Mounting Rod Holder

I need some help from some of you guys that are handy. I want to mount rod holders on my boat. The problem is that the boat is a pelican predator and made of RamX plastic. I need to mount the rod holder without putting holes in the plastic. I could mount them on the front or back, it doesnt matter ro me. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Can you post a picture of your boat?

Do you have a motor on the front and back? If not, I would find or build something that would clamp on like a trolling motor.

Not sure what kind of holder you are working with but my first thought would be along the lines of what RCC mentioned, some sort of 'c' clamp type attachment to the non moter end.

Not sure how to post pics but the boat is a Pelican Predator 103. It has mounting places on the front and back for a trolling motor. I mostly fish by myself and need the rod holders to be on the same end of the boat as the trolling motor so I dont think the "c" clamp would work with the motor there. I dont have any rod holders yet, I was going to see what you guys could come up with before I spent money on them. So im not set on any one type. Just whatever looks like it will work the best.

Thanks for the help

I think I would try a temporary mounting system at first, such as clamping a piece of wood to the side, or from side to side, and then figure out what rod holders you want to mount to it.

Don't forget that several rod holder makers are on this site and willing to work with you to customize to what you might need.

I will deinitely be looking at the guys making rod holders on here as soon as I figure out what is going to work

http://www.pelicanpaddleboat.com/com...redator_lg.jpg

Here is the boat and I don't think I would have a problem if it was mine in putting some screws in the boat to hold a rod rack if you were doing some trolling or spider rigging.

If you're crappie fishing I would get a drift master and cut the legs off a bit and mount the two base pieces and go fishing.

yeah thats the boat. I was just worried that the rods putting forward pressure on the rod holder would eventually stretch out the mounting holes. Also I wasnt sure how to secure the bolts because there is no way to put a nut in the bottom side. I just want to mount 1 or 2 rod holders so i can do some spider rigging by myself

PM callshy and tell him what type boat you have and I bet he can fix something to fit your boat. For spider rigging you can't beat his hi tek's. They don't work very well for pulling cranks. If you want to pull go with driftmaster.

Smith rod holders are inexpensive iron racks with few features, however they make 3 and 4 pole holders designed to clamp on to pontoon rails, which could be easily modified to go over your cleats. that being said if it was mine id find a way to mount short perrotis, or since your worried about the weight pulling holes out somethin light with a flat base like tite-locs or hi-techs, the hi-tech guy is on here and seems very customer oriented i'd prolly ask him.

Great Pic Dodgeman. Do those cleats bolt on? If they do, you got it made. You could run down to the local hardware store and get you a bit longer stainless bolt and bolt a piece of flat, or angle aluminum to the inside of where the cleat is. That will give you a way to attach the rod holders without drilling.

How about mounting rod holder bases on a board cut to the exact width of the boat where you are going to install it and then clamp the boards to the boat on each end. It would then be removable when you weren't using it and you could put as many rod holders as you want.

I think I can still make a clamp for the back of the boat to attach to each side of the trolling motor. When I get the pics I will look at it further and see what I can come up with. The board indea would work, maybe in combination with the rope cleat.

These are some good ideas to try. Callshy I will get you the pics this afternoon. I just need a way to mount 4 rods within reach. Thanks for all the help guys

If you fish by youself, pull that front seat and use the base to mount something.
DP

Pulling the front seat wouldnt work because there is no way to face that direction and reach the trolling motor

Have you thought about using butterfly bolts like you use in drywall. They would give you a larger area and distribute the strain. Don't know if it would work, but it might.