How to Make a Homemade Bass Boat

Making your own homemade bass boat gives you an affordable boat to get to those great fishing spots with.

Making your own homemade bass boat provides an affordable boat for those great bass fishing spots that only are reached by boat. Using some basic materials and a little skill, making your own bass boat is an easily achieved goal. This design features a boat 10 feet long and 4 feet wide, with a flat bow and transom. It also features 45 degree angled sides and is patterned on a jon boats with seating for two. Build the boat upside down makes it construction easier.

Things You'll Need

• Protractor
• Drill
• Screwdriver bit
• Screws
• Tape Measure
• Pencil
• 2 -- 2 foot by 2 foot sheets of 1/2 inch exterior grade plywood
• 2 -- 2 foot by 8 foot sheets of 1/2 inch exterior grade plywood
• 3 -- 2 foot by 4 foot sheets of 1/2 inch exterior grade plywood
• 1 -- 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of 1/2 inch exterior grade plywood
• 2 -- 2 foot by 4 foot sheets of 1 inch thick exterior grade plywood
• 4 -- 2 foot long 2-by-4's
• 6- 10 foot long 1-by-4's
• 4 -- 4 foot long 1-by-4's
• Saw
• 2 wooden sawhorses measuring 4 feet in length
• Roofing caulk
• Caulk gun
• Paint brush
• Window screening
• Latex paint
• 2 -- 4 foot long 2-by-6's
• Ruler
• A couple of friends to help

Instructions

Building the strong back for holding the boat frame

1. Set the 2 wooden sawhorses on flat level ground 4 feet apart from each other and parallel to one another.

2. Measure and mark a spot 1 foot in from each end of the wooden sawhorses on each one of the sawhorses.

3. Attach a 2 foot long 2-by-4 in a straight vertical position at each of the points you marked on the sawhorses in step 2. Attach the 2-by-4's to the sawhorses with screws.

4. Attach the 2 foot by 4 foot sheets of 1-inch thick plywood to the 2-by-4's. Make sure that each sheet has the 4 foot length parallel to the sawhorses.

5. Measure and mark on each side of the 2 foot by 4 foot 1-inch thick plywood sheets a 45 degree angle from each of the bottom corners toward the top of the piece. Then draw a line along this angle. This should create 2 lines going from each of the bottom corners out to the top end of the pieces. Using the top and bottom sides of each plywood sheet as the top and bottom for the trapezoid, there should be a trapezoidal shape now drawn on each of the 2 foot by 4 foot 1-inch plywood pieces where the top would be the narrow part of the trapezoid with 45 degree sides that are not parallel and then the bottom is the widest part of the trapezoid.

6. Saw along each of the lines drawn in step 5. This now creates a trapezoid standing vertical above each of the sawhorses where each trapezoid on top of the sawhorses should look like a pyramid that is flat instead of pointed on top.

7. Measure, mark and cut on each corner of the trapezoids a notch 1 inch wide by 4 inches in height. The strong back for building the boat on is now ready and the rest of the construction can continue.

Adding the stringers and the bow and transom plates

1. Lay two of the 10 foot long 1-by-4's into the top notches on the trapezoid shapes that are coming up from the sawhorses. Make sure that these are parallel and all of the ends of these are matched up parallel to each other when you place them on the trapezoids. Otherwise the boat bottom cannot be constructed.

2. Attach the two 10 foot long 1-by-4's to the 1 inch thick plywood trapezoids using screws to screw them into the top notches that have been cut on the trapezoids.

3. Place two more of the 10 foot long 1-by-4's into the bottom notches on the trapezoid shapes that are coming up from the sawhorses. Make sure that these are parallel and all of the ends of these are matched up parallel to each other when you place them on the trapezoids. Otherwise the boat's top cannot be constructed. Have a helper hold these in place until you attach them to the trapezoids.

4. Attach the two 10 foot long 1-by-4's to the 1-inch thick plywood trapezoids using screws to screw them into the bottom notches that have been cut on the trapezoids.

5. Measure, mark and cut 2 trapezoids that match the shape of the 2 trapezoids on the sawhorses. Make these trapezoids though from the 2 foot by 4 foot 1/2-inch thick plywood. These will be the bow and transom plates.

6. Attach the 2 trapezoids created in step 5 to the ends of the 1-by-4's that are running perpendicular to the sawhorses. Make sure that these are attached parallel to the trapezoids that are on the sawhorses. This will place a 1/2-inch thick plywood plate on the bow and transom of what will become the boat. The boat's frame should be completed at this point and we can now add plywood to the frame for the hull.

Adding plywood to the hull

1. Attach the 2 foot by 8 foot long 1/2-inch thick plywood pieces from the transom up toward the bow of the boat frame on each side. There should now be a boat frame with a transom plate, a bow plate, and two side plates with a 2 foot open spot on each side that has not yet been covered.

2. Attach the 2 foot by 2 foot long 1/2-inch thick plywood pieces on the sides of the boat frame over the 2 foot open spaces that are on either side. This should now give you a boat with a flat transom and bow and 2 sides that are sloping in toward what is right now the top of the boat frame. This narrow top part will become the boat's bottom when you flip the boat over later.

3. Attach the 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of 1/2-inch thick plywood from the transom toward the bow to the narrow top part of the boat's frame. The 4 foot part of the sheet needs to cover the narrow top part of the boat frame. The 8 foot part needs to run the length of the boat frame.

4. Attach the 2 foot by 4 foot sheet of 1/2-inch thick plywood to the narrow top part of the boat's frame. The 4 foot part goes from one side to the other with the 2 foot part filling in the last bit of the length of the boat frame. The boat frame should now be covered in plywood.

5. Cut off any plywood that is hanging over the sides from the narrow top part of the boat. The boat has now been built and the narrow part is what will become the boat bottom. All that remains is to seal the cracks in the boat, paint it and flip it over.

Sealing the boat and painting it.

1. Put the roofing caulk into the caulk gun and open the roofing caulk so you can use it.

2. Fill all seams with roofing caulk where the plywood plates meet on the boat. This seals the cracks, preventing the boat from leaking.

3. Lay the window screening over the entire boat.

4. Paint the entire boat with latex paint using the paint brush. This seals the window screen to the boat and protects the outside of the boat from the elements.

5. Unscrew the boat from the sawhorses once the paint has dried.

6. Flip the boat over off of the sawhorses and onto the ground.

7. Attach a 4 foot long 2-by-6 to the top of each of the 1-inch thick plywood cross pieces that are in the boat. This will create 2 seats running from one side of the boat to the other in the middle of the boat.

8. Fold any excess window screening that may be hanging from the boat's sides over into the boat.

9. Paint the entire inside of the boat using the latex paint and paint brush. This will seal the inside of the boat protecting it from the elements.

10. Attach the 4 foot long 1-by-4's along the top edge of the bow and transom plates on the inside of the boat and on the outside of the boat. This will create the gunwales for the boat on the bow and transom.

11. Attach the 2 remaining 10 foot long 1-by-4's to the sides of the boat along the outside top edge of the sides. This creates the gunwales for the sides of the boat.

12. Paint all of the 1-by-4's attached in steps 10 and 11 with the latex paint. The boat is now complete at this point.

References

• Svenson's.com: Free Boat Plans for a John Boat
• Vintage Projects.com: Flat Bottom Scow-Type Boat
• Bittersweet: The Ozark Johnboat