Best $250 or under You’ve Spent On Your Boat?

Stizzla

Stizzla

Crew Member
another fun thread...

What is your favourite mod you’ve done to your boat that cost under $100?
* edited to $250 as we know how nothing is cheap anymore

I just ordered 32’ of white LED strip lighting for the gunnels. It made me very happy on my last boat. It charges flashers and helps you get set up for those 04:00 summer fishing sessions! Pics will be posted after installing.
 
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I had to think for a while what was less than 100, not much on that list lol...I installed 2 of those USB charger outlets with a voltage indicator. Easy to check on battery status and fast charges my phone(s). They're about 20 bucks each on Amazon.
 
Here's a couple cheap projects that have made life a bit better on the boat.

First, I've got flush mount rod holders right at the rear corners of my gunnels. My downriggers are mounted about 3' forward, which makes the rod holders a good spot for the Scotty downrigger ball holders. Didn't want to permanently mount the ball holders, or lose the rod holders, so cut a short piece of PVC and epoxied it to the bottom of the Scotty ball holder with a piece of EVA foam. Holds the cannonballs perfect and I can remove when I want to use the rod holders for bottom fishing.

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Next, didn't have any good cup holders for taller mugs, and after spilling my coffee for the umpteenth time, built one for the dash with some leftover starboard. Added a couple other holes for pens, sunblock and blistex, fishing licence, and added some small holes along the back to let tackle dry after it gets a freshwater rinse.

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Finally, bit of a science project for fun. Built this UV light box to charge glow lures / flashers out of some scrap plywood and plexiglass. Only had to purchase the 12V power cord and the UV led light strip. Hard to see from the pictures, but the strip lights are under the inner plexiglass compartment which is waterproof. The last picture is after about 15s in the lightbox. This is version 1.0, I've since improved v2.0 with a smaller form factor (about 13"x 5" x 5") by adding dividers to allow the flashers to be held vertically. Can't say for certain it makes a huge difference, but there have been a few times where I've been out winter fishing and picked up a fish off bottom within 5 - 10 minutes of the gear coming out of the box.

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CBsqrd said:
Here's a couple cheap projects that have made life a bit better on the boat.

First, I've got flush mount rod holders right at the rear corners of my gunnels. My downriggers are mounted about 3' forward, which makes the rod holders a good spot for the Scotty downrigger ball holders. Didn't want to permanently mount the ball holders, or lose the rod holders, so cut a short piece of PVC and epoxied it to the bottom of the Scotty ball holder with a piece of EVA foam. Holds the cannonballs perfect and I can remove when I want to use the rod holders for bottom fishing.

View attachment 60688

View attachment 60689View attachment 60690

Next, didn't have any good cup holders for taller mugs, and after spilling my coffee for the umpteenth time, built one for the dash with some leftover starboard. Added a couple other holes for pens, sunblock and blistex, fishing licence, and added some small holes along the back to let tackle dry after it gets a freshwater rinse.

View attachment 60691
View attachment 60692

Finally, bit of a science project for fun. Built this UV light box to charge glow lures / flashers out of some scrap plywood and plexiglass. Only had to purchase the 12V power cord and the UV led light strip. Hard to see from the pictures, but the strip lights are under the inner plexiglass compartment which is waterproof. The last picture is after about 15s in the lightbox. This is version 1.0, I've since improved v2.0 with a smaller form factor (about 13"x 5" x 5") by adding dividers to allow the flashers to be held vertically. Can't say for certain it makes a huge difference, but there have been a few times where I've been out winter fishing and picked up a fish off bottom within 5 - 10 minutes of the gear coming out of the box.

View attachment 60693View attachment 60694
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I like em, smart little gadgets, might copy one or two.
 
I've $5,000 worth of $100 items on my boat. But my favs are;
1.0 Rear View Mirror- for watching rods. $65 on Amazon
2.0 Smart phone holder for dash to keep iPhone visible/well secured for calls and backup gps using Navionics. $ 89 at GPS Store
3.0 Radar Deflector- for deflecting tugs on the Fraser. $90 Amazon
4.0 Hard wired power and fixed mounts on the rear deck mounted under the roof for my GoPro. When the action starts just push the remote and record the next Tyee. Hasn't been used in years of course. $90
 
CBsqrd said:
Here's a couple cheap projects that have made life a bit better on the boat.

First, I've got flush mount rod holders right at the rear corners of my gunnels. My downriggers are mounted about 3' forward, which makes the rod holders a good spot for the Scotty downrigger ball holders. Didn't want to permanently mount the ball holders, or lose the rod holders, so cut a short piece of PVC and epoxied it to the bottom of the Scotty ball holder with a piece of EVA foam. Holds the cannonballs perfect and I can remove when I want to use the rod holders for bottom fishing.

View attachment 60688View attachment 60689View attachment 60690

Next, didn't have any good cup holders for taller mugs, and after spilling my coffee for the umpteenth time, built one for the dash with some leftover starboard. Added a couple other holes for pens, sunblock and blistex, fishing licence, and added some small holes along the back to let tackle dry after it gets a freshwater rinse.

View attachment 60691
View attachment 60692

Finally, bit of a science project for fun. Built this UV light box to charge glow lures / flashers out of some scrap plywood and plexiglass. Only had to purchase the 12V power cord and the UV led light strip. Hard to see from the pictures, but the strip lights are under the inner plexiglass compartment which is waterproof. The last picture is after about 15s in the lightbox. This is version 1.0, I've since improved v2.0 with a smaller form factor (about 13"x 5" x 5") by adding dividers to allow the flashers to be held vertically. Can't say for certain it makes a huge difference, but there have been a few times where I've been out winter fishing and picked up a fish off bottom within 5 - 10 minutes of the gear coming out of the box.

View attachment 60693View attachment 60694
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Click to expand...
Awesome! This is exactly what I was hoping this thread would be. Some great ideas anyone can afford.

Also there will hopefully be countless good things to ask for Xmas and bday presents.
 
CBsqrd said:
Here's a couple cheap projects that have made life a bit better on the boat.

Finally, bit of a science project for fun. Built this UV light box to charge glow lures / flashers out of some scrap plywood and plexiglass. Only had to purchase the 12V power cord and the UV led light strip. Hard to see from the pictures, but the strip lights are under the inner plexiglass compartment which is waterproof. The last picture is after about 15s in the lightbox. This is version 1.0, I've since improved v2.0 with a smaller form factor (about 13"x 5" x 5") by adding dividers to allow the flashers to be held vertically. Can't say for certain it makes a huge difference, but there have been a few times where I've been out winter fishing and picked up a fish off bottom within 5 - 10 minutes of the gear coming out of the box.

View attachment 60694
View attachment 60695
Click to expand...
CBsqrd said:
I love this idea, could you explain why you used plexiglass, and what did you use for that silver liner?
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The silver liner is just tinfoil that is glued to one side of the plywood using 3M spray adhesive.

The plexiglass (technically acrylic - note that it has to be UV transparent, some materials like regular glass and certain plastics block UV light) I used to protect the LEDs (plus the connecting wiring) and line the rest of the box to stop the tinfoil from getting trashed. The bottom piece of acrylic slides into a slot dadoed into the sides of the box; the side pieces of acrylic are just screwed on over the tinfoil. Once the box was put together, all the seams were sealed with silicone / sikaflex to keep water from getting below to the LEDs.

The tinfoil is just give the interior a mirrored finish to reflect the light around inside the box.
 
CBsqrd said:
Here's a couple cheap projects that have made life a bit better on the boat.

First, I've got flush mount rod holders right at the rear corners of my gunnels. My downriggers are mounted about 3' forward, which makes the rod holders a good spot for the Scotty downrigger ball holders. Didn't want to permanently mount the ball holders, or lose the rod holders, so cut a short piece of PVC and epoxied it to the bottom of the Scotty ball holder with a piece of EVA foam. Holds the cannonballs perfect and I can remove when I want to use the rod holders for bottom fishing.

View attachment 60688View attachment 60689View attachment 60690

Next, didn't have any good cup holders for taller mugs, and after spilling my coffee for the umpteenth time, built one for the dash with some leftover starboard. Added a couple other holes for pens, sunblock and blistex, fishing licence, and added some small holes along the back to let tackle dry after it gets a freshwater rinse.

View attachment 60691
View attachment 60692

Finally, bit of a science project for fun. Built this UV light box to charge glow lures / flashers out of some scrap plywood and plexiglass. Only had to purchase the 12V power cord and the UV led light strip. Hard to see from the pictures, but the strip lights are under the inner plexiglass compartment which is waterproof. The last picture is after about 15s in the lightbox. This is version 1.0, I've since improved v2.0 with a smaller form factor (about 13"x 5" x 5") by adding dividers to allow the flashers to be held vertically. Can't say for certain it makes a huge difference, but there have been a few times where I've been out winter fishing and picked up a fish off bottom within 5 - 10 minutes of the gear coming out of the box.

View attachment 60693View attachment 60694
View attachment 60695
View attachment 60696
View attachment 60697
Click to expand...
I’m stealing the cannon ball holder idea
 
Stizzla said:
Okay I hear you guys. Title changed.
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Sorry Stizz, just being cheeky. The only things for under 100 on my new boat would be the cannonball holders and the downrigger pads. Ouch!!!
 
No problem. I think we can get some better ideas with a little more budget. How much was your little kicker RPM dial dealy?!
 
I think retail theyre 3 or 4 hundred, maybe even a bit more. I paid like 200 or 250 for it if i recall correctly
 
My new boat will have a dual binnacle so i can control everything from the helm
 
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