On a 17-foot boat, deck space is at a premium. So bringing 15 to 20 large Plano tackle trays aboard in a giant hockey bag wasn’t working for Alaska fisherman Paul Johnson. It simply took up too much room that was needed for other things. Johnson knew there had to be a better way.
Working with the Boat Outfitters project team and a local metal fabrication shop, he designed a pair of large tilt-out boxes to neatly accommodate all his tackle in otherwise unused space under the gunwales.
The First Order of Business: Coosa Deck and Tuff Coat
The new tilt-out boxes weren’t the first upgrades Johnson made on the boat — not by a long shot. In fact, almost everything on the 30-year-old aluminum skiff is new or rebuilt except the hull.
The first order of business after purchasing the boat was getting rid of the deteriorating red carpet on the gunwales and bow deck. “Up here,” says Johnson, who grew up fishing commercially with his father, “carpet is terrible. It never gets dry and it always smells fishy.”
As he painstakingly removed the carpet and glue with a heat gun and scraper, he researched alternatives and settled on a tough roll-on nonskid material. The cockpit deck was made of old marine plywood covered in textured vinyl flooring and was showing initial signs of rot.
Johnson considered new marine plywood but didn’t want to worry about deterioration over time. He also considered metal diamond plate but decided it was both too heavy and too expensive.
Johnson considered marine plywood for the new deck but didn’t want to worry about deterioration over time.
Then he heard about Coosa board, which hadn’t yet been widely used in Alaska and was, at the time, hard to get as there wasn’t a source on the Pacific coast.
Despite being located just about as far away as geographically possible within the borders of the 50 states, Boat Outfitters was able to provide the best combination of price and shipping on the Coosa material.
When the Coosa sheets arrived, Johnson got to work measuring and cutting the new deck.
Despite having grown up on fishing boats, Johnson had never done anything like replacing a deck, and he was worried about messing something up.
“I remember being nervous about getting the right angle on the edges,” he says. “I did make one mistake, and I know exactly where it is but nobody else can see it.”
Despite having grown up on fishing boats, Johnson had never done anything like replacing a deck.
Time to Accessorize: Building a Fishing Machine
With the old plywood deck replaced by lifetime Coosa and all horizontal surfaces finished with Tuff Coat, it was time to accessorize. In addition to the tilt-out tackle boxes, Johnson upgraded to a new Yamaha F90 from Dewey’s Marine and a new pro troll Yamaha kicker motor with remote steering and throttle controls at the dash.
He also added:
- a new custom canvas top from Buster’s Upholstery
- LED nav lights
- hydraulic steering
- new steering wheel
- raw water washdown
- Lewmar Pro Series windlass
- custom rod holder arch fabricated by CWM Industries
- Smooth Moves shock-absorbing helm seats,
- trim tabs,
- a high-end Lowrance fishfinder/chartplotter
- radar
- autopilot
- and a pair of top-of-the-line Cannon downriggers paired with Fish Hawk remote sensors that transmit temperature, depth, and water speed from the downrigger ball to a dash display.
The final touch was a sleek black vinyl wrap from Mixed Media Graphics sporting the name of Johnson’s seafood company, Highliner.
The final touch was a sleek black vinyl wrap sporting the name of Johnson’s seafood company, Highliner.
“The only thing on that boat that hasn’t been changed is the glove box door,” Johsnon jokes. “I wanted to leave that original.”
Turning Wasted Space to Efficient Storage with Tilt-Out Boxes
Of all the additions and modifications, the tackle storage boxes proved the most challenging. The boat had originally been built with open bins along both sides of the cockpit, which provided some storage but also left a lot of wasted space.
Johnson’s first thought was to design storage boxes that would fit inside the bins to make better use of that volume.
But after several conversations with Boat Outfitters project manager Jason Strub, the two decided it would make more sense to “close in” the bins with aluminum panels and then mount inset storage units in the new panels.
Fortunately, Johnson already knew a good local fabrication shop, CWM Industries, which he hired to build the new aluminum “walls” on both sides of the cockpit. CWM used Coosa left over from the deck to close the ends of the panels.
With barely 6” of depth between the inner aluminum wall and the hull itself, tilt-out boxes were the only realistic option. There just wasn’t enough room for conventional tackle cabinets.
Shallow, But Huge!
What it lacked in depth, though, the mounting area made up for in size, allowing huge 48” wide by 17” tall doors.
The final design has room for half a dozen 3700-size (14” x 9-1/8”) Plano trays on each side, which means no more hockey bag of tackle on deck.
And made from black Starboard with stainless steel latches, the doors look great too. “They look like they’re supposed to be there, not like an add-on,” says Johnson.
A Positive Collaboration: Working with Boat Outfitters
Throughout the years-long project, Johnson has enjoyed collaborating with Strub and the Boat Outfitters team. “It’s pretty cool to have people who are actually interested and care about what’s going on,” he says. “Even after I’d bought everything, they stayed in touch, asked how it was going, and wanted to see pictures.”
“Even after I’d bought everything, they stayed in touch, asked how it was going, and wanted to see pictures.”
The summer of 2025 will be Johnson’s first fishing season with the new tackle boxes, and he has big plans for salmon and halibut fishing, including several derbies and tournaments. “The irony is that I grew up commercial fishing and went to college to get away from it,” he says. “Now that I’m self-employed all I want to do is fish.”