considering custom below deck large fish hold, need opinions

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panga

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I am always looking for more room for fish, and am tired of jumping over ice chests and totes. After looking at my boat, I am considering building a below deck fish hold for my 92 2520. It is a deep V hull. It looks to me that I could fill the space behind the fuel tank and back to about 18" from the transom, leaving room for the pumps at the stern, and leaving a channel for the bilge to drain back. The hold would go full deck width, and all the way to the bottom of the hull. I would build and fiberglass in plywood or composite partitions, with a macerator to drain the hold, I would use the lids to my current small in-deck fish holds to access.

Anyone have any input. Boat is a 92 deepvee 2520 pilothouse, bracket mounted twin 150s for power.

Thanks
 
I say go for it and post lots of pics!!!

You may want to consider weight too. You could fill some garbage cans with water to simulate a full hold.
 
I will be using the new fishhold to replace a tote I currently carry on deck full of flake ice, I imagine they will be of similar volume, but I don't see the weight being an issue. If anything the weight will be lower in the boat and farther forward towards the bow which should help with weight.

I am going to go down to the boat in the am to have a look at what I would be getting into, but it seems doable, but who knows maybe I am forgetting something major??

Anyway, since I plan to redo the non skid I don't think this is a bad time to do the job.
 
Another thing to consider. I fish on a 33 Downeast, we keep the ice above deck in a Bonar box, then shovel on top of the fish that go into the hold. Keeps the ice lasting longer and the fish happier.

May or may not be a consideration, but looking forward to the start of this project.
 
What byran said...:)


But You really need to pay close attention to insulation. In the bottom of the hull, the side of the box and especially the lid. That's where you loose most, as Sun bakes down on the lid.

The other thing is....The can NOT be any water getting in there from the deck. It's a BIG ice melter. Most hand made commercial box's that are used on boats have a 2in insulated core.
 
Yeah keeping ice separate is necessary, I was thinking partitioning the hold with a removable wood plank divider like you see in commercial boat holds, so ice could be transferred and layered on fish. I will have to look into the insulation more, I think you guys are right, insulation is key, especially when fishing in 60 deg water ice wont last. Keeping sea water out will also be key. I will look into hatches that keep water out.
 
yeah probably right, I have my live well mounted center of deck, which I was planning to leave where it is (or put it back after the project) and have the hatches on the outside of it to access the fish hold. I currently have 2 fish boxes on the sides of the live well, that I was considering using the hatches from, but they don't keep water out very well.

Anyone have ideas how to fab up a hatch that keeps water out? I have seen on other manufacture decks where they have the hatches with lips that over hang the raised up rim on the fish boxes, draining into small gutters that go around the fish boxes and drain to the stern. I just don't see how to make a gutter to the stern like this with out building the entire deck up an inch? I could just put a lip on the fish boxes and have the lids hang over, but they would catch toes?

Any ideas?
 
I used 2" polyurethane foam sheets. My neighbor has a roofing business and he got them fairly reasonable. I’m guessing about 50 bucks for a full sheet. They were very easy to cut, shape and glass in place, and make a killer ice hold.

I would look into a metal locking water tight hatch if I were you. It will cost a fortune, but the work it will save you will make it worth it. (I think), although it is a real pain to do all that work through a hatch.

That’s a big area in my boat. Finished fish hold was 70 gallons. Good luck
 
still looking for an easy way to handle the hatches, I do need my bait tank mounted in the middle over the top of the hold, so I believe 2 parallel hatch doors about 2' wide and 4' long would be ideal. Anyone know of anything on the market? Must be strong enough for two guys to stand on and be watertight?

http://www.boatoutfitters.com/starboard-deck-hatch this is the best i have found yet, not cheap, but what is? Id have to look again maybe I could shift tank forward and use a single hatch running perpendicular to the length of the deck, about 2.5' x 5', which would save a little money and give a bigger single access. This is the main hurdle I see here....
 
Mark Sr":1i351jvf said:
Isn't the bottom filled with floatation foam?
Click to expand...

Nope. Foam is only around the fuel tank(s).
The bottom is solid fiberglass.
 
Considerably there has been a lot of talk about a below deck fish box but I have yet to see one put in. My idea of putting in a fish box wouldn't be with anchor hatches. Why not customize with fiberglass. Make the water tight seal with a gas shock
 
kidfreediver said:
Considerably there has been a lot of talk about a below deck fish box but I have yet to see one put in. My idea of putting in a fish box wouldn't be with anchor hatches. Why not customize with fiberglass. Make the water tight seal with a gas shock[/quote

I'd love to see a way to do this. Ive looked at other manufacturers designs, most either use a hatch with a latch and seal or a custom fiberglass hatch lid that overhangs a lip to keep water out. The companies using a custom hatch lid with overhang to create seal are using a series of gutters draining to the scupper, which allows the deck to be flush with the hatch lid and maintain proper drainage. Please show me an easy way to do this with out a latching hatch. But I don't think a sealed hatch is the end of the world.
Click to expand...
 
When I compiled my ideas for a deck hatch It was directing the water with holes drill into the lip of where the lid sits and directing that water by a hose to the scupper then the other is actually making a sealed compression latch especially for my battery box. As for the fish box it's not a real big concerned to me that water would get in there as to I would be putting water and ice in there anyways to flush fish out and of coarse have a pump built in to pump it out the water ur talking about that May get on the deck while running would be minimal. The way the 95' 2530 is design very poorly for the drainage as only a small 4" lip protects u from it going right to the bottom of the hull. So my concern of building a fiberglass gas shock hatch for very little water intrusion especially going into a sealed fish box is small to none
 
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