Looking for rod holder advice

[freddie]

Well, I want to come up with custom rod holders for a buddy's boat.

It's a Regal Sebring. The space on the gunnels is VERY limited, almost non-existent. There just doesn't seem to be another location option. There are no rails or anything to mount to either. Here is a picture of a Sebring from the internet, and the red arrows show the only flat surface available to put rod holders.


The rod holders will also have to be easily removable as they would interfere with the cover on the boat.

Here is a picture of the model I came up with. The vertical rod would be towards the bow


This would give him the ability to run 6. Could even mount 2 behind the motor box to make it 8.


4 people on the boat would be very crowded, and 8 rods would be crowded also. But it'd allow some versatility as far as maybe spreading them out when running 4 or 6.

Anyone have any thoughts or anything to add?

[Eyezcrazy]

Check out the post I made on the western fishing reports about a DIY rod holder I made for my pleasure boat. I had the same dilemma and what I came up with works great and is super easy to remove.

[freddie]

Hey thanks! I like that! May consider something like that. What did the black rod holders themselves cost?

http://community.walleye.com/showthread.php?t=7943

Only concern would be the cost of buying the rod holders. I think I may already have the stainless tubing and plate to make up my version. Will have to send your idea to my buddy and see what he thinks..

[Eyezcrazy]

I think I paid around $25 each for those holders. The beauty is how adjustable they are, up and down, side to side and they each have a twist lock so they can't slip out.

If you don't want the expense of the fancy holders you could still use my cross member idea and secure your tube idea to it. By using the angle across the full width of the stern you could probably add 8 holders. If your buddy doesn't have a deck mount in the area you want to mount it all he has to do is buy a quality stainless steel deck hinge mount and put one on each side where it will best work to secure the "rod rack" and you're in business.

It is super easy to put on and off and like I said, when you remove it, you never knew it was there.

[Eyezcrazy]

I just checked and I paid 22.50 each for the holders with free shipping on eBay. Worth every penny!

[OffShore24]

With limited gunwale space you should use vertical trees for board rods. This way you can put 2, 3, or 4 rods vertically in the same space that 1 rod holder takes up. For multiply dipsys you want the rods lined up horizontally.. You could mount a track in that space. Your tree mount will mount to the track and so will your dipsy cradles.

I would NEVER use a system that runs the rods across the transom wall. How would set lines off the back of the boat? You would have to reach over and around etc to net a fish. The back of the boat needs to be open to let lines out and bring fish in. Look at the way a charter boat is set up. Rod holders down the side walls and the transom area open to work lines and bring in fish.