I need some transport rod holders, any suggestions?

[stringstalker911]

Looking for some rod holders to put in my boat when moving from spot to spot. I really don't want to spend the money for the drift master holders so I was wondering if any of y'all used something different. I was thinking maybe the holders that hold then completely vertical might work and mounting them near the front deck but unsure about putting my 12 and 14 fit rods in there.

[M R Dux]

This pic shows some prototypes I built to attach to my HiTek rod holders. My Excel has narrow gunnels so I needed a vertical transport rack that wouldn't stick up above the 18 inch HiTek uprights. They work great and with several bases down each side, I can use them in different places to fit the length rods I'm carrying that trip.

Mark at Cornfield Crappie is looking to put these into his inventory of items he carries.

[stringstalker911]

what do you have for the tips? right now i only have hiteks on the front, i plan on gettting a couple more for the back of my boat but then the distance between the two holders might be more than twelve foot

[M R Dux]

All of the racks are exactly the same. I have 8 pairs of bases on my boat so I can use the same holders for spider rigging, longlining, pushing cranks, pulling cranks, etc. Extra bases are a cheap way to make your HiTeks multi-purpose. I can put 6 foot rods in mine when I move them to the closer bases. Any rods shorter than that get strapped down to the deck. Some folks have an issue drilling all those holes in a new boat. Mine was built and bought to catch fish, not win any beauty pageants.

[CrappiePappy]

Looking for some rod holders to put in my boat when moving from spot to spot. I really don't want to spend the money for the drift master holders so I was wondering if any of y'all used something different. I was thinking maybe the holders that hold then completely vertical might work and mounting them near the front deck but unsure about putting my 12 and 14 fit rods in there.

I've seen lots of boats with the "rocket launcher" style rod holders ... most home made out of PVC pipe. Haven't heard anyone complain about their rods bouncing out of them, but if that was a concern, then it would be easy to fix ... drill a couple of small holes on the outside lip of each end holder and use a small bungie cord over the reels. They won't be going anywhere, even in rough water. Just be sure and have the weights down close to the reels, and not up towards the tips. You don't want the weight banging against the rod blank or swinging wildly in the wind & flopping the rod tip around.

And if you do put something like that on your boat, and rig your rods before launching & put them in the rocket launcher style holders ... be aware of any branches, wires, or cables overhead. I've seen rods broken from doing that ... especially 20' ones

... cp

[stringstalker911]

I've seen lots of boats with the "rocket launcher" style rod holders ... most home made out of PVC pipe. Haven't heard anyone complain about their rods bouncing out of them, but if that was a concern, then it would be easy to fix ... drill a couple of small holes on the outside lip of each end holder and use a small bungie cord over the reels. They won't be going anywhere, even in rough water. Just be sure and have the weights down close to the reels, and not up towards the tips. You don't want the weight banging against the rod blank or swinging wildly in the wind & flopping the rod tip around.

And if you do put something like that on your boat, and rig your rods before launching & put them in the rocket launcher style holders ... be aware of any branches, wires, or cables overhead. I've seen rods broken from doing that ... especially 20' ones

... cp

Those are the kind I was thinking I think but wasnt sure how a 12 -14 foot pole would handle running down the lake in one of those. It would be nice because i could reach them from my fishing seat though. Any one have any direct experience with this style holder?

[Cray]

You can build your own with some PVC T's and pipe. Join the T's together with short section's of PVC then make your uprights out of the same PVC about 12-14 inches long. Then depending on your boat several different ways of mounting solid. They work fine but I prefer a horizontal carrier like Mrdux has. Easier on the rods and lot less chance of breaking one. Check out the ones Creekslick on here builds. He is in the sponsor section. Or just shoot him a PM.