After a long span since my last fishing trip I decided to take the boat out and hunt some Stripers. It also gave me a chance to try out my recent bait tank updates and my t-top install.
I took the boat out of the garage on Wednesday and got the top put together. Once I got that back, I loaded my gear in the truck (man I love the camper top!). Thursday morning I headed out to get bait and meet up with one of my fishing buddies, Jim. We arrived at East Bank at around 8:15 or so. I know a lot of you think that I should get on the water much earlier. I agree! But my real job is making sure my better half is ready and off to work. She leaves the house around 7 which does not free me up until then to gather my last minute items and head out. Also I hate getting up early in the AM so even if I left her to fend for herself, I would probably still not get out at the crack of dawn LOL.
The t-top seemed to handle the ride to the lake just fine. I still have a bit of mistrust so I strapped the front legs down. Also technically the 5200 needed 7 days to cure and it had only been 4. While on the lake it felt sturdy and did not show a lot of movement while under way. I was careful not to put my full weight on it while making my way past it to go from one end of the boat to the other. I may still order the support bars available through Stryker for the front legs. I still need to get use to the lack of head room at the back as I hit my head on the rod holders a couple times! Overall the top was a blessing and made a world of difference in this Georgia heat.
The Striper are down deep in the colder waters this time of year so we searched around near the Dam for a while. We only located a few fish here and there, not the "spaghetti" you would want to find. I did manage to land a 25.5 inch Striper over one of those spots down about 45 feet. This turned out to be the only fish of the day. We moved around looking for them from the dam all the way to Old Federal but just could not hook up. We did have several strong pull downs but they managed to escape.
One of the highlights of the day was lunch at Pig Tales on the lake. There is nothing like docking your boat and sitting down to some good old BBQ and Iced Tea!
The new bait tank set up worked outstanding! I picked up 2 dozen Bluebacks, with an extra bucket of water ,on the way to the lake. As soon as I got them loaded up I turned on the bubbler and light. The light helps keep the bait calm. For the first time since owning the boat no bait died in the tank. There was one exception .... The net was left in the tank at one point and one of the bait got hung up and weakened Once freed he eventually died. I fed him to a duck we met along the way.
I did add bait saver and a foam preventer about mid day. I'm not sure the saver was needed but the tank was getting a bit of foam that immediately cleared up once the foam preventer was added.
I noticed very little if any battery drain running the bubble and light all day. The whole system is a win in my book.
Some pics from the day.....
25.5 inches
I usually do not keep them but I kept this one.
Docked at Fish Tales/Aqualand
Sailboats near Old Federal
Jim untangling his Blueback from his Ben Parker :))
After a few trips out in the Georgia sun it does not take a genius to figure out you need shade on these metal boats! I decided to get a t-top to solve this problem on my G3.
I narrowed my choice down to the Stryker SG600. I liked this top because it had larger diameter tubes and a nice contour. I got the black powder coated version to match my boat. The package also came with two grab handles, 2 mounts for accessories, and two rod holders. One of the things I did not like was that the extra "freebies" came in in anodized rather than a black finish. I am in the process of returning the rod holders for black ones. I purchased a set of black ones when I ordered the top so that I could have 4. I had thought about keeping the two anodized but I found one had a striped out fastener bolt that would have been a pain to remove.
There were a ton of bad reviews on the company, mostly shipping delays. A few were for cracked welds. People were also saying they had an F rating with the BBB. I checked the BBB and they are now an A+ rating. LINK . I contacted Stryker and questioned them on the delayed shipping and they assured me that they have since changed owners and all shipping problems resolved. If you order early in the day it ships same day. I ordered on a Friday night (8:30PM) and received UPS shipping notification the following Monday. The top arrived the following Friday at 2PM. I would say that is pretty good considering they are out of California and I'm in Georgia. The 2 big boxes had straps over a thick plastic shrieked on cover. Each piece inside was wrapped in a packing foam sheet and each leg end had a rubber cap. The only think that was weak was the box the hardware came in. It had split open and the bolts had come out of their ziplock bag. None of them came out of the crack so all were accounted for. The rod holders, grab handles and accessory mounts came in a separate small box as did the other rod holders I ordered.
After installing the top I would say my biggest issue (with the top) was that some of the threads in the top were fouled. They were either messed up threads or power coat in the holes. It seemed more like damaged or not properly tapped threads. I had to run the bolts in a little back them out repeat. This was at least 4 holes. One I thought would not go in at all until I finally took a chance of breaking something and forced it on in. Luckily it was in the top frame rather than the uprights since I have to remove those often to lower the top to fit in my garage.
Install....
I did a ton of searching to see how others were installing tops onto aluminum boats. Fishmaster listed several customer installs with G3s and Stryker had one or two aluminum models. One or two put down plates on the floor then attached to those. I contacted Fishmaster and asked them and they suggested no additional floor support was needed. They had just did an install on a G3 Bay Deluxe that is very much like mine and they screwed it right to the deck. I decided to risk it and did the same along with some black 5200 adhesive/sealant.
I had to put my stand offs low and on the back legs. My boat is short (18 foot) so the top would sit too far back if I matched the back leg to the back edge of the console. Once I went the minimum distance forward it did not leave many standoff mounting options.
After cutting the stand offs to size and bolting them on the top still had a little movement. I determined the console side walls had some give. I knew this would eventually be a problem. I needed more bracing. Stryker did not have the standoff available for individual sale and Fishmaster wanted 70 bucks for what looked to be plastic stand offs. I decided to put a stand off from the middle bar to the grab bar on the console. The excess aluminum spacer I had cut from the original stand offs fit perfect in that spot. I went to the hardware store and picked up two 6 inch bolts, spacers, nuts, and lock washers (they were out of lock nuts), all stainless. I also had to get a long drill bit (1/4") that would reach through the bar on the top over to and through the grab bar on the rail.
Once I installed these, the back stiffened right up and feels rock solid. I did this in my garage with the top part off so I won't know how stiff the front two legs are until I get it back together. If it is lose I have the option of buying braces from Stryker that go from the front legs to the front of the console or taking the top off and selling it. I hope it doesn't come to that but I knew this going in.
The install was fairly easy for two people. It was very hot here so I go the main stuff done and let my friend go cool off! I worked on it on and off the rest of the day and finished up the next. Lacing the top was one of the most time consuming parts of the install.
Whether you decide to run half the rope through at the front and go down each side and meet in the back or start one end at the back and go all around, I suggest doing one hole at a time. It seemed to move faster that way over running the rope through a couple at a time and feeding through. I found that if I did that, the rope would bind and also twist up, slowing me down. The main thing is to take your time and keep everything in place. You will have to go back in a day or so and tighten it up so leave the excess rope until you are happy with the tightness.
I added a second orange cord with a reflective ribbon. I have not decided if I will keep it or not. The Orange ties in my registration numbers.
How much room do I have?
The biggest factor is walking room between the console and the side of the boat. It was narrow before the top. With the top installed it is 11 inches (wide) of floor space. Enough room for me to have my feet side by side. I can walk through easily with caution. I larger man would have to take even more care not to lose balance and go over the side lol. From the top of the gunwale to the legs is about 2 feet. From the top of the foam filled enclosures/brace it is about 16 inches.
I may have lost a square foot or less of floor space at the front. The seat/bait tank front is curved and the legs fall right at the front edge.
I can still stand on the front part of the back deck and only have to bend slightly the further back I go. I have about two feet past the t-top where I can stand up right. I will just have to watch not to catch my noggin on the rod holders.
From the bottom of the back legs to the edge of the back deck is 19 1/2 inches. From that same point on the legs, the top goes back 2 feet over the deck, just past the back of the seat.
Here are some install pictures...
I will give my finial review of Stryker and the top one I have my rod holders replaced. As of now they have had great customer service.
I wanted a horn on my G3 so I went with the Wolo high and low tone horns. I did not like the boat horns that were available because they were too high pitched for my liking so I went with car horns. These are the same horns I put in my 50 Fleetline. Here are the links to the parts....
Cost... $40.26 as I already had wire, solder, connectors etc. From scratch you could probably do this for under 50 bucks.
I had to google relays and study how they work so I would know how to connect it. I have used relays before but I can never remember what the numbers represent. I used this diagram...
Of course you have to make some chicken scratch to sort it all out ...
Some of the tools I used...
I bought this clamp years ago and it has been invaluable for soldering small parts.
My soldering station.
I bolted the horns and relay together like they would be under the console to wire it up.
Once the horn was wired up I soldered the wires to the switch. There are two for the LED light and two for power. One from a fused source and one that runs to the relay. I opted to wire the LED to come on when I push the button rather than come on and stay on when the boats main power is on. I feel the light would be distracting or blinding during night driving.
I mounted the switch right above the engine controls for easy access. There is a one inch thick board under the fiberglass in this area so the switch was a bit short to put a nut on it. Rather than tray and countersink a larger hole from the back, I opted to used marine sealant to hold it in place. Since all you ever do is push it, this should work fine and be easy to remove if I ever need to replace it.
For a short version of this, scroll to the bottom and watch the 3:40 video.
Well it was time to enhance the bait tank on my G3. The tank is built into the front of the console with a padded top to double as a seat. The 16 gallon tank is insulated (double walled) and is 11" x 21". In a perfect world the tank would be round or oval to keep bait from bunching up in corners. Having a "D" shape with two rounded corners makes it better than square and does just fine.
The problem with my setup was the bait I use doesn't like the warm lake water that the boats aeration system pumps in. I mainly fish for stripers and my bait of choice is Blueback Herring. To date I had been rotating the water was little as possible to add air and clear out contaminated water. Then I would rotate frozen water bottles to cool the tank. This workout ok, but I would still lose the weakest bait fairly quickly.
The tank setup on my kayak utilizes a water pump, as well as a bubbler, so I decided it was time to do the same to the boat. I did not want to just hang a bubbler off something in the boat and have to deal with wires plugged into my one and only outlet. Well all know this must be kept clear for phone charges. I mean you have to have a full battery for all of those fish pics!
Initially I was just going to run a single switch. The more I thought about it the more I realized I needed more than one switch. I mean I knew I would eventually be adding more accessories so why not add the switches now and utilize them when needed? I went with a 3 switch panel with USB charge ports and a volt meter. I went with this one rather than one with more switches because of my mounting location. This was the largest panel I could fit there. If I need more than three I can add another panel at the bottom of the console, just above the opening. As of right now I have used 2 of the 3.
The Panel
After what seemed like hours of research, I went with this one I found on Amazon.
It did not take much research for the bubbler. I had been discussing this with a friend and he pointed out bait tanks he was looking at and they used this particular one on their builds. I liked that it had two lines and had screw tabs for permanent mounting.
I also ordered two donut air diffusers to replace the stones that came with the unit. I used similar in the past and it seems they put out a smaller bubble. This puts more air into the water. The only issue with these are that they tend to be light and want to float up. I would have to velcro them down or add weights (I can transfer the weights from the stones). I used velcro in my kayak tank and that worked great. For now I will stick with the stones and save the donuts for later.
Initially I went with a Shoreline sealed light from Walmart. LINK But, after getting it installed and hooked up, it was a dud and would not come on. Grrrrr. I replaced it with 2 LED strip lights I also found at Walmart. These had 3M tape strips on them for easy install. I could not find a link for these. They were Premium flex strips from the automotive section at Walmart. $29.99
Installing the system was fairly straight forward. Although not for the faint at heart, very doable.
I started with the panel. First I removed the steering wheel. For this you remove the plastic center cap by prying up on it with a small screw driver. It should come right out. Then you remove the nut and washer and pry the wheel up and off. It helps if you leave the nut on just enough to protect the top of the shaft and tap with a hammer as you gently pry up. Once the wheel is off, there is a small pin on the bottom of the shaft that can fall right out. This pin keeps the wheel from just spinning on the shaft. Remove this and place it in a safe place. Then remove the two screw from the collar that sits behind the wheel and you will now be able to remove the 8 screws and release the dash panel.
The existing switch wires won't let the panel all the way off. You can note where these wires connect and remove them all or just let it all back enough to access the area to drill your hole.
Once I got my dash panel off I checked to see if anything would be in the way of drilling the panel. My fuel gauge wires were routed behind the panel so I had to unhook those, move them aside, and put the dash panel back. Now I was ready to mark the location of the switch panel.
Before I could work with the switch panel I had to remove the gauges and switches from the panel so it would sit flush to the dash. The switches come with a wiring diagram so you know how to put it back together. Once this was done I positioned it where I wanted it and taped it in place. Then I drilled holes where the screws would go and screwed it in place. Once in place I traced the inside of the panel to see where I would need clearance.
At this point I used a drill bit and drilled the center of the gauges and each corner of the switch openings to mark the area under the dash panel. This would allow me to mark the section to cut out to allow room for the switches.
The console in this area is made of 1 inch thick wood with thin layers of fiberglass on each side. I used a 4 inch hole saw positioned over the holes I drilled previously. Other than the lower corners, this allowed everything to fit in the dash. I had to use a small coping saw to notch out the outer-lower section of my hole to fit the outer switches. Then I put the switches and gauges back in the panel and checked for fitment. Then I connected the positive and negative wires to the boats fuse block and ground block. The presence of these under the console made hookup a breeze. There are several open spots for adding more stuff. I just had to add a fuse to the terminal I selected. I put in a 30 amp.
Once I had this wired and saw that it would work I left it hanging and moved on to the light install.
Initially, as stated above, I installed the Shoreline light. I did this by drilling a hole between the junction of the tank and the console to run the wires. To minimize holes, I used marine sealant to secure it in place. This turned out to be a wise move later. After hooking up the wires t the switch and testing... no light. After a serious of test on the ground and current, it had to be replaced. I ran out to Walmart and picked up the strip LEDs. I cleaned off the sealant from before and stuck the new lights on and ran the wires. Perfect. Note: I did have to shorten each strip by one section, about 3 inches.
Shoreline Dud
You can see the reflection of the strip lights here.
The bubbler was even easier, although more time consuming, than the light. I drilled a hole at each corner of the tank (at the sec) and ran my hoses. Then I mounted the bubbler to the flank under the console at the floor. All that was left was to wire to the switch and clean up.
After I cleaned everything up I put the dash back together and attached the panel. Once that was done I put the steering wheel back on then put away my tools.
All that was left was to fill the tank with water and test everything out.
