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Posts: 208
| I made this last spring for a 05 Canada trip and it saved the trip. 8 hours of trolling with it and we went 5/7 with the largest fish of the trip (45") caught this way. We were renting a boat that was not set up for trolling and we had 2 kids (& 2 adults) with us that after a few hours of casting would be tired, so I created this "rod holder box" so we didn't have to quit fishing (or hold our rods) if we trolled. When the kids were ready to quit, we would break out the snacks and troll for an hour or 2 each day and it was productive and fun for everyone.
I took a standard milk crate and mounted 4 rod holders to it. The holders and the walleye boards fit inside the crate while traveling so it didn't take up much space in the car or boat. I brought 2 8' trolling rods and 2 10' trolling rods along and a handful of trolling baits. Find a rocky shore line and fill up the crate with rocks (weight) before you start - this was also a blast for the kids! I ran the 10' rods almost straight up on the back side (farthest from the motor) and used small baits off walleye boards to give us a "spread" and then ran the 8' rods at about a 45 degree angle with the tips just going over the side with larger baits.
In high winds/waves we needed to put this "thing" on a wet towel to keep it from sliding around.
2 of the 4 in our group caught their largest fish of the trip this way - they were bait caster challenged!
I thought I would share this for those of you going on remote trips, have 12' alum boat at the cabin, want to try trolling from a canoe, or even when you jump in your buddies boat that is not set up for trolling.
Hope it helps,
Jeff
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 Trolling box.jpg (56KB - 102 downloads)
Trolling box.jpg (56KB - 99 downloads)
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Posts: 358
Location: London, England | Very snazzy, but wouldn't a set of clamp on salty rod holders be easier? 
http://www.down-east.com/clamp-on.htm |
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Posts: 208
| these 2 photos would not attach the first time
And yes, clamp on's may be easier in some instances but I made this with spare parts I had left after rigging a new boat. It cost me $10 for the stainless steel harware. I also used in in a friends ski boat last year (skunked) but it worked. Some glass boats don't have places to clamp DE's. On the ski boat we tied it to the step on the back, it worked great. We were trolling for walleyes with shad raps.
Jeff
Edited by Trollindad 3/16/2006 10:19 AM
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trolling with box.jpg (53KB - 92 downloads)
trolling with box 2 (45KB - 99 downloads)
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| I use the clamp on Down East rod holders on my 12' jon boat. Quick...easy...handy...and no need to carry large rocks. |
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| I have a buddy that has a glass boat that we are taking to St. Clair this summer for the first time. He has no rails and won't let me drill into it or anything (he dries it off when it comes out of the water too). We were planning to hold our rods, we may have to try something like that - minus the rocks!
Thanks for getting my wheels spinning.......
Mike |
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