Rod holders in 2002-2003 Tournament Pro or Pro V's

[MUSKIE11]

I'm looking into boats, and so far the Alumacraft Tournament Pro and Lund Pro V are what I'm leaning towards. I want a new enough model that they have the rod holder under the front casting deck. Which from what I can tell started in the 2002 or 2003 years for both boats. My question is does anyone fish out of either of these years of boats, and do you know how long of rods you can get in these holders. As I want to know if they would fit my current muskie rods, or how long of rods it could fit.

Thanks for the help.

[RK]

Too-short rod lockers, or rod lockers that don't hold rods with big reels are a chronic problem. I had a boat picked out and was ready to sign on the dotted line until I realized the opening on the side 'rod locker' was too small to fit a 7000 through... It was a deal breaker.

On some older aluminum boats you could modify the rod lockers to fit longer rods. Just have to look at individual models and see. But it's not without cost or consequence.

I got into the habit of bringing a muskie rod with me when I went boat shopping. It was the first thing I checked.

You're about right on the timeline for centerline rod lockers. Your odds are better with them, but even with them, some only go to 7', which isn't long enough for a lot of guys - me included... 7'6", minimum...

Good luck. Lousy rod storage is a real issue for guys shopping for muskie boats.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[crix]

my pops had a 03 pro v tournament edition and the center rod holder in his will only hold a 7ft rod max tried for a 7'6 It wouldnt fit also like said above big reels are a problem

not sure if you could modify it to fit longer or not

[MuskieJunkie]

Lousy rod storage is a real issue for guys shopping for muskie boats.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

You can say that again. I like everything about my Crestliner Sportfish except the rod locker.

When I bought it I thought "yea that locker isn't great but I can live with it". Fast forward 2 years and I catch myself thinking I should have paid closer attention when shopping. I actually contemplate selling it to upgrade to another boat with better rod storage. Kind of silly to think a 15 or 20k purchase can be centered around that but it is.

[john skarie]

I had an 03 tournament pro tiller that could fit a 8' rod in the locker.

The boat I had was the 16' 10" model, TP 165.

The larger tiller boats would only hold rods up to 7'6".

Go figure.

JS

[MUSKIE11]

Thanks for the info guys, I think I'm just going to have to bring a rod or two when looking to buy the boats and try them.