You "could" use them, if they were medium action and you put them off to the sides & away from the trolling motor. In this picture (sorry, it's the only one I have) I have a 14' rod & a 10' rod off the left side holder ... and a 14' & a 6'6" rod off the right side holder. The 6'6" rod is a med action Compre rod that I won in a raffle at the "grand re-opening" of a local tackle store. I rarely used it, back when I was Bass fishing, but works fine for this purpose. But, the point is the location of that 6'6" rod ... on the far end of the rod holder, as far from the trolling motor as possible. This keeps the lines from getting involved with the trolling motor prop, in the event of having to make a quick or sharp turn.