I am looking for advice on modifications to make on a 14' Livingston to fish the mid/upper Columbia for salmon. The boat has a 15 hp Honda long shaft and trolling plate and though the boat ugly due to being poorly repainted, its sound. I think I want to add a console and swivel seat to move weight forward, then add 2 manual down riggers about 20" from the transom. Winds can come up very quickly and 4-5' chop can happen. I have oars and electric trolling motor for back-up and winds will push me back to the launch. I will likely mount twin gas tanks/lines behind the flotation cavities in the front. I may cap the bow area to give me a flat area and provide storage for life vests etc when on the road.
I have considered lowering the center hump by about 3- 4" and re-glassing it as well as adding additional flotation to the floor thus creating a flat floor. Landing salmon solo is challenge enough without dancing over that center hump, so I want to reduce the tripping hazard; fishing solo increases my desire to stay in the boat...additionally, I need to clean up the transom; it was designed for a short shaft and the aluminum plate backed wooden filler is both ugly and flexible.
The questions:
1 Thoughts about how lowering the hump will effect handling? I understand the structural issues...I also know if I lower it too much the boat will beat itself and me on waves.
2. I have read that on a 14' Livingston, raising the motor about an inch will increase top end and reduce cavitation. Does anyone have any experience with this? What should the relationship in elevation between the motor's anti-cavitation plate and the boat bottom be?
I would appreciate thoughts/suggestions and ideas. I cannot do anything for quite some time due to shoulder tendon reattachment 5 days ago, but I can fish my smaller livingston in about 5 months.

Something positive to think about and patience are needed!
Thanks

Sounds like you need a different boat, best bet would be to sell it and buy something more to your liking.

Center consoles aren’t very good in small boats, they take up a great deal of room and are always in the way. Tillers typically work out much better.

Lowering the hump can be done, but it will be a great deal of work with little benefit. And yes it will start pounding in much smaller waves.

Raising the motor has nothing to do with cavitation, it does influence ventilation though, making it much more likely. Every boat and motor combination will be different, the only way to know the correct height is by trial and error. With a long shaft motor on a short shaft transom you need to go up at least 5” just to get it close to being right.

Catamaran hulls are very sensitive to weight and where it’s located, the more you add the worse it gets. So adding stuff will most likely have negative results.

It is probably a mentally tough decision to make but I'd sell it and get something more in-line with what you are looking to do. What you are proposing sounds unorthodox at best and life-threatening at worst.

I agree

If you decide to keep the boat, stay with the tiller......money ahead!!!

The Columbia is not a waterway to take your chances with an unfit boat. My brother and a buddy had a rouge wave take out their windsheild and swamp their 17 ft boat 2 years ago. Luckily they wer close to shore and able to get to safety. It can get dangerous out their real quick. That being said I had a buddy that was very skilled at glass work. He built the glass up on a larger livingston. Raised the bow and gunnels nearly a foot and put a 90 hp 4 stroke on it. It has been his tender and smaller fishing boat for many years in the Puget Sound. They are very good platforms, but you are probably better off finding another boat for this particular fishery. Be safe and good luck.

to start, I'd agree with the above and get a different boat. you are talking serious structural modification here. and on a boat that is painted over the glass.... it going to be tough.

that said you know your limitations better than I do.

I wouldn't change the center hump it's where I always fought my fish from in everything but horrible weather. when the fish was ready to net I went down to the side it was on and netted it. and I always hated the center console... except when going to and from the fishing grounds so if you put one in keep it short. they make a canvas top for the front... or I've seen them out there, that is lighter than adding a deck. less work also. but anything you put in the v's on either side of center will get wet. no matter what you do. so that's no place for storage. you could add some raised blocks to the front and the canvas and use the top of the deck as temp. storage.

as for downriggers, metal plates added to the back of the boat are the best method but two in that width is begging for tangles. there was a guy I saw that had his mounted to slide outs about 3 feet on boards so they hung over the water... but it made the boat less stable when only one was down.

thats my 2 cents... stay safe

I see a lot of cheap boats out there that would be much easier to get in shape for what you want. Do you want to spend your time working on a boat or going fishing?

Different boat.

15 footer in 4-5ft chop? Death wish.....

I own a 15.5 ft Livingston that I've put a bow windshield on and it is powered with an 85 horse Yami with a 9.9 Merc kicker. It will take a lot of water, but I wouldn't consider using it on the Columbia where winds could turn the damn thing into a kite in two seconds. In the salt, wind and waves are a different animal than on the Columbia. Find yourself another boat is my suggestion. For what it would cost time and material to modify your present boat.....and end up with something less than ideal by a considerable margin......you could buy a better craft. Just my 2