Barrett Rental Boats Setups

[Brian D]

I know there are some creative folks out there who have been fishing Barrett for awhile. Id like to see how you configure the rentals with batteries, Troll Motor, floors, and bench seats. Show me whatcha got!

[JWall]

You will get great feedback here. My one suggestion is to get one of these, then switch around the head of you TM to enable driving the TM from the front of the boat vs the back or side. I have seen a guy or two rig up a foot pedal which would be awesome but more work and $$.

[Shawnster]

Hey Brian,

I agree with JWall that a trolling motor up front works much better than mounted on the back by the gas motor. However, it mounts most easily on the back, and depending on who is in your boat, it may be more efficient on the back. For example, I fish with kids, so it's better for me to access both motors from one location as I can't have either of them be responsible for putting the TM in the water and it can be chaotic jumping from the motor to a front-mounted trolling motor.

If you do mount up front, JWall's recommended accessory would be great. If you're on a budget, bring a piece of wood to place under the lip of the boat rail so the TM has a flush surface to mount to.

Also, if you have a bunch of rods and people, you might consider making a rod holder vs laying them all over the boat. I made one from stuff at Home Depot for under $20 (there's a pic of it on my "weird day" report). I also bring towels for the extremely hot metal seats, and a foam gardening pad for the one knee I usually have in contact with the boat when using the TM. I saw one creative post here about making the floor of the boat more flush -- the angles and ridges of the boat can be rough fishing all day, but personally haven't bothered me enough to explore a solution.

Good luck out there!

[DarkShadow]

I kinda just raw dogg it, honestly.

[MistrRocko]

I throw my stuff in the same spot every time so I always know where everything is on the boat. Don't need anything fancy to organize it. I use the trolling motor in reverse 90%+ of the day and just treat the back of the boat like the front of the boat once the outboard's off. Already enough work to go up and down the hill 2-3x for everything for a full day, don't need to add more work to the start or end of the day.

Consider bringing your own anchor. The ropes on the ones there are old, getting shorter, and quite a few are rigged such that they aren't coming off the front of the boat. I've spent the majority of my time anchored recently and have been doing very well without ever changing spots. Some days it takes double anchoring to keep me pinned with all the wind. If you read this and thought "but I never use my anchor" but get frustrated when the wind starts blasting...you should probably think about using your anchor. Trolling motors are cool, but anchors are the original Spotlock.

When I know I'll be out there all day I also bring seats because my back will die without a chair after 8+ hours. No clue what brand I use, mine are 20+ years old. Picture of the seat clamp style I use below which look to be around $40. You can get the actual seats for $40-60 and they're super easy to install to the mount. I never do full day trips alone and whoever comes with me is always super thankful to have somewhere comfortable to sit.

[JWall]

I throw my stuff in the same spot every time so I always know where everything is on the boat. Don't need anything fancy to organize it. I use the trolling motor in reverse 90%+ of the day and just treat the back of the boat like the front of the boat once the outboard's off. Already enough work to go up and down the hill 2-3x for everything for a full day, don't need to add more work to the start or end of the day.

Consider bringing your own anchor. The ropes on the ones there are old, getting shorter, and quite a few are rigged such that they aren't coming off the front of the boat. I've spent the majority of my time anchored recently and have been doing very well without ever changing spots. Some days it takes double anchoring to keep me pinned with all the wind. If you read this and thought "but I never use my anchor" but get frustrated when the wind starts blasting...you should probably think about using your anchor. Trolling motors are cool, but anchors are the original Spotlock.

When I know I'll be out there all day I also bring seats because my back will die without a chair after 8+ hours. No clue what brand I use, mine are 20+ years old. Picture of the seat clamp style I use below which look to be around $40. You can get the actual seats for $40-60 and they're super easy to install to the mount. I never do full day trips alone and whoever comes with me is always super thankful to have somewhere comfortable to sit.

clamp.png

I would kill for a seat around 11am!!