Rod Holders

[Randyjr.]

I have a 17 foot Alumacraft. I'd love to know your thoughts on good rod holders. I'd also like be interested in seeing some of your homemade items as well. I bring my kids fishing with me - they are 4 and 6 years old, so if there is something that works well or better for the adults and/or the kids, I'd like to get your opionions.

[mrfish1991]

i go with the under the leg approach while paddling, but that can be difficult to do sometimes. that is deff. better for adults

are you talking trolling or just sitting and casting/bobber fishing?

[Randyjr.]

I do have an electric trolling motor - side mount. And If I am not with the kids I will troll. With the kids, however, we will use bobber/cast. I've looked up several products on the internet, but if people have particular experiences that work well for them, I'd love to get their opinions.

[Redlantern]

Randy, not sure if you have a Fleet Farm near you but that's where I got my rod holders. I've tried the metal ones with the wingnuts but didn't care for them while trolling. I like the black plastic ones that are sold in a two pack. I troll for lake trout using some deep diving lures and haven't had trouble with them yet. I use stainless steel nuts, bolts and washers to mount them to my canoe.

[Se Mn FishSlayer]

Check out river ridge custom canoes web sight they got some good ones you can buy 2 diffrent types

[Powerstroke]

I use a clamp on the gunwale model from the Piragis catalog. Its worked great. You can adjust rod angle and you can set the tension on the bracket so when I get a hit the holder moves a bit with the rod so there isn't a huge jolt on the boat. I've caught lake trout and up to a 42" pike with this in the BWCA.

Only thing I would change would be to do a rubber dip on the clamp so it holds the different gunwales better. I have a couple different canoes and each has different gunwales.

[schweady]

The one pstroke describes is the Rod Sentry. Best rod holder made for trolling in a canoe. Search around... lots of places have it cheaper...

And I did the plasti-dip modification, too. Perfection.