bridles include a float to help keep the lines above the prop, and a snap to attach a tow rope.
If you have a sterndrive or inboard boat, you can also add an aftermarket tow hook to the center of the transom—making sure you back-plate it sufficiently to hold up to the stress of a tow. If you are more serious about exercising the tow sports option, there are permanent and portable tow bars available for mounting atop the transom or to the rear deck for even better towing capabilities. Overtons is a good place to start searching for towing accessories, as is Attwood Marine.
Get Aboard
As a matter of safety, any boat used on the Great Lakes should be equipped with a ladder or step with appropriate hand-holds to allow occupants to get back aboard without assistance. However, a basic ladder may not be suitable for constant reboarding when the boat is used for tow sports. There are several sizes and styles of boarding ladders and platforms and platform/ladder combos that can fit on most boats’ transom, either to the side(s) of the outdrive or across the stern for inboard applications. In addition to offering a convenient way to enter and exit the water, the platform styles offer easier access to the power heads of outboards and the outdrives of all marine engines as needed.
For ideas, check out the boarding ladder selection at West Marine and Garelick Marine.
Get Sleeping
As for overnighting aboard an open fishing boat, I have adapted my own center console model to allow me to comfortably sleep aboard and remain out of the weather. I had an Amish tarp shop fabricate a dodger that unfolds like a bimini top to cover the bow cockpit. Dodgers remain popular in the Florida Keys where I use them to dodge the weather when caught out on the Gulf or Atlantic, and I have always wondered why the handy portable tops aren’t more popular on the Great Lakes. I have clear and screen entry and viewing panels at each end to allow light and airflow as needed and use an inflatable bed as a mattress when sleeping “on the hook.”
Taylor Made and other commercial outlets offer quality aftermarket canopies and shades as well, and any good marine upholstery shop can fabricate a custom camper top, cockpit or bow cover to convert an open boat into a part-time cabin cruiser.
Thanks to modern aftermarket marine accessories, just because you own a “fishing” boat doesn’t mean you’re confined to merely wetting lines off your favorite watercraft.
About the Author
Dan Armitage is a popular Great Lakes-based outdoor writer and host of the Buckeye Sportsman show (buckeyesportsman.net), syndicated weekly on 30 radio stations across Ohio. Dan is a certified Passport to Fishing instructor and leads kids fishing programs at Midwest boat and sport shows, and is a licensed Captain with a Master rating from the US Coast Guard.
This article first appeared in the Summer Issue (Jul/Aug) 2020 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
tags: Accessories, Fishing, Retrofitting, Towables, Water Toys
