# Homemade Rod Holders



## whitee22 (Mar 5, 2008)

Was in need of some rod holders, but didn't feel like spending hundreds on them to mount on my little tin can. I had a bunch of old aluminum dock poles laying around on the beach and plenty of spare time, so I threw something together. Here's what I came up with.




























Seems like they'll work great....the only problem is that the gunnel doesn't offer much support, it twists and flexes when there are just rods resting in the holders. I can't imagine what it will do with three lines out and a couple of fish on! Any advice on stiffening up the gunnel right there? I'm thinking I might have to move it further back and mount it on that corner plate or transom.


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## STEINFISHSKI (Jan 30, 2001)

Why not mount it to the bench seats and then the top of the front holder to the gunnel.


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## salmon_slayer06 (Mar 19, 2006)

maybe try moving them more towards the front of the boat and make a plate that will stiffen up the front bow of the boat.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

my buddy used a board from one side to the other side bolted through the oar locks, worked great downriggers and everything


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## whitee22 (Mar 5, 2008)

STEINFISHSKI said:


> Why not mount it to the bench seats and then the top of the front holder to the gunnel.


I thought about that, but it would limit the range of motion


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## Ma'kwa (Jul 16, 2008)

Looks better then the PVC I have mounted to a board :lol:


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## whitee22 (Mar 5, 2008)

> my buddy used a board from one side to the other side bolted through the oar locks, worked great downriggers and everything


Ha! I wish I had that kind of room! My boat is only 11'6".

Took them out for a test run yesterday and they performed beautifully. Most of the force is more towards the back than to the sides, so they didn't flex too much. Anything is better than having rods wedged underneath seats, coolers, etc haha. Hopefully i'll get some fish on them this weekend. Thanks for all of the input though.


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## 7MM Magnum (Sep 10, 2003)

salmon_slayer06 said:


> maybe try moving them more towards the front of the boat and make a plate that will stiffen up the front bow of the boat.


 
I'm kinda' agreeing with Salmons suggestion,... stiffen up the gunnel and as another suggestion you might want to drill and tap out each one of those holders where the mount of each of them slides over that main tube. That way you can run a threaded bolt through it and have a more convenient locking mechanism for each one of your holders instead of those hose clamps,... a quick turn of a ratchet wrench or socket and they can be easily adjusted to different positions. 

They look pretty close to the ones I bought and mounted on my cruiser,... same theory and mine do have threaded lockdowns.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

Why not just make another attachment point to fasten the entire thing to the gunwale? That single attachment point seems like the weakest link, but if you stablize it by adding another, it should be quite rigid.


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## 7MM Magnum (Sep 10, 2003)

Fishndude said:


> Why not just make another attachment point to fasten the entire thing to the gunwale? That single attachment point seems like the weakest link, but if you stablize it by adding another, it should be quite rigid.


Yeah,.. you could utilize those 2 holes already in that long secton of pipe and put some sort of lock down bolt through them into the gunwale.


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## whitee22 (Mar 5, 2008)

7MM Magnum said:


> Yeah,.. you could utilize those 2 holes already in that long secton of pipe and put some sort of lock down bolt through them into the gunwale.


Already have. They are mounted very tightly to the gunwale, it's just that the gunwale itself doesn't offer much support


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## motcityman (Apr 4, 2006)

I found a board someone was throwing out from a water bed...works good for the holders across the bow of the boat with 1/4 SSbolts...works good and some room to work with if you want to try that..but I like your idea's !!!!


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