Bass Boat Umbrella's

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Ok, has anyone ever used these? A fiend of mine has the equivalant of my boat, a PT-17, only his has a jet motor. Anyway, he has two umbrellas and two umbrella holders that fit around his pedestal and swivel when you do. They are a little of a pain until you get used to them but they really worked. Not only do they protect from rain but also the &^%*&^$%$ sun and it has been HOT here lately.

BPS wants $130.00 for two of these and I think that's excessive! The kind that bolt onto your seat are cheaper but I don't like that idea.

So, has anyone come up with any other ideas??

PLUS, before you all say. "just tough it out you sissy", OK, I admit it, I am a sissy!



Bill

 

[Rich D]

I use sunscreen for myself and put a bimini top on to take a break out of the sun.

 

[Greg Duggan]

don't complaim to loud about the sun being hot, i havn't seen it in 4 days going on five and half of the midwest is under water.

other than that buy some spf 60. or drop 130.00 on the unbrellas.

skin cancer is no fun so 130.00 might not be that bad.



GregD

 

[Casey Campbell]

Bill,



You ought to be able to make something out of some PVC pipe and connectors that will slip around your pedestal. Not sure how you might make it swivel with your seat, but I bet you could come up with something that would catch on the back of the seat to turn the entire assembly when you turned. Good luck.



Casey

 

[Carl Meyer]

I'm with Rich, the first accessory I purchased for my boat was a Bimini top. It actually made it to the garage before the boat and I put it on the first evening. After years of fishing lakes and deep sea I know how hot it can be out on the water with no shade. I love mine. I will be posting some pics of my rig soon.

 

[Larry Harp]

I looked at those in the BPS catalog one time. My son says they're "dorky" and he won't fish with me if I get one. After the sunburn I got Sunday I thinking I'd like to try anything. My problem is that I use a pro seat and stand or lean on the seat most of the time. How do you cast with that thing over your head?



Harpo

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Bill,



I made support rods from PVC which went over the seat pedestals. I bought two 60" umbrellas from Wally World for about $15 each and they were great. Wasn't too worried about the rain but it was great when the sun was beating you to death. The PVC was shaped like an "H" sideways with the outside piece had a cap on it and drilled the diameter of the umbrella pole. When I sold my Nitro 700DC two years ago the people who bought it HAD to have the umbrellas and holders or it was no deal.



Good Luck.



Bill in VA

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

C'mon Trep, post the pic of that tin gondola you float in.



TOXIC

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Thanks Guys,



How in the world do you fish around one of those Bimini Tops?

Harpo, on my friends boat, I just tilted the umbrella a little bit and it was out of the way. You can move the holders around to wherever you want them.

I think I'm going to try to make a pair out of PVC that will accept a golf umbrella or a small beach umbrella. I want to see Carl's pics too.



Bill

 

[David Hunt]

Yeah, fishing around them can be frustrating, but if one person stays in the front and one in the rear, it works out fairly well. And it does help keep you cool.



david....

 

[Rich D]

I have never had a problem casting around it from the front and my buddy hasn't complained about it in the back. Plus it gives you a nice shady area to eat your lunch!



Rich D

 

[fatrap]

I've been thinking about something to protect me from the sun for years. I tried umbrella's but the #$%& wind always messes me up. Pulls the umbrella up or makes the boat more difficult to handle.

fatrap

 

[Mike Moss]

 

[Mike Moss]

I ordered one from bps.It works fine.You just have to learn how to cast side arm.After looking at it you could go to lowes and buy pvc tubing and joints and make your own.All you have to do is drill and tap a hole for the set screw.This holds it up off the floor so it rotates easily.What looks more dorky/ scars from having cancer cut off or an umbrella on your bass boat?I quit giving a rats butt what other people think about what I do along time ago.Comes with age I guess.

 

[TrepMan]

Bill - Last spring my wife and I were in Springfield and SHE bought one! I met her at the check out and said "you want to cut holes in my vinal seats and screw WHAT into them!!!!" We got it home and I showed her what it would take and THEN showed her on-line how much a basic white 2 bow bimini REMOVABLE top would cost ($129.99 plus shipping to my DOOR!!!) and BAM (as Emeril would say) it arrived, took me 15 minutes to measure and 15 more to install!! She LOVES IT!!! keeps me, her and the kids cool in the summer heat, I can fish from the front with No Problem and if i'm STANDING on the rear deck no problem. It's GREAT for trolling in hot summer my rear rod holders are no problem!!



I liked the idea BUT unless the sun is DIRECTLY overhead they don't seem to be of much use. AND you have to CUT holes in your vinal!!! NOOOOO!!!!

 

[Carl Meyer]

I gotta agree with Trep, the Bimini Top does not get in the way hardly at all when fishing, whether trolling or casting on either the front or back deck. Of course like anything else there are pros and cons, but I think most people will see the benefits greatly outweigh the few times it seems to get in the way. Also great for when there are showers, keeps you from getting soaked. I got caught in a torrent earlier this week and kept the top up as I made my way back to shore. Seems like there is no problem as long as you keep the speed at around 25 mph or less. Can probably go faster, not much for me, WOT best conditions I can get 33 mph per GPS, but I don't want to test the strength of the bimini top as it converts to a rear parachute, LOL.

 

[Casey Campbell]

Forget all this talk about jackplates, prop blueprinting, and such. Just reinforce the aluminum supports and add some side extensions to the canvas. With enough speed, I'm sure you could lift your entire hull completely out of the water and really increase your top end. LOL I've got dibs on the patent, though...

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Thanks for all the pics and ideas..I'll talk to Trepper some more about those Bimini tops when I see him next week and we're in my tin rig.

The Bimini top looks great but don't you have to stop fishing to sit under it? The umbrellas are always right over your head.

I'm leaning toward the umbrellas but will try to build something. Can't be that hard right LOL



Bill

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

This is a picture of the umbrella I found at Cabella's.

It doesn't touch the floor of the boat and should be rather easy to build.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Better have a wicked side-arm cast!! Always overhead and always in your casting pattern.



TOXIC

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Tox,



They are not, not my friends anyway, directly overhead but off-set a bit. For instance, being right-handed (like most "normal" people, I would swing that umbrella over to the left side of the seat pictured. His is also hinged so you can tilt it and I believe his can extend higher.

BPS's look different and I think they are different depending on the size of your pedestal.

This is what I found at BPS.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

And when you are not fishing, you can enter it as a float in local parades!!LOL!! Put a popcorn machine back there also....maybe sell slushies!!LOL!!!



If right handed people use the left side of the brain and



If left handed people use the right side of the brain then



Left handed people are the only ones in their right mind.



TOXIC

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

You "upside down" writers have been using that for a long time..



Bill