I bought these Rod Holders from the States recently when the Aussie Dollar was high. I decided to go with these rod holders after seeing them on Steven M's kayak and I particularly like them as they can be moved to almost any position. As I have been using Ram product on my kayaks for years I know they will be a reliable rod holder. Also the way the rod can be placed and taken out the rod holder is relatively quick and easy too.


The Rod Holders comes standard with a round ram mount base and on initial inspection at the mounting location on the side of the kayak I thought it would be a difficult task to use them, purely as the area on the side of the kayak is rounded and the round base required a lot of fasteners, using either screws or bolts would be difficult.


I did see recently on the Web another way of mounting Ram Rod Holders by using a different mount base. I discovered the Ram Clamp with Ball (RAM-247U-25) mount would be perfect as it has only two spots to fasten it to the side of the kayak and it also provides a superior mount by not only bolting it to the side of the kayak but also clamping it to the kayak by using the inside mounting plate of the bracket. So it was down to Brisbane to Johnny Appleseed GPS to buy some new base mounts to make the installation job much easier.


These are the Ram Rod Holders RAM-117SWU



Fits ok, but far too many fasteners required plus it rocks on the rounded surface of the kayak



The ram Clamp with Ball Bracket (RAM-247U-25), notice the bottom plate which clamps the side of the kayak between the two plates.



Only two bolts required here, not as much rocking in the rounded edge of the kayak and with the bottom plate clamped on the inside of the kayak a very solid mount base.

I decided on placing the base plates for the rod holders right next to where my feet will rest in the foot pegs. With the aid of a second person holding the rod holders in place I was able to sit in the seated position and work out where I was able to reach the rod in the holders from this position. As there is so much adjustment on these rod holders I pushed the base plates as far forward as possible, mainly to give me a clear paddle stroke when I am trolling and paddling with the rods in the holders. Although this is an Electric kayak I will still be paddling it as times. It worked out to be 230 mm from the end of the foot well.


So it was time to mark the holes for the base plate and start drilling. Using a marking pen I made a mark and them used a smaller drill bit as a pilot hole. As always I used a hand drill to make the holes in the kayak. Reason being it is more difficult to make a mistake using a hand drill then a power drill when drilling into your pride and joy.


The bolts supplied in the kit were too long so it was into the shed to use the hacksaw to cut them to the right length.


I inserted the bolts through the holes and the hardest bit of the installation began, attaching the backing plate to the inside of the kayak. With my shoulder fully inside the front hatch and my arm fully extended I was just able to reach the spot where the bolts were coming through. As the nyloc nuts were designed to key into the backing plate to stop them from turning to be tighten. I applied some Blu tack to underneath the nuts in their position on the backing plate. This enabled me to put the plate in position and the use my free hand to tighten the bolts on the outside of the kayak.


A difficult task but once completed each mounting base was extremely solid. Once the mounting base was secured in place it was just a matter of attaching the rod holders to the base plates and it was done. To finish I will run some silicone around the outside of the mounting plate where it touches the kayak to provide a waterproof seal.


These will be great rod holders for this kayak but I am already thinking that if I had longer ram arms on the rod holders they would be even better, I might try these first and then if need I may purchase the longer arms.

The decision was made for me in the end, cleaning up the kayak yesterday after the install I sat on one of the rod holders and split it clean in half They're not as Tuff as the Cannon or Scotty rod holders So on the phone today to Johnny Appleseed to get another rod holder with the longer extension arm and an extra one for the other rod holder I have here. Bugger that was an expensive accident..$150 later....


Marking the holes before drilling



Finished, getting the inside plate on was a struggle though.



Rod Holder in place, by turning the wing nut on the side of the arm the rod holder can be moved to almost any position.



Rod holders on both sides, well forward, out of the paddle stroke


Cheers