# 12 foot extra wide aluminum Gamefisher



## DarkstarCrashes (May 8, 2010)

Well I've been looking for a trailer for an old 13" Gheenoe I have been working on. That little boat has been a pain undoing all the terrible fiberglass work someone did to it and then laying it correctly. Anyway, I have been watching craigslist for some time looking for one and stumbled upon this yesterday at work. Made the call and $400 later, I have a nice little Gamefisher and a trailer. Gonna hit the river in it tomorrow for some stripers.

This boat I have decided I am going to fish as I work on it. The Gheenoe I went a little crazy on tearing it apart so this I am going to take slow, doing one thing at a time.

The astroturf floor was complimented nicely with astroturf on the sides. As soon as I got it to work today, I stripped that off and fixed a couple things on the trailer. I think I will put in new floors and replace the transom first. Then I'll worry about painting. I know decks on a 12' aren't always such a good idea but what do y'all think about a low front deck on one this wide? It's 42" across at the bottom, 48" at the top.

Sorry for the cell phone pics, I'll get better when I'm at home.


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## perchin (May 10, 2010)

Looks like a decent boat to start with, I wouldn't get to crazy with decking it except to maybe put a floor in it though. might find yourself in the drink, going any higher.


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 10, 2010)

Thanks perchin. I gave it a test run on the James yesterday and I agree. I think I'll do a floor from the back bench up to the front and take out the middle. I'm getting a lot of inspiration from this forum.

Right now I'm busy with the aluminum epoxy putty fixing the crappy bondo job.


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 11, 2010)

Well I got out the last three days to make sure it works. Turns out it does.

















This morning it was taking on a bit of water though. Left the bass biting and headed home to get started on some tinkering.

Started removing some paint, under the silver there is a gaudy teal color, vintage Whaler-esque.






Decided to take the middle out, I will brace properly and add foam elsewhere.
















The transom is desperately in need of a rebirth











The wood peeled right away. I have a piece of ply I will cut tomorrow and fit in. The aluminum plate has been hammered out and will go back on.

For tomorrow, my plan is to get the rest of the paint off the interior, redo the Bondo mess with aluminum epoxy, and replace the transom.


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## Rick James (May 11, 2010)

Great pics, I'm really looking forward to the updates on this project. I myself just got a 12' semi v like yours, 42" across the bottom and in rough shape. I go to pick it up this weekend and I can't wait to get some pics, look it over, and start my own thread. 

I'm also looking to knock out the center bench and do a floor on mine.......I'm curious to know more about how you plan to brace the hull where that middle seat was. I saw Troutman3000's thread, and saw how he left the sides of that middle bench in and braced it, but I'd love to completely remove everything to really open it up if possible. Do you have any ideas on how you will do this yet?


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 11, 2010)

Awesome Rick James, I was wondering if anyone on here had one. It seems like it's going to be a great little boat.

I am not quite sure on how I will brace the sides. The bottom I will do with 2x2's most likely. My only experience bracing has been with fiberglass and this is a whole nother ballgame.

I like Troutman's idea, I am planning on doing that up front so that I can make a little storage locker up front. From that back to the bench though, I want it to be flat, elevated just enough off the bottom so that I can put an equal amount of foam as I am taking out. The plan is to have a removable pedestal seat for when I have a second person with me. The basic function will perform perfectly for what I need on a day to day basis- one person standing up fly fishing and a dog riding shotgun.


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 12, 2010)

Transom out






Take measurement, cut new transom. Glue.






Flip over the boat while I wait for glue. I have to admit, I didn't take it off the trailer to examine it when I got it. I was mostly concerned with the trailer so that's what I spent most of my time looking at. It was a pretty hilarious sight. No wonder I took on so much water yesterday.

Bondo






Roof tar over top of Bondo. Seriously?
















Little too much pressure on the roller wheels:






Forget the wire wheels, time for the grinder with sanding pads











Two nice big cracks on this side


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 12, 2010)

I hit all the cracks with a stick of aluminum epoxy putty I had. Wish I had a second on hand. After filling all the cracks and a couple of the serious dents and letting it harden, I put Loctite Weld over it just for additional protection. I plan on riveting aluminum over these spots eventually, but I want to fish it tomorrow and this weekend. I'll be covering the bottom with multiple coats of Steelflex as well.





















Peeled away some of the silicone that was added to slow down the leaky seams. Put some Weld on there just to see how it would do. Comparison shot






Put two coats of water sealer on the transom. Considered fiberglassing it in with 6 oz cloth but decided against it. I will coat it in epoxy eventually. It will go on in the morning.


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## Rat (May 12, 2010)

Yet another testament to the damage roller bunks cause! Looks like you have your work cut out for ya. But if it catches fish who cares! Are those striper or what?


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 13, 2010)

Yeah, those are stripers. They run up from the Chesapeake to spawn here, we get to fish them in town for about 2 months every spring and just downstream from the city in the fall for another couple months.

I need to go get some 2x4's so I can replace the bunks, that may have to wait until tomorrow.


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## Froggy (May 13, 2010)

Rollerbunks.................very bad, looks like you have a plan, good luck!


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 13, 2010)

Got a little bit done today. Been a busy day between work, changing brake pads, and trying to get some boat stuff done..

Put her back up on the trailer and filled her with water. The drain plug is, as I expected, the biggest problem. There was a section in the front that was dripping a little and a couple rivets at the back that needed to be fixed. Knocked that out, I'll go to Bass Pro tomorrow and get a new plug.






Had two cans of spray on bedliner I got awhile back to put on the Gheenoe but never did want to sacrifice the speed. Hit the inside with what I had, I'll pick up 3-4 more cans tomorrow I guess. 






Got the transom in, plenty of 5200, a couple screws, and a strip of Gorilla Glue all around just until the 5200 hardens. I cut down the old jackplate and put it in.






Started messing around with a stringer. The floor will be 4.5 inches off the floor at the V, 2.5 on the sides. I'm keeping it low and will be filling it with foam rather than trying to do any sort of storage.


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## UtahBassKicker (May 13, 2010)

Looking good. I didn't realize they made a white spray can bedliner. Look forward to your progress. How big are the strippers you usually catch?


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 13, 2010)

Yeah, they have it at the Advance Auto by me. You can order it as well.

We have a year round striper fishery here, school-sized fish are the average, 16 to 24 inches. There are always some big ones around as well, 40+ inchers are fairly common.


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## Rick James (May 13, 2010)

Nice update, you are really cooking......I'm really looking forward to your next updates and to see your decking done. I'm curious if you feel your slightly raised floor will brace the hull enough when your done, or if you will put in extra bracing somehow. I'd love to have a super open layout with no bracing taking up space, but not sure if the hull will take waves and a 5-10hp motor on the back that way.

My new Harbor Freight trailer will be here tomorrow, and I pick up the boat this weekend. Can't wait to dig into mine and start soon, I probably won't be able to make the progress that you are though. I promised the wife I would get our bathroom redone before I'd put any big $$$ into the boat, so I will probably be just patching and painting the boat and getting the trailer setup right for it until I get the honey do list done......... :?


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 13, 2010)

I plan on putting in more bracing, don't know exactly how yet. I need to figure it out soon. Hopefully I can get the stringer finished tomorrow and at least get a piece of ply screwed on. The lady wants to try to get a striper or two tomorrow evening after work so I'll be able to field test it. Plus we are visiting family at the beach this Sunday and there is an inlet a couple blocks away full of blues, specks, and reds. I don't want to miss out.

I understand the honey-do's, mine's been swamped with work so I've been able to plug away. I do as much at a time as I can. I really haven't put much money out so far, maybe $35 in wood and another $25 in epoxy putty/ 5200. I'd like to get some Steelflex soon but have to wait for payday. I look forward to seeing your setup, I was very close to getting one of those trailers for my Gheenoe. Still might, need to research it more.


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## Froggy (May 14, 2010)

Some body here had some real clever wood braces for an open floor, like a z cut, just dont remember where I saw it.


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## Kabina (May 14, 2010)

Froggy said:


> Some body here had some real clever wood braces for an open floor, like a z cut, just dont remember where I saw it.




I remebered some braces like that and done a search and found the one I remembered. Is this the one you were thinking about? It seems like a good simple idea.
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10228&p=108477&hilit=2x6#p108477


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## Froggy (May 14, 2010)

Yes that's it!! and just like that Tinboats .net gives you a solution!!!!


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## Loggerhead Mike (May 14, 2010)

nice rig its almost identical to mine, cant wait to see how she turns out


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 14, 2010)

Wow, thanks for that link. Got lots of ideas from that thread. Not sure how much I should really do to a 12 though. It's definitely got my brain turning.


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## Rick James (May 17, 2010)

Any updates?


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 19, 2010)

Not much has changed, been too busy with work and fishing. I've done some work on the trailer but I forgot to take before pictures. I'll try to get some shots tomorrow.







Had a blackened rockfish dinner tonight.


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 24, 2010)

Sorry for the lack of updates. I had a big fishing excursion this past weekend that I had to hustle to get everything ready for. Here is what I was able to throw together in time for the outing, I will be re-doing a few things in the next day or two.






Got an automated call from UPS earlier saying my Steel Flex will be here today, so I should really be able to get some work done this week.

The trip went well, the boat handled nicely from Chesapeake Bay backwaters to freshwater swamps.


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## Ictalurus (May 24, 2010)

Looking good! Is that a northern pike I see


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## Troutman3000 (May 24, 2010)

Those are some nice ones you got. Keep it up, the boat looks great.


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## Loggerhead Mike (May 24, 2010)

thats some good lookin water to fish


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## biggun1979 (May 24, 2010)

I like the clean floor plan and it looks like you gt a good place to fish great job


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## DarkstarCrashes (May 27, 2010)

Alright, so I was taking my time working on the bottom but now the lady wants to go out on Sunday to try for some croaker. So I have ground most of the old paint off the bottom, filled some dents, ground them out, and washed it down. I think tonight after I get off I'll take some 5200 fast to the seams and hammer some of them back down. Steelflex will happen tomorrow more than likely.











Here's the only place on the bottom I'm not sure what to do with. It doesn't leak at all and this is after I've hammered out and filled what I could.


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## free jonboat (Jun 11, 2010)

hey, noticed u were from richmond as well. what part of the james do u fish?


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