Driftmaster reviews T118 H Tbar

All, I would prefer a no drill mount for my bass boat, but I have been looking at these Driftmaster T-bars. I know some of your professional guys like the single rod holders due to detecting bites, but I’m looking for a set up with minimal permanent attachments to my boat. When bass fishing, I prefer a clean and/or clean looking deck (ocd I guess). Anyway I have found these that look like they would work and only leave a small “star” base attached to the deck. My question is; Who has used these? Do they bounce or move around too much? TIA

I have personally used these and they will do the job. I did not care for install/remove/adjustability of these units. Carrying a wrench and pliers and keeping track of loose parts stinks. I now have the Spyderlocks from Gene (see sponsored classifieds) and they are great for everything I do. As far as bite detection goes, I will be the first to admit it can be tough some days to tell which rod got ticked. Time and experience has helped with this issue. The bases for the spyderlocks are lower profile than the driftmasters but cover more surface area. No stubbed toes in our boat as of yet. Best of luck.

Have you looked into the mounts that "u-bolt" over the cleats? I have 2 of them on the front of a center console and they're pretty sturdy. You'll need the rest of this T-bar set up to use them, but wont have extra holes or bases in the way. I also have spyderlocks in the rear for longlining and love them as Kmiller also said.
Extreme Fishing Concepts

Chris

I’ll check then out, my cleats are on the inside of the gunnel. Thanks,

I would go with Spyderlocks. You would have to drill 2 holes for each mounting bracket, but you would have a completely clean deck other than the base plate being there, and that should be no big deal I wouldn’t think. I pull all of my fishing stuff out of my boat for duck season and the baseplates being on the boat haven’t been any issue. No tools or parts to keep up with to be able to adjust them, either, and they adjust as well or better than any on the market IMO


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Here what the spyderlok looks like

Attachment 394657Attachment 394658




Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

??highly recommend


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Gene Johnson has a sale going -

I’ve had both. Like the spyderlocks much better


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

I'm starting to like the look of the Spyderlocks, I didn't want anything cumbersome mounted on my deck when not in use.

I ran driftmaster just like your pic for years. Never did like the mounting bases. Like the other poster said, the spyderlok bases are much better. Lower profile and more solid. I can remove my holders and fish from the front without tripping over the bases.

Also much easier to take off/on. No tools required.


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

I misspoke when I originally posted. I was thinking of the mounting studs for the uprights. It would be 4 holes for each base. My bad.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com