Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Has anyone tried adding extra storage in the floor of their pontoon boats between the pontoon? I wonder how or if it would affect performance? I would like to add a small bait well in the floor of my tri toon, Ideas?

As long as it doesn't interfere with getting the boat on and off the trailer I don't see an issue with adding storage. I wouldn't think it would affect performance if you keep it fairly shallow, you wouldn't want it catching waves on a windy day.

I'm not sure that the shallowest you can make one would not hit water coming through the valleys. At the stern of my boat water comes within 4 inches of the frame the pontoons are attached to. A live well above deck would be my choice.

RcgTexas wrote:I'm not sure that the shallowest you can make one would not hit water coming through the valleys. At the stern of my boat water comes within 4 inches of the frame the pontoons are attached to. A live well above deck would be my choice.

Problem is that my Sylvan wasnt built with fishing in mind at all and there's no space above deck unless I use a seat compartment. What I really wanted to do was add a small 12x12x6' deep baitwell in the floor in front of a casting chair I'm putting just behind the front gate. I do only catch and release so it wont need to be big enough for fish, just shrimp.

Might consider building a portable self contained unit so it could be removed.

Well the obvious answer would be to add it to the center tube like the new boats do with ski wells. But since you didn't already mention that I'm guessing you don't want to modify your toon to that extent. You may still be able to do this mod over your center tube. Depending on your boats construction, you usually have a few inches between the top of the tube and the top of the riser (where the tube actually bolts to the cross member), plus you have the height of your cross members. If your toon has 16" O.C. cross members even better. Might only be 5" deep or so but it could be done with out cutting the center tube...

I thought about adding some rod storage this way.

I think I would use some of the seat storage for the bait tank. Or convert an ice chest to bait storage if you want something next to your fishing seat.

I don't see why you couldn't add a section between the pontoons. It couldn't be too deep and would need to be streamlined so it wouldn't catch the stream of water flowing between the toons. My old Manitou had a large transition section from the transom to the pontoons that caught water terribly, I streamlined it with 2 pieces of aluminum sheeting and it worked great. If done right, and on both sides, it may add some stern lift. As long as you use a bunk trailer without rear guides, I would pursue it!
You can always fab it in and try it before cutting the holes in the flooring.

Thanks for the ideas. I never thought about rod storage but thats another good idea.

Thanks again, the people on this forum always has good ideas!

Water will drain into what ever floor storage compartment you decide upon. A shallow compartment could include a drain hole. My center tube ski locker has it's own automatic bilge pump.

Merry Christmas!

It really surprises me that boating companies haven't come up with more below deck storage options for pontoons.

wijames wrote:It really surprises me that boating companies haven't come up with more below deck storage options for pontoons.

It's not really in the cards or a viable option. There is just to much going on underneath your deck for most anything to survive the pounding it would be receiving. Examples posted below...

Thank you, very informative and something I hadn't thought about!

Has anyone considered large pvc tubes to store long narrow objects like tents, umbrellas, chairs etc. on the underside of the deck outside the pontoons? You could cap both ends and secure to the mounting tabs for cross supports?

dragonx wrote:Has anyone considered large pvc tubes to store long narrow objects like tents, umbrellas, chairs etc. on the underside of the deck outside the pontoons? You could cap both ends and secure to the mounting tabs for cross supports?

We tow 4 jet skis every time we go out. I made a 3 point hitch for each pontoon. I am installing the 6" tube with caps under the boat to store the hitch rods. I'll let you know how I make out.