Pontoon boater and avid Ohio angler Doug Stewart enjoys ice fishing so much that he adapted his 24-foot pontoon boat to allow him to use hands-free tip-ups from the comfort of his Bennington’s bench seats right on through the open water fishing season. Stewart claims that “just about any” pontoon boat can be transformed into a do-it-yourself four-season tip-up fishing craft and offered the following steps, which we documented as he custom-rigged his pontoon for the warm-weather fishing season.
The tools required to adapt a pontoon for tip-up fishing are simple and found atop most pontoon boat owners’ work benches.
The first step is in determining where in the deck you want the tip-up fishing port to be located. Consider proximity to seating, sonar screen and beverage containers.
Once the tip-up port’s location has been determined, mark an outline on the deck as a cutting guide and remove any deck covering with a utility knife.
Using the circular saw, cut the hole in the deck taking care not to cut through any electrical wiring, fuel lines, water hoses or control cables that may be on the underside of the deck.
Make sure you test the port for size, shape and stability using the exact model tip-up you intend to use on the water. If the fit is good, get yourself a tub of wax worms and Go Fish!
Tip-Up `Toon Fishing Tip
Stewart recommends heading out on the ice in the winter months with a hand-held GPS to mark the best ice fishing spots to reference and return to by boat for the “hot” open-water season tip-up bite.
“As funny as it is to watch guests’ reaction when you cover the port with a ‘Welcome Aboard’ rug,” advises Stewart, “the resulting fractures and assisting passengers back to shore can interfere with fishing time.”
When he wishes to avoid such incidents, Stewart employs a pair of highway safety cones draped in crime scene tape to help mark the location of the tip-up port.
“Even then,” he added, shaking his head. “If beer or pets are involved, you’re gonna get a few who go through. I guess you just can’t fix stupid!”
This article was one of the many "not so real" stories that ran in the 2017 "April Foolery" edition of PDB magazine. To read the entire April 2017 issue of PDB click here. Happy April Fool's Day!
