anyone hunt out of a starcraft

A

andythomas

New member
hey guys was wondering if any of you guys hunt out of a star craft. i picked up a 16 foot super sport the other day and have been stripping her down. was wondering if any of you guys had pics of your rigs and if you where going to make this a duck-fishing boat what would you add to it. i have picks and what i am doing with it on iboats.com

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=511445

thanks guys
 
Andy:

Not a Starcraft, but back in 1989, I bought a 14 ft. Grumman aluminum v-hull. It was their basic boat, bench seats, no frills. I ripped out the middle and front seats. I laid a floor out of 3/4 in. plywood and capreted that over. I decked the boat over leaving about an 8ft. cockpit for me and a 2ft. X 2ft. motor well in the back. Installed a pedestal seat arrangement in the cockpit. When I get to my hunting spot, I just remove the pedestal seat and sit down on the floor. Around the cockpit and the motorwell I installed 3 inch high coaming with an overhang to turn back any waves that may wish to join in the fun. The floatation from the two seats I ripped out got re-installed under the deck. I run a 20hp Mercury on it. It has served me well in the 20+ years I've used it along the south Jersey coast. Ducks in the fall & winter, flounder in the spring & summer. My grassing of it has always been very simple. Just some natural weed or fastgrass tied down over the deck. It naturally doesn't hide as well as a sneakbox, but with all the little cuts along the sodbanks, I can hide it pretty good.

I'll see if my sons can take some pictures that can be posted as I am challenged in that regard.

Good luck with your project.

Dave
 
Nope, but I just bought a used Smokercraft this last Spring. I love this boat.
She's a 14'er with a 25 Merc 2 stroke and a trolling motor.

The previous owner took out the middle bench. Did a good job, bondo'd the rivet holes & repainted the hull. The hull does not flex at all. Much more stable and better ride than my old 1440 mv jon boat.

Had about 200 pounds of wood floors & casting platforms in it, those were taken out the first chance I got.
Went back with a simple plywood floor (used a sheet of 3/4 or 1" cabinet grade, lots of plys & no voids, good quality stuff for about $25.00.

Wide open floor, I'm going to keep it that way, I like it. Will use flolding hunting seats while duck hunting. While fishing, I either sit up in the front at the trolling motor or on the fish cooler. I also removed the back swivel seat. It was mounted in the middle of the bench and it was literally impossible to steer the boat sitting here. The tiller hits the seat unless you tilt it up at a steep angle. Dont know how the previous owner ran the boat like that.

Will be putting on lights and the netting blind as soon as fishing season is over.
Before pics, on the way home from purchasing it:

[inline Smokercraft3_R.jpg ]

[inline Smokercraft1_R.jpg ]

[inline Smokercraft2_R.jpg ]

After I took out all the wood the previous owner had in it and put in the new simple plywood floor. The old wood decks were older pressure treated, weighed a ton. Luckily they never exposed the boat to saltwater and the chemicals in the PT did not cause any pitting.

[inline 14Smokercraft-NewFloor1.jpg ]

[inline 14Smokercraft-NewFloor2.jpg ]

View attachment Smokercraft3_R.jpg
View attachment Smokercraft1_R.jpg
View attachment Smokercraft2_R.jpg
View attachment 14Smokercraft-NewFloor1.jpg
View attachment 14Smokercraft-NewFloor2.jpg
 
Welcome, I enjoyed your link to the overhaul of your new to you Starcraft. I'm sure you'll enjoy the boat.

My 14-ft Starcraft project:

bottomsup.jpg



deckforward.jpg


dryfittran.jpg


2ndcolorstarbquart.jpg



fliptops.jpg


deckunderway.JPG

 
Just had time to look over the link you posted.
$250?? Looks like a great deal to me! I looked at an older Starcraft hull but they have a little too much of a V in the hull for where I hunt, draw just alittle too much water. But otherwise great hulls.
I like what you are doing so far, just make sure those noodles dont absorb water over time and get waterlogged.
An aluminum floor will be expensive. I would go with good quality cabinet grade or marine plywood and paint the heck out of it.
 
Wood is a lot nicer then aluminum to stand on when its cold. And it's easier on the wallet. Use a marine grade plywood, the glue holding the plys together is waterproof. Rib spacing will determine thinkness used. 12"-16" 1/2" is fine 16"-24" go to 5/8" or 3/4". If ribs are more than 24" I would add support so it doesn't sag.

That will be a nice all around hunt/fishing boat.

Kevin
 
I hunt out of a Starcraft SuperSport V that I stripped down and rebuilt into a side console...love it for the great lakes...drop me a line if you have any questions as I know every nut and bolt on this boat...I'll send you oics as mine are too big for this site...good luck
 
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