Rear deck storage box?

I have recently switched gears and committed the front hatch of my new 2016 PA14 to storing my catch on ice. That means I have to find room for LOTS of loose gear elsewhere. I already have TackleWebs on the seat, a HF elastic web for under-seat Plano storage and have stuffed seldom-used items under the deck. That leaves me struggling to find places to keep about 2 more Plano boxes, my Scotty DepthMaster downrigger and ball, H-Rail DR mounting plate, marker buoy, knife, radio, air horn, headlight, folding anchor, drift chute, anchor line reel, maybe a sweatshirt and hat, etc. I cannot use the H-Rail Tackle Box because it interferes with the horizontal rod storage that I routinely use on both sides if it is fastened inboard, and would crash against waves if fastened outboard. Not ready yet to do some of the very creative mods that involve permanently mounting H-Rail behind the seat. Based on past experience, storage boxes as tall as H-Crate or BlackPack create too much wind profile for the areas I fish. So, I guess I am looking for a low (like 8-10" tall) water-resistant relatively large box with lid that can be bungeed to the rear deck and hold all those loose items. I don't find anything like that in the HD or WM superstores. Anybody crack this nut yet?

Maybe duffle dry bag that you can bring to front deck when looking for the supply/accessories you need.
http://www.austinkayak.com/products/487 ... y-Bag.html

If you're deciding against the H-Crate due to its profile being too high, I'd recommend keeping the front hatch open for storage and putting a Large Fish Bag (part no. 72020111) or Medium Fish Bag (part no. 72020113) either on top of the front hatch or in the rear cargo area. As for finding room for your H-Rail tackle bin, we do offer bolt-on 9" (part no. 84626001) and 21" (84626101) H-rail sections that you can mount behind the seat for clamping the tackle bin to.

_________________
Howie Strech
Parts & Accessories Product Manager
Hobie Cat USA

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a big drybag; looking more for a big Tupperware solution, actually. And Howie, I do have a large fish bag and that is exactly what I did until recently. I wanted to try going with wet ice in the front hatch because I find that the frozen cooler packs I keep inside the fish bag do not preserve the meat as well as submersion in ice water. The fish come out of the bag all mottled in color due to unequal cooling, and the flesh has noticeably worse texture (more crumbly or granular). I did not really appreciate the difference until cleaning some lake trout that my buddy and I had caught on his boat, where they were immediately put in ice water after killing - much better texture than the lake trout I had "bagged" the day before. I tried putting a small wet-ice cooler on the back deck but got blown all around due to the size.

Since I down rig fish 80% of the time, I always unload and install my Cannon electric DR from the front bin......consider installing your Depthmaster before you launch and use a Scotty "weight mate" https://www.amazon.com/Scotty-SCOT-03-W ... B001M4HSSK
That solves storing a big piece of gear that is "always ready if you need it".

SRAces came up with a nice mounting scheme for the extra Plano tackle boxes viewtopic.php?f=78&t=59172#p281696

Your radio and knife could/should be clipped to your PFD.

That leaves a lesser amount of gear that could end up behind your seat in a low profile container.
Just my ideas/thoughts

_________________
Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR