I made up a musky wake rod holder

[lew]

When I'm trolling for muskies I have DownEasters mounted either side of the boat on the hand rails near the stern.

 

 

I also like to troll a bait directly behind the motor in the prop wash but unfortunately the transom on my Skeeter doesn't have enuff room for that so I had to come up with another plan and I definetely didn't want to drill into the fiberglass to mount a bracket.

 

The boat came with a 30" high, solid aluminum tow bar that screws 12" into the rear deck, but seeing as I don't ski I figured that would make a good platform for the rod bracket.

 

 

I went to the local dock builder to see what he had and came up with this bracket......perfect

 

 

I fastened pieces of wood to to either side of it to give the DownEaster something to grab onto, infact I countersunk a couple spots for the thumbscrews to sit in and gave the whole thing a coat of Tremclad.

 

 

I then used the set screw to fasten it securely to the towbar and I think it's gonna work perfectly.

 

 

It'll put the bait right where I want it behind the prop and I can easily adjust it more if need be.

 

 

 

Anyways, that's the way I wasted my day today

 

If your a musky fisherman and like to troll you may find this interesting or even give you some ideas for your own boat.

 

If your not a musky fisherman you probably found this whole post very boring and for that I apologize

[Roy]

Not boring at all, Lew. That's a great way to run the prop wash rod! It's a super idea for anyone with a Fish&Ski type boat as well.

[Lungelarry]

Just a thought Lew, but it looks like if you hit a big girl that rod is going to slap your motor,or worse dive your rod tip or line into the prop.But that just the way it looks from the pics.Remember in muskie fishing anything that can go wrong ..will Good luck

Edited May 20, 2010 by Lungelarry

[Joey]

Hey, that's cool Lew. Made darn good use of your day I'd say

 

Joey

[Pigeontroller]

Nice work Lew, you must be enjoying that Garage!

 

I made something similar out of a seat base and a Scotty rod holder.

 

[muskymatt]

Ya but you only have a 90 Dax...Lew has a 150...case closed...!!!

[irishfield]

Looks great Lew! You got Natural gas way out there in the booooonneys??? (or is that propane..)

[lew]

Thanks folks

 

Larry, I know exactly what your saying and had the same thoughts myself but I'm pretty sure it'll work with no problem. The rod position is easily adjustable left to right and up and down and where it is now is just where I put it for the picture. Anyways, it's just an experiment and we'll see what happens.

 

Dax, definetely enjoying the garage and with over 1000 sq. ft. there's plenty of room to store the truck & boat plus use the workshop too.

 

You rod set-up is basically the same as mine, any problems with it sofar ??

 

And Wayne, the garage is propane heat, should be nice for putzing around out there all winter long.

[Whopper]

 

And Wayne, the garage is propane heat, should be nice for putzing around out there all winter long.

 

 

You let the cat out of the bag Lew, I can see it now Wayne will be subcontracting setting rivets to you next winter

 

That garage is awesome

[Headhunter]

Hey Lew,

That looks like a great way to spend a day! I can't help but wonder though, if the aluminum tube will be able to handle the stress of a bigin, thumping away behind the boat. I'm assuming you are running a short line behind the rod and with the height of the tube being what it is, I can see quite a lot of pressure being applied to the top of that tube... just thinking out loud here... maybe consider filling the tube to provide more strenght?

HH

[bigbuck]

Lew, looks great!! You guys are giving me ideas. I'm going to get Brian from JB's to have a look at the back deck of my boat to see if he can rig up some rails to put rod holders on for me for trolling the big 'skis and pike of GBay.

[Alumacraft]

Nice work Lew that should do the job.Here's my prop wash rod holder

 

 

I also made this at the same time, a net handle holder for when I'm Musky fishing by myself. Simply slide the handle in and rest the hoop of the net on the gunnel.

 

 

 

I'm also having a custom made camera holder being made too mount on a ram mount base. I'll post pics when it's done.

 

Rob

[lew]

Hey Lew,

That looks like a great way to spend a day! I can't help but wonder though, if the aluminum tube will be able to handle the stress of a bigin, thumping away behind the boat. I'm assuming you are running a short line behind the rod and with the height of the tube being what it is, I can see quite a lot of pressure being applied to the top of that tube... just thinking out loud here... maybe consider filling the tube to provide more strenght?

HH

 

Headhunter, that tube is actually solid aluminum and built for towing water skiers so it'll be more than enuff foor my application. It's actually surprising how heavy it is, probably close to 10 pounds.

 

 

 

 

Alumicraft, that's also a great set-up you have and very similar to the one Dax made up for his boat. Do you have any issues with the plastic rod holder while dragging very large baits ??

 

Be good to see your custom camera mount when you get it done too.

 

I also used a Ram Mount to rig a camera holder but just bolted a cheap plastic bowl to it. I used a U-bolt to hold the Ram to the grab rail.

 

With the Ram it's very easy to point the camera any direction, then just set the timer and drop the camera into the bowl.

 

I seldom take fish pics anymore but it's nice to know the holder is there if I ever need it.

 

 

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

Good job Lew!!.....I'm taking the easy way out and getting Dave from Trojan Tackle make my mounts and holders for me...

 

I'll post pics when finished..

[lew]

Steve, I spoke to the boyz from Trojan Tackle at the Musky Odyssee last year about making me up something to sit on top of the tow pole and they said they could come up with something but it would cost me about $150

 

They do excellent work at Trojan but I like to putz around and try to come up with things on my own. I already had the tow bar & spare DownEaster sitting here, so all it really cost me was the $10 for the dock bracket.

 

If it works that'll be good, but if it doesn't for whatever reason, I'm only out a couple $$$$

 

Be good to see what you come up with for your new boat.

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

Steve, I spoke to the boyz from Trojan Tackle at the Musky Odyssee last year about making me up something to sit on top of the tow pole and they said they could come up with something but it would cost me about $150

 

They do excellent work at Trojan but I like to putz around and try to come up with things on my own. I already had the tow bar & spare DownEaster sitting here, so all it really cost me was the $10 for the dock bracket.

 

If it works that'll be good, but if it doesn't for whatever reason, I'm only out a couple $$$$

 

Be good to see what you come up with for your new boat.

 

I shouldn't jump to conclusions yet Lew....I have yet to see what the quote is to rig the boat up by Trojan.