1982 Pro Line Flatback

[hopefishing]

Well I now have my new to me flatback off the trailer and in the yard. Going to start with a real good cleaning then get it to Hanna Boats here in Labelle for him to take a look and see what we are looking at. Thought I would post some pictures of what I am starting with, and the progress as we go thru this. The boat is 1982 24' Pro Line Flatback. Bought it off craigslist this past week from a gent in Ocala Fl. It orignially had an I/O and the motor seized, he started to put another in, changed his mind and then decided to enclose the transom, then lost intrest. The old girl has sat in the barn since 2001.

[pete]

That boat needs lots of love,but has great potential,best of luck with the rebuild.

[hopefishing]

Today I cleaned the outside of the hull then started removing everything. Heres where I ended for the day. This is such a bus. Can't wait to get her running. Could I get opnions on T-top only, or center console with flats tower. A flats tower being up about 5 foot is as much as I think I would do. But I am very undecided on this part of the build. The rest of the boat is not to difficult, just the console area. Opnions appreciated. And anybody got any idea what I am looking at for the below console/tower setup?

[Capt Matt]

That will be a sweet ride when done, I've never seen one with a I/O before, she looks pretty original except for that transom rebuild attempt.
I went with a 5ft flats tower and love it, once you have had a tower boat you can never go back.
Where do you do most of your fishing?
Capt Matt

[gran398]

Good deal fellow Tarheel, thanks for the pics.

Nice boat, will be a sweet ride when you're through.

[Circle Hooked]

Thanks for the picks, can't wait to see the finished product, I think a tower like in the pic with maybe a half t-top over the helm would be sweet on that boat.

[hopefishing]

Yeah, I am really leaning towards the half tower with upper and lower stations. I guide out of the Everglades National Park and 10K islands. I am trying to set this boat up as my primary guide boat to cover most trips. Shallow water inshore trips and nearshore wrecks and reefs. And of course the joy in having a guide boat is its also my boat. Who did the tower on your boat I saw in your picture Capt. Thats pretty sweet looking. Today I am going to be drawing out a floor plan of what I am asking my fiberglass shop to do. Once I get it on here your opnions would again be appreciated. Have a great day.

[Capt Matt]

Action welding in Cape Coral made the tower. I got it from a client trade out for charters. I did have a little wielding done on it and I also had it powder coated. At this point of your build I would start looking for a used tower, you can save a ton of cash and build the boat to suit the tower. With everything I did to the tower I have about $2500 invested which is much less than roughly 8-10K for a new tower. There was a nice tower for sale on here if I remember right it was on a 22 flatback.
Capt Matt

[hopefishing]

I went today and priced towers and motors and rigging. WOW is all I can say. The motors and rigging were about what I figured, but the price for a new tower and rigging really suprised me. I am going to take your advice and see if I can find a used one as I go, but if not we will just see what happens when the time comes. I wanted to post this rough drawing of the layout I am thinking of and get anyones feedback who would like to give it. Please know I am not an artist and its of course not to scale. This is just something on paper so I can give to my builder and us talk about the options.

A few things that I will explain starting at the bow
1. I really would like a pulpit of some type for an anchor with a windless that I can operate from my console. This would be a huge help for me when I am by myself I thing
2. The exsisting bow area would remain very close to the same shape with lids being cut on top to make storage areas as shown
3. I have shown a CC with a tee top incase the tower is not in the cards for the time being. In front of the cc would be a yeti cooler for my guest food and beverages
4. the leaning post I would like for my tackle storage area
5. The in floor fish boxes are the biggest question I have to see if they are even possible. If you notice and look at the plan, a lack of deck clutter is what I am trying to acheive. Knowing that there is only so much beam and room maybe the fish boxes are not going to work, but I would love to try. If not in the back, then maybe up front somewhere with one big one.
6 Livewells in each corner is what Mr Hanna at Hanna boats recommended. Said it would be pretty easy to do when he does the transom.
7 and on the stern having a hatch to acess the bilges with a 250 qt yeti on top of it with frozen bait and also a place for my lunch/drinks. Both cooler would have the yeti coushions on top for people to sit on and that would be about the only fabric on the boat. Everything else being durable and easy to clean.
Any info you give on your opnions or been there done that experience are greatly appreciated. This is a first for me, and a big financal moment so I'm just trying to do it right the first time as much as possible.

[slvrlng]

This of course is my opinion, but I do not like in floor fish boxes. If they are under there you pretty much have to have a mascerator pump to get the slime and everything else out. I am really liking the setup on my 222 with the large box built into the casting platform. It drains through a thruhull out the starboard but so far I haven't used it that way. For now i just throw a "fish cooler" in it (a 48 qt. fits nice) and use the rest of the space for dry storage. I also like having a casting deck up in the bow to stand on when it is rough. You could still build your storage areas on each side and if you have a really good day fishing just pull other stuff out of the box and throw the catch in. It is much easier to rinse out down the drain and out the side using gravity rather than having to rely on a pump and all the wiring and have access to it if and when it finally dies. I agree that now is the time to decide this. Dry storage under the floor I can understand but not a fishbox. Just my 2 cents but I do speak from experience, my buddy in the keys had a Mako 254 with the in floor boxes and we always and I mean always had a heck of a time when it came time to clean up after a trip. 30, 15 to 45 lb bloody slimy dolphin make a hell of a mess and after being out on the stream all day, cleaning those dang boxes out was the last thing any of us wanted to do! Then we had 1 1/2 hours of cleaning fish after that. No wonder we could never make it to midnight at Sloppy Joe's.      

[Capt Matt]

What helped me when doing my lay out was drawing it to scale, I used the same graph paper you have and made each square 6 inches.  I don't think the fish boxes would be hard to do its more about making the lids thats the tough part. That 250qt Yeti would make one hell of a fish box.  I like the livewells in the transom idea but plan on filling both wells if you are going to use them as these flatback boats are very weight sensative at the stern.
Yeti has a great deal for us fishing guides on their website, almost 50% off if you fill out the paperwork, and you can buy 2 coolers a year.
The rigging for my boat cost me as much if not more than the rebuild. It is crazy and just runs away with you.
You can always go basic on the rigging to start and then add the extra's on as you go along,
Does the boat need a new floor, stringers or just the transom build?
Capt Matt

[slvrlng]

Didn't the Prolines of that era use wood stringers?

[love2fish]

Why not build a complete casting platform on the bow, you could have the capt storage box  on 1 side and the charter box on the other side still with a built in cooler/fishbox in between that could drain out onto the deck or out the side. That could also enable you to have a forward below deck storage area. (Similar to the newer style Gause deck layouts).
Another idea would be to have a cooler under your leanpost. I think Birdsail Marine makes a tackle center in thier lean post that allows for a cooler to go under it. And Yeti has slides you can attach to thier coolers so they can slide out from under a console or seat.

[hopefishing]

So I think yall are correct, the below deck fish boxes would be nice, but I'm afraid they will be more trouble than they are worth. Capt I owe you for the yeti cooler info, just saved me about a grand there. Today I am also going to take you advice and get good measurements on the boat, then make a to scale drawing. I am likeing the idea of enclosing the front and making the center an if needed fish box. I think also that having a 250 qt on the stern as the primary fish box should be fine for most days, then still having the one up front of about 150 for my guest drinks and lunch then maybe adding one more under the leaning post for frozen bait and my stuff would work out just fine. As for my deck and stringers, Overall the deck is still in great shape. I have some issues to deal with around the fuel tank area, and around the hole where the enging sat. I will be taking the old boat over to Mr Hanna today or tommorrow for him to start the fiberglass side of this adventure so stay tuned. I'm sure there will be more than I think that needs replaced. But I got time.

[Capt Matt]

The 2 24ft proline rebuilds I have seen both had really flimsy wood stringers in a 4 wide pattern. The stringers only looked to be a 1/2 wide plywood stood on end.
Raising the deck at least 3 inches is a good idea too if you want the boat to self drain
Capt Matt