Well several of you have been with me striper fishing and I think we all had a great time. Maybe JJ and I could have done better fishin, but we still had alot of laughs. Well as you guys know one of the things we like to do is troll. That is very productive somedays. Anyway the 1st mate always gets to sit in the front seat facing backwards keeping an eye on the rods,while I sit on the back deck plate behind the steering console driving the boat, watching the electronics monitoring the depth finder and gps for speed. Well the guy up front is pretty comfortable but with no seat or backrest sometimes my lower back starts to ache while driving the boat. Well, I decided to correct that. For my birthday the wife took me on a shopping trip to Gander Mountain and I did some stocking up for the upcoming fishing season. I got a new rainsuit, some new baits, some fishing markers and a camo seat that matchs the camo pattern of my boat. The problem was how to mount the seat on the deck plate, making it solid but also easy to remove and re-install. The seat was made to accept the standard swivel mount that sits on the pole like my other seats and I had to mount it on a flat surface. Anyway I found some chrome plated square tubing and made a square frame and bolted that to the seat. Then I cut two flanges from a piece of angle iron, drilled it to match the bolt up pattern I had drilled on the frame. I then pop-riveted the flanges to the boat which allowed me to slide the frame in between the flanges and insert the four mounting bolts. It is very solid. If I want to remove the seat and operate the bolt without the seat for some reason, I can always unbolt the seat and leave the flanges. I have a pad I can then lay down on the back deck and sit on that,like I used to do. Also when the seat wears out, it will be a simple matter to remove the frame from the seat and install a new one. If for some reason I decide I don't like my new arrangement, I can just simply grind off the rivets and fill in the holes, as they are only 3/16. Overall I am very pleased with how this project turned out, and think it will make my trips on the water more comfortable. Things are pretty slow over here in the fishing forum and I just thought I would share some of my preparations for the upcoming season. I still want to add one of the new 3-D GPS units, but I am having a hard time swallowing the $ 500 price tag. What are you guys doing to get ready for the season?