Poor Man's 8ft Hopper

On my 7ft pram I use oars to push off shore and emergency propulsion. Knock on wood, I have never used them for emergency propulsion.
Find yourself a 30lb thrust or less electric trolling motor and a LiPo4 battery + LiPo4 charger and a tiller extension kit so you can sit back in your cool new boat seat and let the motor do the work.
 
BigSplashTom said:
On my 7ft pram I use oars to push off shore and emergency propulsion. Knock on wood, I have never used them for emergency propulsion.
Find yourself a 30lb thrust or less electric trolling motor and a LiPo4 battery + LiPo4 charger and a tiller extension kit so you can sit back in your cool new boat seat and let the motor do the work.
Click to expand...
How about that time no electric motor or oar locks……DA
 
Something else to consider aka another wrinkle...

Comfort is important whether rowing or using power. You will be sitting there for hours in the boat hopefully catching fish. Will you be rowing a lot e.g. trolling or just moving from place to place for indicator or sight casting for fish? I am fairly tall (6'3") and sitting 8" off the floor is flat out uncomfortable. Leg cramps and back spasms are the norm. Knees in my face is not a good thing! There is no leverage for rowing nor relief for tired muscles.

I addressed this by making a wooden frame that went in front of and in back of the bench seat sitting on the floor with a board over the top connecting them. I screwed/bolted the swivel and seat into the wood to find what was comfortable by cutting the fore and aft 'legs' to the right height (trial and error). I found out the hard way fiberglass and especially plastic was not strong enough to hold the seat. Plus no holes in the boat's original structure! In your case, finding this out, you could make an addition to the top of your bench seat that goes from side to side with additional storage and does not create holes in the original structure. Maybe even add a couple of rod holders and a coffee cup holder? It is even removeable...

Once this is figured out, getting the correct oar length and height is a piece of cake!

Good luck in our endeavors and let us know what your final design culminates in...
 
I've fished and rowed out of a boat with the NRS low-back (tractor) seat. It's great for rowing. Not so much for watching your bobber.
My compromise was the padded, plastic folding chair like this one-
1786129062874.png

I'm like @RCF and the long back will thank you for a full seat back. NRS actually makes the same style, but nicer for about $75. Bass Pro has them too.
Unless you're in a wind storm, the higher back doesn't interfere with rowing. Just my 2 cents.
 
A simple hack that’s payed off immensely for me in my Driftboat is to throw a sheet in. I cover anything that can cause tangled fly line, with said sheet. Works great.

Another simple hack is to use my boat net as a stripping basket. Tactical Fly Fisher You Tube posted these ideas IIRC.

Have fun.

Happy Retirement.

Bob
 
RCF said:
Something else to consider aka another wrinkle...

Comfort is important whether rowing or using power. You will be sitting there for hours in the boat hopefully catching fish. Will you be rowing a lot e.g. trolling or just moving from place to place for indicator or sight casting for fish? I am fairly tall (6'3") and sitting 8" off the floor is flat out uncomfortable. Leg cramps and back spasms are the norm. Knees in my face is not a good thing! There is no leverage for rowing nor relief for tired muscles.

I addressed this by making a wooden frame that went in front of and in back of the bench seat sitting on the floor with a board over the top connecting them. I screwed/bolted the swivel and seat into the wood to find what was comfortable by cutting the fore and aft 'legs' to the right height (trial and error). I found out the hard way fiberglass and especially plastic was not strong enough to hold the seat. Plus no holes in the boat's original structure! In your case, finding this out, you could make an addition to the top of your bench seat that goes from side to side with additional storage and does not create holes in the original structure. Maybe even add a couple of rod holders and a coffee cup holder? It is even removeable...

Once this is figured out, getting the correct oar length and height is a piece of cake!

Good luck in our endeavors and let us know what your final design culminates in...
Click to expand...
x2...as a favor to my back and hips, at 6'2 (lost an inch to herniated discs) whether for a power or drift boat I build a spacer to mount the seat on that keeps my legs at 90 degrees.
IMG_20260807_153804044_HDR.jpg
 
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