Rigging a new Bobcat

[tschmidt]

Has anyone here rigged their own electronics on the bow of a Bobcat or Margay?  I will be getting my boat soon and will be installing my left over units.  I’m concerned about getting my arm underneath the bow to be able to secure the graph mount.   I know on the bigger Basscats there is an access hole drilled, but it doesn’t look like there is enough room on the Bobcat.

[lfgray]

You would go in through the plate that holds the trolling motor power plug. You can reach to bolt your graphs and run power to the area that is  for the electronics.  Personally i just bolted or screwed a ram mount(the bigger 2″ } to the deck . where i have a 10″ and a 9″ installed.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by lfgray.

[tschmidt]

Thanks for the photo!  I was hoping I could reach when removing that plate,  if not I guess I’ll be drilling out a 4” hole under the trolling motor pedal.

[lfgray]

Regarding your new bobcat and rigging.  In my opinion the bobcat is great for the older person who likes to fish alone. The boat is easy to launch, trailer and fish from.  However  i found that it is small for two people and all the gear associated with that situation. I found that the consul  is a little tight to get into (i’m 6′ 200pds) and it seems to sit lower, making the step up  onto the front deck more of a challenge. While there is two steps they seem to be close together and short. Coming down from the front deck is a problem if trying to use both steps and you have any gear on the cockpit floor.

Bass cats are weight sensitive and this bobcat is even more so. Take care in planning your trolling motor, graphs, and anything  you put forward of the cockpit area. That includes the two storage hatches and the center rod,tackle area.  I found that carrying only a few rods and all tackle behind the consul was necessary(under the seats or in the rear hatch is the way to go in my case). To my mistake I put all lithium battery’s in the boat.  It was a Hugh mistake. with a force tm, 2 graphs, livescope, and networking up front, there is alot of weight at the bow. The boat needs the weight of the wet cell battery’s in the tramsom in my opinion.

One more thing.  Its been a year and i still am trying to work out the prop situation. weight vs. wot vs. speed is still not right. There is a person on this forum who in the beginning was a great help and i should have payed more attention to him in my prop selection. his tag is Wheelman.

I’ve had other bass cats and i love them, but this one has been a challenge. There’s nothing like em.

[BobCatDave]

I also ran into the same problem with my Bobcat. I spoke with a tech at BassCat and they said do not cut into the floor under the trolling motor pedal since there’s a narrow bulkhead under there for support. I decided NOT to do it and i went with a screw in graph mount. I’m running the BalzOut mount in red to match my boat.  I got the mount for a 12″ lowrance HDS but currently have a 9inch Carbon unit mounted. I also have an LED lightbar mounted for early morning summer runs at 5am.  Here is the link to the mount https://www.balzoutllc.com/product-page/lowrance-red . So far I’ve had zero issues and its been 2 years of hard fishing central FL lakes.

 

[tschmidt]

@ Bob Cat Dave.   Great information,  so you just used screws instead of bolts for the Balz Out?  Wondering how or what to do.  I have the boat home now and need to figure out a solution.  I’ll probably buy the dual Balz out and have a helix 10 and 7 on it.  I was planning on cutting a hole under the trolling motor pedal but won’t now, thanks to your information.

[tschmidt]

got her rigged up and ready!  Balz out dual mount at the bow 4” -6” arms holding a Helix 10 and 7.  Helix 9 at console.  Master cut off switch in the bilge.  I think it turned out well. #diy

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