Where to put Rod holder bases on 12'er

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Mack in N.C.

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Got me a 12 ft Sears and Just bought some "Santee" rod holders and aliminum bases. These are just like driftmasters. Boat will mainly be used for catfishing. I think I need to install 2 bases as close to the back as I can, 2 just at the front of the back seat and 2 just infront of the fron seat though i would problay only have 4 holders on the boat at once..any suggestions or pictures of your set up??? Thanks Mack
 

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Slow down there sport! First you need to learn how to catch a catfish before you buy all that gear. Baby steps.
 
Baby steps?...

46lbcanoeblue.jpg


flathead1.jpg


Both caught out of a canoe. Dont hate the player , Hate the Game.

Mack
 
Suggest you fish out of it a couple times or more, and determine "how" you will fish out of this boat, where you'll sit the majority of the time, and try different options/placements/locations with the rod holders. maybe even sit out in the backyard/shed and "go fishing". Think alot about, drill once.
 
I have a 12' semi v, with wood benches. If I use rod holders, it is when I am catfishing. I fish down stream, off of the back of the boat. I had a hard time finding a place to put the rod holders because the type of base didn't work out well with the shape of the gunnel. What I ended up doing is creating a raised platform the size and shape of the holder base and mounted it on the bench itself. Sorry, I don't have pics. It works out well so I can troll if I want, and have easy access to the rods. I put one on each side. I hope this helps.
 
I've been thinking about doing the same thing with my boat. During my searching, I've come up with 2 different ideas that I'm considering so far. First one would be to mount additional oar lock sockets to the boat where ever I wanted a rod holder and then adapt/attach one of my driftmaster rod holders to the socket. Here is one that someone else has done.

Oarlock.jpg

The other thing I'm considering is using one of the driftmaster bases but I'd probably have this welded to the boat rather than trusting 2 screws.

sidemount.jpg
 
If you're fishing in current, I would fish that size boat side ways with all 4 holders on one side of the boat. Small boats can sometimes be a challenge to keep the anchored tight. They have a tendency to sway back and forth in current.

For little to no current, I would fish it with 6 rod holders (3 on each side spaced out) or for 4 holders, 2 on each side in a position where it takes little movement to get to them.

I think you should consider the driftmaster bases that that JMichael posted. You definitely do not want to mount the holders on your seats. You will regret it in time, in my opinion.

Good luck. Nice fish. I'm sure that was awesome in a canoe. I'm a bit of a catfisherman myself.
 
I may be misreading RiverBottomOutdoors, but I never anchor cross-current (or cross-wind for that matter); both for comfort and safety.
If sway is a concern, then use a stern anchor in addition to the bow anchor. So given that, I fished a couple of times to be sure of location. Then I decided to place a couple of rod holders along the transom (one on each side of the OB) and one on each of the gunwales, one for the use of the driver and one for the guest. I really believe in taking a trip or two before finalizing locations.
 
rickybobbybend said:
I may be misreading RiverBottomOutdoors, but I never anchor cross-current (or cross-wind for that matter); both for comfort and safety.
If sway is a concern, then use a stern anchor in addition to the bow anchor. So given that, I fished a couple of times to be sure of location. Then I decided to place a couple of rod holders along the transom (one on each side of the OB) and one on each of the gunwales, one for the use of the driver and one for the guest. I really believe in taking a trip or two before finalizing locations.

I'll try to elaborate as best I can. I don't want anyone to be confused or cause anyone to do anything unsafe. With respect to current and anchoring the boat sideways, this would be for moderate to slow currents that are typical of catfish (big catfish) waters. It's a pretty common setup for catfishing from a small boat and even tinnys in the 18 to 20ft range.

Even when anchoring a small boat from bow and aft, shifting weight in the boat when anchored with bow into the current will cause the boat to list and the water will push it in the direction of the list if both anchor ropes are not banjo string tight. It can actually be a little tricky getting the banjo string with such a small boat because chances are you will not get your anchors to completely line up or even taught with the boat swaying in the current. Every time you move in the boat, it will respond. Kinda like that Newton guy's 3rd law of motion. I actually use this affect to my advantage sometimes to drive my tiller steer by tightening the steering, locking the throttle, standing up and shifting my weight in the direction that I want to turn. Almost like surfing your boat.

For my catfish setup, I choose to fish my 1448 off the back. I think it's just wide enough to make it practical and I took lots of time planning and saving to perfect the setup. But I've been fishing for big cats for sometime so I've seen lot of setups. I think Mac is just looking for some ideas to kick around.

I hope that helps paint a better picture of what I was trying to say.

Take care,

Jonah
 
RiverBottomOutdoors said:
rickybobbybend said:
I may be misreading RiverBottomOutdoors, but I never anchor cross-current (or cross-wind for that matter); both for comfort and safety.
If sway is a concern, then use a stern anchor in addition to the bow anchor. So given that, I fished a couple of times to be sure of location. Then I decided to place a couple of rod holders along the transom (one on each side of the OB) and one on each of the gunwales, one for the use of the driver and one for the guest. I really believe in taking a trip or two before finalizing locations.

I'll try to elaborate as best I can. I don't want anyone to be confused or cause anyone to do anything unsafe. With respect to current and anchoring the boat sideways, this would be for moderate to slow currents that are typical of catfish (big catfish) waters. It's a pretty common setup for catfishing from a small boat and even tinnys in the 18 to 20ft range.

Even when anchoring a small boat from bow and aft, shifting weight in the boat when anchored with bow into the current will cause the boat to list and the water will push it in the direction of the list if both anchor ropes are not banjo string tight. It can actually be a little tricky getting the banjo string with such a small boat because chances are you will not get your anchors to completely line up or even taught with the boat swaying in the current. Every time you move in the boat, it will respond. Kinda like that Newton guy's 3rd law of motion. I actually use this affect to my advantage sometimes to drive my tiller steer by tightening the steering, locking the throttle, standing up and shifting my weight in the direction that I want to turn. Almost like surfing your boat.

For my catfish setup, I choose to fish my 1448 off the back. I think it's just wide enough to make it practical and I took lots of time planning and saving to perfect the setup. But I've been fishing for big cats for sometime so I've seen lot of setups. I think Mac is just looking for some ideas to kick around.

I hope that helps paint a better picture of what I was trying to say.

Take care,

Jonah

I gotta defer to you on cat fishing, RBO. And lots of good suggestions here.
Rick
 
JMichael said:
I've been thinking about doing the same thing with my boat. During my searching, I've come up with 2 different ideas that I'm considering so far. First one would be to mount additional oar lock sockets to the boat where ever I wanted a rod holder and then adapt/attach one of my driftmaster rod holders to the socket. Here is one that someone else has done.

View attachment 1

That's exactly what I did on mine. I got pairs of oarlocks on eBay for a good price and installed four pair plus the two I already had. Works great with the Driftmaster holders plus it gives you a stout location to clip a fish basket onto while it's overboard and a ton of other useful things.
 

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