2lbperch

Yes, you give them 2 coats each. Then use thickened epoxy or 5200 to glue them together. Usually 3 sheets of 1/2" marine ply. Clamp them together well onto the back of the boat. Before you put the 1st layer of cloth on, smush some thickened epoxy around the edges, use a spoon so you get a nice rounded edge for the fabric to follow. 3 layers of cloth on after that depending on the weight of it. Another little trick is to trace the plug hole out, hole saw a bigger hole in the plywood & fill it with epoxy. That way there is no raw wood around the bilge hole to start new transom rot. You can do that with the top of the transom also. Cut it a 1/2" short, before the fabric is on make a waxpaper dam, fill it flush to the top. That way the trim screws don't get into the wood, they are in the plastic. Keep the sun off of it. It will turn from clear to yellow in a day. Check out the forum "fiberglassics" lots of boat builds and detailed pics of what you need to do. They are old boats but fiberglass is fiberglass.

I agree. No blue tape, worthless. Tan if you can find it. I have a 5 gallon pail of powdered glass and micro balloons, micros sands like body filler. Powdered glass sets up hard. Yes, tape & waxpaper pockets save work. Sounds like you've been there pap. Fair Haven Tuesday hopefully.

I forgot, stick whatever you used for stringers with your 3 coats of epoxy to the boat with 3m 5200 in a caulk gun. Takes a couple days to cure, but is concrete and permanent. Put batteries or anything heavy on them to hold it. Then 3 or 4 layers of fabric, small to big over them. Also. Drill holes and secure 2×4's to keep the boat square before you pull the deck off any bit. Be bad if the top won't fit back on after you spent $ and time.

Yes, stick with epoxy. That is liquid plastic. No gel coat for color. Epoxy is so strong, if you wrapped 4 fabric layers with epoxy around toilet paper tubes, that would be stronger than the original stringers in the boat. It's not the wood, it's the support structure around them. I use plywood for stringers because of the multi- direction of the wood. Leads to a hard ride cause of no flex. If you get flex, you get cracks=rotten wood= heavy. The strength comes comes from the shape around the stringers and 3 or 4 expanding layers of cloth over them is all you need. Each layer of cloth gets a 6 " overlap on each side. Get +45, -45, with mat or random backing, 15 to 20 ounces a yard. The stringers, floor, and transom will be bullet proof. Even if you use cardboard.

You can't gel coat over epoxy. It will not stick. Epoxy will like rustoleum marine paint. That is very durable, lowes sells it by the gallon. This is the tool you want. Get a good bosch blade. The others don't last.

If the inside of the transom is glassed, cut it out from the inside. Get the engine off and do it. I've got the tools, fabric, and epoxy. I also have some 1/2" sheets of marine plywood kicking around. The most important part of the transom is filleted edges from the transom to the hull. Any gap is a weak point. A new tramsom is not hard, just a couple afternoons of work. PM me if you want some help for a day. I want that boat wet.

None of that is overkill. It will set up today. Gives you time to work with it.For a hole, cut a bunch of little pieces soaked in resin to fill it up. Stronger than filler and sands smooth without much difficulty.

Also, if you are using epoxy, it has to be painted. It degrades by the minute in uv rays and can't be gel coated. If you use resin, you can gel coat that, wet sand, and buff.

Yes, use the chicken bulbs. Also, you can put wax paper over the resin or epoxy to smooth it before it sets. Put it on and massage it in after you spread it. Gel coat cracks will always come back in a few years unless you use the lightest fabric, the stuff they put on the foam surfboards. Check out RAKA epoxy out of Florida. They have the light fiberglass cloth, called clearcoat cloth. Very light, cracks won't come through though.I restore 50's & 60's fiberglass boats for fun.

Well said sk8. Wish everyone was a stand up steward like you. Don't think we've met yet, like you very much from my short time on this site. X2

I've got a AQUA VIEW MULTI VU. The controls for the power/lights are in a box you can mount near the controls on the boat. To view I got a pyle 10" vehicle backup camera color monitor screen without sound mounted next to the ff for $70 on amazon on a ram ball mount. It's so much fun seeing the structure you're fishing. Like sodus bay or port bay with the sand bottom, you see why perch are where they are. Crappie are territorial to it and try to defend their spot in the spring. Some days I don't even try to catch a fish. I pull the rig out from a bite seeing how they respond and act. A new dimension to understanding perch quirks. I spend more time absorbing behavior on the screen than I do fishing. It's so much fun for the $. I've spent a lot more on things not as educationally fun.? Except for that one time some time ago.

I agree lund. I spend more camera time watching the fish than I do catching. It's so much fun. You can learn so much if you watch and keep a journal.

Yes, it cycled a couple times before in my lifetime. Goes from bonanza to bust in 2 years. A carpet of perch looking over the side to none. They are there, just doing unordinarily things. The lake is changing, so does the approach to boat them. Give it 2 or 3 more years and everyone's relative will be back at sampson with bigger sinkers cause the weeds are 80 more yards out. I almost can't wait for the party. Somewhat glad the perch are getting a break. I've searched old haunts for zip, places you wouldn't dream, tight lipped fish. The perch are like stuck-up young girls, you need to find them and dangle something that shines, expensive, or wiggles the right way in thier face to get bit. What that is, almost changes by the minute. Very frustrating. Let the only two I caught today back. Time for downriggers, boards, and browns.

Small like them. Float around in current. Tip em with a spike.

It's a slight variation of the Skipper 9 rig as you cut the loop tails into a single line. Don't let the top hook go over the bottom one.You tube perch rigs and watch bill,mikes angling adv. Easiest one, no beads for seneca, cayuga you can. Don't tie the sinker on, get dropshot sinkers that clip on the bottom 12" tail of the rig. You can move it around to get bait in the zone. Tie the smallest black snap you can to the pole line, be sure the fish can be boated before that snap hits the tip guide. That snap let's you change rigs quickly. Like when bend or break a hook getting a cayuga pickerel off with pliers. Get a chunk of pool noodle to wrap the 10 or so rigs you'll tie up onto, smaller than that makes the rig get twisty. To fish deeper, clip on another weight or a bigger one. I use rubber and live on the rig. Flies I deadstick when they are tight lipped under the boat. Smallest trout flies you can find. No lead heads. A guy in TX on ebay makes sweet ones. Get it to the bottom and let the current move em around. Those octo.hooks almost hook the fish by themselves. Just my opinions and the rig I use mostly. Some people do it differently. Hope that helped some.

You can start with the lake erie rig, omitting the gold Aberdeen hooks. Black or red small octopus for stealth. Hooks tied 6" to 8" apart on 6lb mono leaders. Some days small flies on instead. I would wait a couple years for the cycle going on right now to straighten itself out. You might get discouraged and never go back. Lund has it pegged, but left a couple things out for you to discover, i.e. an abyss murk line. Hard fishing but satisfaction when it comes together.

Yes, you can get a float coat for under $300. My mustang has a clip in the pocket for the tether on the ice picks. They are very warm with the life jacket sewed in. Get the next size bigger if you are at the edge of a size. My only complaint is the tightness of the elastic around the waist. You stand up from a squat, it's around your belly button like a brand new carhartt. It's got float in the sleeves also to help. Flexible though, not like stovepipes. Definitely better than having no chance of living. Maybe I'll go to the community pool and relate the benefit of the coat as I haven't got it wet as of yet. Get one and wear it guys.

The cameras are fun. You'll spend more time watching the screen studying structure and fish behavior than fishing. I do. I have mine hooked up to a 7" screen next to my ff and run it on a downrigger and drift/troll. Better than most programs on tv. They think the perch cam is a long lost cousin if you keep the lights off.

7mph straight south will be boobing?, bobing, up and down at the N end. Yeah, be careful. If you sit down you should be OK if you find fish.