The best budget kayak rod holders

Before you buy: stop drilling

Every hole in a kayak deck is a potential leak and a permanent decision. On a used boat you have probably inherited somebody else’s holes already, and adding more before you know how you fish is how a hull ends up looking like a colander.

Three no-drill options, and one of them is almost certainly available to you:

• A factory gear track. Most fishing kayaks built in the last decade have at least one length of accessory track. Track mounts slide on in seconds, move between boats, and leave no holes.
• A crate with rod tubes. A milk crate behind the seat with tubes attached to it holds rods and tackle and touches the hull not at all. It is also the cheapest rigging on this site — see the crate setup.
• Existing holes from removed hardware. Scotty publishes the bolt pattern for its 230 mount — 1 5/16" by 3 3/16" — so you can measure the previous owner’s holes and see whether a new holder lands on them.

The locking ring is the product

Open-style rod holders come in two kinds: those with a front locking ring and those that eventually launch a rod into the lake.

The scenario is specific and common. A rod sits in an open cradle. A fish hits, or you hit a wake, and the rod jumps up and out. Without a ring across the front there is nothing holding it in.

Scotty’s 230 publishes a front locking ring and a 1.95-inch interior diameter, which takes essentially any reel you would use from a kayak. That combination — wide enough for a baitcaster, closed enough to retain — is why it is the default holder in kayak fishing.

Fixed mount or ball joint

The two philosophies here suit different kinds of fishing.

A fixed mount that rotates — the Scotty 230 with its published 360-degree horizontal rotation and up-and-down adjustment — is set once and largely left. It is the right choice for holding a rod while you paddle, and for trolling.

A ball-and-socket arm — the RAM approach — repositions the entire assembly with one knob. You aim the rod for the cast you are actually making, and you can drop it out of the way to land a fish. It costs more, partly because you buy it as a system: holder, arm and base are separate parts.

If you paddle to a spot and then fish, the RAM earns its money. If you troll, or you just want the rod out of your hands while you move, the Scotty does the job for less.

Mount types, and what each costs you

The flush mount is the tidiest and the least reversible. It is a good choice on a boat you intend to keep for a decade and a poor one on a second-hand hull you might move on in two years.

Fitting a bolted mount properly

If you do drill, do it once and do it right:

1. Reach behind first. Confirm you can get a hand or a tool to the underside. Rivet nuts and well nuts exist for places you cannot reach, but you need to know before you make the hole.
2. Use stainless hardware with large backing washers or a backing plate. A small washer against soft polyethylene will pull through under load.
3. Bed everything in marine sealant. Every bolt, both sides. A dry bolt through a hull is a slow leak from day one.
4. Do not overtighten. Polyethylene creeps. Snug, then re-check after the first trip.

How many, and where

Two behind the seat, one within reach in front, is the arrangement most kayak anglers converge on. Rear holders store rods while you paddle; the forward one is the working position.

Resist mounting more than you need. Every holder is another thing to catch a line on when you are landing a fish, and rod holders are exactly the kind of accessory people fit four of and use one.

Rigging the rest of a stripped fishing boat is on rigging a used fishing kayak.