I just bought a 18' Bayliner I/O and would appreciate any help y'all could give me setting this thing up. I've just gone from fishing out of my Whaler which was very user friendly to my salmon fishing needs and now I need to set this thing up. The wife says she'd like to spend more time on the water with me but the other boat wasn't "very comfortable".
These are my needs. I need a kicker bracket that will fit on a swim platform and haven't been able to find one.
The gunwales on this boat are thin and I need to find a way to mount my downriggers.
Since it's not a real big boat I would like to use the smallest kicker I can get away with to limit weight but still need to be able to troll effectively with two riggers down.
I appreciate any help you have to offer as to where I might find some of these accessories. Thanks for the help. I've been salmon fishing for 15 years out of a couple diferent boats so I'm not new to the fishing game but this is my first attempt at setting up a family runabout for fishing without cluttering it up too much (or spending a bunch of money by trial and error). Thanks, Dave

I am green with envy wish I had your problem . I am fortunate to have a 14 foot livinstin. which gets real cluttered with gear. But then I could not afford to put fuel in your boat . I can fish two days onsix gal. Best of luck with your new ride as I said color me green . Glenn :

Dave,

Where are you located???

I have set-up a couple of boats the way that you are describing. More detail/photos of the boat would be necessary in order to give you really accurate information.

Please either post additional information or email it to me.

Hi Dave,

I got a great deal on a Seaswirl a few years ago that saw duty as a ski boat, but when I got it, I quickly transformed it into a boat for the Straights, and the Sound. It has a nice deep V, and a 140hp main motor with a 6hp kicker. The 6hp will move the boat at about 5.5mph in an emergency, which it did once when I blew a lower unit, and troll for 10 hours at 2 mph using only about 2.5 gallons of gas. (I always carry 9 gallons of kicker gas)

Here is a shot of the stern section.


The black squares on either side's gunnels are the downrigger mounting plates for my Penn 600's, and I have added a nice bait station, made out of UHMW, that includes a leader holder for hootchies and pretied mooching leaders and a spot for my brined herring bucket. I added a few rod holder inserts, and a rod storage rack that I fish a rod out of when trolling at Sekiu, using a deep six.

Here is a shot of the nerve center.


I have a Hummingbird finder and an Interphase finder for different uses, a VHF marine radio, and a mount to the right of the steering wheel for my GPS. The fish cooler goes up front and out of the way.

If you have radiused gunnel tops (rounded), you could do what I have seen on other "ski boats" where they bolt a 1" thick block of aluminum through the top of the gunnel with two or three countersunk bolts in a line and then run a reinforcing brackat at a 45 degree angle to the outside of the boat. Yeah, you are drilling a hole in the outside of your boat, but if you don't brace the torque from the weight and drag on your downrigger, you'll eventually rip a hole through the top of the gunnel, or crack it.

If your gunnels tops are flat, depending on your dowriggers, you may have enough room to spread out the stress by drilling a few "custom" mounting plate holes.

Don't know about the kicker bracket, but maybe you could trim the swim step. A kicker on the end of a swim step will act as a pretty powerful lever (simple machine), and may eventually cause some stress related issues unless you remove the kicker when you trailer the boat.

Finally, how are you going to steer your boat with the kicker on it? Some folks like the "EZ Steer", but the $125+ price steered me away. I bought a product from "Goldeneye Industries" that you attach to a 3/8" stainless rod threaded on both ends using a 3/8x24 die. The stainless rod was about $5 at a metal fabrication shop, I did the custom bending in my vise, and the connectors (stainless steel) were about $40. I already had a tap and die set. Here is a shot of the connection set up, notice the new lower unit.


Using this set-up I can steer the boat with the main motor controls, using the kicker for power. It does require that you go back to the kicker to adjust speed, or whatever, but when trooling for blackmouth in the winter or crappy weather in the summer, it is nice to be out of the weather, under cover.

Have fun setting up your boat! Hopefully this helped somewhat.

Andy

P.S. When we feel like it, we still ski out of the boat, and all of the add-ons come off in a matter of seconds.

I have seen runabouts with the rigger mounts on a 2x6 that is clamped to the back of the boat near the transom. Makes it alittle tough to get to the kicker but it works. I have also seen the right angle mounts at outdoor emporium and on cabelas. These mounts don't take up alot of room. If you need to reinforce your fiberglass try a piece of stainless steel backing. Have it cut a few inches ( if possible) bigger than the mount and then sandwich the fiberglass between the mount and the backing plate.

I have a 19' Bayliner that the previous owner mounted his kicker to the swimstep on a big piece of 6" aluminum angle. He drilled six holes in the step platform and bolted this angle to it. Then the kicker mounted to the upright section. It worked great, but he didn't let it go with the boat. Since I don't use a kicker, I don't need it. I see a lot of guys with Happy Troller plates, Erndog loves his!!

I just set me idle at about 700, so I troll at about 5-600 which seems to be great. At that rate, I can go 5 or 6 days on a tank of gas. One nice thing about the 2.3L!
My downriggers mount on the corners of the transom. There is a lot of structural wood under the glass, but I added some 1" oak under all of that for extra strength. I have an '89, so the transom is flat. The newer "Euro" tails make it a little tricker. I did put in some recessed pole holders in back as well since I stack poles on the riggers, I like to spread the poles out so if the bottome one releases it most likely won't get into the upper on on the way up. So far works great!

With the exception of the mounting blocks, you can't tell the family tube hauler is really a fish killing bloodbath machine in disguise!!

Dogfish

Sweet set up! What happened to your lower unit?

Dogfish, that is one heck of reply to my post. Thanks! A few more questions.
Would a 4 h.p. kicker be too small to control my boat while trolling? Does anyone know the pros and cons as far as trolling motor size goes? How should I determine what shaft length I need on my kicker. My swim platform sits about 8 inches above the water level and with the bracket I'm installing, my motor will sit up another six inches or so.
Where can I find different Scotty downrigger mounting brackets in the Seattle-Tacoma area so that I could drag my boat there and see which one would be the best choice?
Sorry about all the questions but the amount of salmon fishing knowledge on this site is pretty awesome. Thanks again!

Outdoor Emporium in Seattle and Sportco in Fife both carry Scotty riggers. I know Outdoor Emporium has the different mounts, not sure about Sportco, maybe someone in the south end would know.

wntrun,
Without seeing your setup, I'm guessing you could use either a short or standard shaft kicker.

For me, the primary concerns regarding kickers were weight and hp (pushing power). I have a 2-stroke Yamaha 8 (60lbs) that pushes my 16' boat along at 7mph top speed. Aside from trolling, I consider this engine to be my backup power source - which you may want to factor into your decision.

Last of all - if you can't buy the perfect something for your boat (or its too expensive), you can always custom fabricate something yourself. Like Dogfish, I've make a couple custom components on my boat that work much better than anything I could find in a store.

Thanks for the help everyone. Now I just need to put it all together. Should be fishing in a week or so!
Dave

RB77,

I blew a pinion gear in the lower unit when the engine was 12 years old. I was 11 miles from home on a windy day on Hood Canal. I was really happy I had plenty of kicker gas and a kicker that could push the boat at a reasonable speed.

Wntrun,

You're welcome. The boat is in the driveway, and digital photos are only a few minutes work. Not an issue. Anyway, have fun on your project, and if you have questions, AND A DIGITAL CAMERA, post your situation with photos and I am sure someone has overcome your issues. Is your swim step part of the boat (fiberglass), or is it an add-on (wood)?

One device I have found very valuable has been my handheld GPS unit. It is great when launching in an unfamiliar area to help you find you way back to the boat ramp. These units are available for $100 or more, but get a bracket mount for your boat.

Take care,

Andy