[Mumbles]

Show off your rod holders for your pontoon boats (or other boats...or share ideas you've had). I spent the day in a Clack with EmergingRivers and his boat is really setup extremely well. There were full lenght rod holders that were made of tubing built into the sides of the boat. I've got a 9' and 12' pontoon boat that I've attached the Berkley foam slot type holders but wonder if some sort of long tube rod holder is in use by anyone on their pontoon boats. Go ahead, post some photos, show them off!

 

[Riverman]

I tried a set on a toon many years ago, and quit using them as they always got in the way. My opinion...

 

[Trout Master]

Ed, the scotty rod holders for fly rods have been on my pontoon for years. I have 3 holders on my pontoon. They work great.

 

[Mumbles]

Will the scotty holders hold a spey rod's beefy handle? I recall that being an issue the one time I tried. I totally don't mind the holders being accessible only when stationary at the bank when river floating. The switcing of rods or techniques normally happens when standing on terra firma, not while floating. What about the clip in type holders? Anyone using those?

 

[Stewart]

I have a rod case that is made for a two-piece 9'6" rod with the reel on. If I take my 4 and my 6, then one is in my hand and the other goes in the rod case. I just lash the case to the pontoon frame with a strap. Then I can switch between rods pretty fast. I just reel the fly to the tip-top, separate the rod in the center(won't work with rods with uneven numbers of pieces), flip the tip top around so it is next to the reel and shove it in the case. You'll have a few curls to take out of your leader, but that's quick and easy. I have seen someone just take an appropriate length of pvc, notch it for the reel and lash that to the frame. He used some sort of keeper so the rod wouldn't slide out. It was very simple. The only downside to that method would be if you breakdown the toon to put it in your rig. Then what do you do with 10' piece of pvc?

Be sure to flip the top half of the rod so that the tip-top is near the zippered opening. If you do it the other way, then the fly might get hooked on the liner, and you won't be able to get it out without ripping the liner or having several feet of leader left in the case.

 

[Freestone]

Ed, I have several brands of rod holders including Scotty and mostly use them to temporarily hold the rod being fishing. For spare rods, prefer to store them in PVC pipe but I use gray PVC electrical conduit. I like it because it has one end that is flared and the gray color doesn't get as hot as the black pvc. I took a dremel and cut a long slot in the flared end for the reel to slide in. Then, I attached a piece of fuzzy-side Velcro around the conduit and use a removable Velcro strap to secure the rod and reel. I slide the conduit under the pontoon's straps and it works very well. I like having the spare rods in tubes as it not only protects them, but I find that the person casting doesn't get their line tangled/wrapped around the spare rod(s) as often. However, I can only access the spare rods when out of the boat, so it's not perfect. If I had a table saw and a dado blade, I cut a slot along the whole length of the tube and then with a dremel, cut some slits for straps so I could drop the rod in from the top. I can get 2 single-handers in the same tube if I need to. I use 10' conduit for single-handers but for spey rods, you can just add another short section of the correct length. (bevel the inside male end of the short section so you don't catch a guide on it.) The nice thing is that because of the flared end, you won't need to buy any fittings and you can simply remove the short section when you are fishing single-handers. On the way to and from the water, I slide the tubes with the rods in them right into my rig. At home, I put brackets on the back porch that I store the tubes on. If I'm fishing the same rod(s) frequently, I just leave them rigged up in the tubes so I'm ready to go as soon as I get to the water, even if I'm only wade fishing. For longer versions of the tubes, I attach them to my roof rack and the Velcro securely holds the rods in. Depending on the size of the reel, I either use a reel cover or soft fabric bag to protect the reel.

I don't like using my fabric-covered rod tubes on the water as I learned along time ago that the fabric will often shrink if it gets wet making it difficult/impossible to close the zippers, not to mention having to thoroughly dry them before storing them.

 

[Mumbles]

Oh yes Freestone, now that is what I'm talking about. I do like the idea of the full length tube attached to the fram along the toons. Thank you for the excellent description and photos. This is very similar to what I've been thinking about in my own little head and you've really added some clarity to that thought process. Thank you very much Sue. On my 9' fishcat panther that tubing would slide nicely in between the side by side dual pontoons and the air pressure would hold them secure. I understand it might be nice to be able to access the rods from the rower seat but keeping the rods safe is more important to me.

 

[ral]

I have a one foot long piece of PVC tube about 1 1/4" in diameter with a 1/4 wide slot cut along half its length. It is lashed vertically to a pontoon behind my left shoulder (I cast right handed). My spare rod rides vertically in the tube fully rigged. When I want to switch rods I pull out the spare and push the other rod into the tube. The slot in the tube creates a spring effect where the tube holds the rod securely. Works fine except to remmebere there is a rod vertically in the back of the boat - you need to be careful when close to shore near overhanging trees. Because the rod rides behind my left shoulder I never have trouble with it interfering with my casting.

 

[Putzaroni1]

Hello.... I'm new here and see there is tons of great info. I'm looking for something specific that has been discussed here, Pontoon boat rod holder setup options. i found some ideas but no pictures. I'm thinking of going Scotty but want to figure out the best way to mount them. I have a Fishcat 9.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Great forum.

 

[Mumbles]

With a fish cat you can rail mount to the frame, flush mount to the cargo deck or make a span bar across your frame and mount in front of your oar stroke reach above your feet.

 

[Matey]

... For spare rods, prefer to store them in PVC pipe but I use gray PVC electrical conduit. I like it because it has one end that is flared and the gray color doesn't get as hot as the black pvc. I took a dremel and cut a long slot in the flared end for the reel to slide in. Then, I attached a piece of fuzzy-side Velcro around the conduit and use a removable Velcro strap to secure the rod and reel. I slide the conduit under the pontoon's straps and it works very well. I like having the spare rods in tubes as it not only protects them, but I find that the person casting doesn't get their line tangled/wrapped around the spare rod(s) as often. If I had a table saw and a dado blade, I cut a slot along the whole length of the tube and then with a dremel, cut some slits for straps so I could drop the rod in from the top.

I don't have a table saw but with a drill (to help stay in a straight line), a short saber saw metal blade, a file, and some patience (a precious commodity for me) I think I might manage this and also cut small slots into the sides of pipe to pass straps through to lash to the cargo D rings and around the tube near the bow of my WM Kodiak.

 

[Freestone]

Here is my boat rod holder for transporting extra rods. For my Fish Cat, I put a Scotty rod holder on the frame just behind the oar but some people mount them in front of it.

 

[Jay C]

Hey Ed -
I have your old Outcast Panther, maybe you're asking about bigger craft - but this is what I have on your old toon. My PVC tubes are similar to Freestones, but half as long. They fit great between the double pontoon, but I think they could be strapped on the side of a single. I have a Scotty fly rod holder as well as a vertical rod rack on your milk crate, so I can carry way more rods than I need.

 

[james.jimenez]

These are mine. Only because I'm cheap.. One day I will get a Scotty Rod Holder, but until then these crooked finches will have to do.

 

[SHigSpeed]

I've posted this before, but since you asked...

I can change out the D-Ring attachment legs (threaded in) and replace them with arms with cut tee fittings on the ends that snap onto the frame of my pontoon as well.

_SHig

 

[gofish101]

This is my setup. The rod holders were $6.99 for the pair.

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[sakana]

gofish, very nice rod holders.

 

[gofish101]

gofish, very nice rod holders.

Thanks, sometimes the simplest design works the best.(for me anyways) I thought about the scotties but when mounted the rods sit up high and interfere with rowing and in Canada they are $40.00 just for one rod holder no mount included!!! Tite-Lok has a model that works great as well in fact my brother went with them but they are a little pricey (40.00 for one) considering your only using the top part.

 

[Fishful Thinking]

Thanks, sometimes the simplest design works the best.(for me anyways) I thought about the scotties but when mounted the rods sit up high and interfere with rowing and in Canada they are $40.00 just for one rod holder no mount included!!! Tite-Lok has a model that works great as well in fact my brother went with them but they are a little pricey (40.00 for one) considering your only using the top part.

This is my setup. The rod holders were $6.99 for the pair.

Great. Where did you get them? I'd like to get some for my 'toon.

 

[gofish101]

I got them from Canadian Tire but have seen them from Cabelas as well. They are called Deluxe Clamp-On Rod Holder

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on the Cabelas website. I would have posted the link but wasn't sure if that was allowed. They get bad reviews because the clamp on piece is cheap... glad I didn't need that part.