Centerline fish hold ?

[blinsquirrel]

Thinking of adding a fish hold to my BHM....I've seen some boats with centerline fish holds....but what do you for shaft/stuffing box access? It's a big concern of mine in a potential emergency situation...what you guys think?

 

[plowin]

I have a large hatch that opens giving me tons of access to my shaft log as well as my transmission.
As a side note I highly recommend insulating the hold, the ambient temperature of the sea water will quickly eat up your ice. Also, depending what your putting in there for fish, pen boards will hold the ice back until you put your fish in the hold as well as keep the ice off your hatch if your worried about emergency access. Just a thought.

 

[oldshell55]

Thinking of adding a fish hold to my BHM....I've seen some boats with centerline fish holds....but what do you for shaft/stuffing box access? It's a big concern of mine in a potential emergency situation...what you guys think?

mark, my boat has two large live wells , port and stbd, about 6' long only problem is balancing the load evenly, I never measured the capacity in gallons. I agree, nothing will go wrong until you cover the area you want to get to in an emergency "why take a chance". you should have plenty of room in the wings.

come up with a price?

 

[blinsquirrel]

Larry...my boat was designed around having the table/dredge/a-frame on the boat...as a result my tanks are placed a little further fwd. with all the gear off the boat my stern came up and she steers down by the bow...right now I have +\- 800lbs of sand bags on the transom to get her to sit level...I was thinking of using that under deck space port&stbd to add extra fuel tanks...maybe 50gal each(100total)....be nice to have for extended range and to ballast the boat....thats why I was considering the centerline fish hold. I'll get back to you shortly about the crab gear...been a busy couple months. Thanks

 

[LACI GALE 31jc]

Go for it ,think about making the shaft tube longer so your stuffing box is close to engine. I used foam boards from HD glassed and gelcoat it kept ice for a week. I put in a macertor pump.

 

[steveinak]

Did any of you guys ever think of using waterproof slush bags in a fish hold ?? I had them in the fish hold on my bowpicker and just lined between the walls of the fish hold and bag with 2" blue board. Held ice well, they had drains built in that i had ball valves on to be able to drain them quickly. They make them any size you want. What i'm getting at is that you wouldn't have to glass in a permanent bulkhead just pen off a spot under the deck and hang the bag in it. Just a thought.

This outfit made mine
SLUSH BAGS / BIN LINERS [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Made with a waterproof, 18 oz. vinyl coated nylon. This water-tight bag is built to custom-fit your fish hold area. Put ice and water in the bottom, and hang your NOMAR Brailer Bag inside. As the fish are placed in the brailer, water and ice circulate around the fish, chilling and greatly improving quality. Built with- or without a threaded drain and plug. Brailer can be lifted and fish can be delivered without draining ice or having to handle fish one-at-a-time. Size requirements determine price.
Please call toll free [/FONT]1-800-478-8364 for a quote and ideas.
CUSTOM-BUILT - NOT IN STOCK.
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Prices generally range $225.00 to $275.00 depending on size call with your sizes for a quote. Order early for guaranteed arrival for this years fishing season.[/FONT][/FONT]

 

[blinsquirrel]

Laci Gale...I have 6' of shaft between my stuffing box and the tranny ...not sure it would practical to extend the tube...my boat has a wet keel.

SteveinAK...that's a great idea using a slush bag under deck rigged with drains and foam board...my friend has a fish hold in the deck of his sport boat....entire liner(molded glass)pulls out of the deck entirely to give him access to his bilge...wonder if that's practical on a DE

 

[oldshell55]

Larry...my boat was designed around having the table/dredge/a-frame on the boat...as a result my tanks are placed a little further fwd. with all the gear off the boat my stern came up and she steers down by the bow...right now I have +\- 800lbs of sand bags on the transom to get her to sit level...I was thinking of using that under deck space port&stbd to add extra fuel tanks...maybe 50gal each(100total)....be nice to have for extended range and to ballast the boat....thats why I was considering the centerline fish hold. I'll get back to you shortly about the crab gear...been a busy couple months. Thanks

when I bought my boat a spoke to a fellow in stonington, me. lobstering , he told me to keep the weight as far back as possible to get the bow up, quess he knew what he was talking about , my tanks are as far back as I could put them as well as the engine . boat lifts nicely and I keep the cabin light of junk. I might have to change things if I add more weight on the stern. if you put the center tank in you could put an access hatch over the stuffing box for service etc.

 

[blinsquirrel]

I'll have to mess around with my sand bags a bit...might be enough room to put a decent sized fuel tank center line... Fwd of the rudder compartment and aft of the stuffing box access...that would definitely open up the port and stbd under deck for fish holds. Besides shaft access and weight distribution...any pros&cons for centerline vs. Outboard fish holds?

 

[oldshell55]

not that I can think of

 

[kapnd]

I prefer a large centerline fishhold over outboards, as the load is always centered. My old boat had outboard boxes, and I wound up using quite a bit more ice to chill both boxes, or having an off-center load if I just used one.

 

[duxbait]

With a centerline you can hold bigger fish easier… Tuna, and there is no list.
With side boxes you can keep smaller amounts of ice and fish cold. You don't need a 10ft centerline box for 400lbs of fish.

Just some ideas