Ram Mounts Bond-A-Base

Hey everyone,
I’m a new member here on the boards and to kayak fishing. My wife and I have a pair of very nice Current Designs fiberglass sea kayaks. The boats are sleek and fast, but obviously they are not made for fishing. I want to catch some fish from my boat, but I’m not comfortable drilling into the kayak. I searched high and low for a solution and settled on the Ram Mounts Bond-A-Base. For those who are curious, the Bond-A-Base is a molded rubber base which attaches to a surface without drilling via a double-sided adhesive pad. An included accessory rail attaches to the Bond-A-Base to accept rod holders. Due to the shape of the deck in front of my cockpit, I mounted the base off-center. Installation was as simple as peeling some tape, and it feels sturdy so far. No drilling, and it is removable if I decide I don’t like it. I’ll repost after I see how the base holds up to saltwater.

Wondering how long it'll last in the salt, but you already mentioned getting back to us I briefly toy with the idea of getting a Zodiac with a buddy and would need to do something like this at some point

Leash you rod holder to the kayak and put your pole on a retractable dog leash attached to the boat, that way if it does say “see ya” it won’t get far away.

Thanks for posting - my wife has a touring kayak very similar to yours and she was also hesitant to put holes in her boat.  We'll definitely be checking this product out. Please do report back on how it performs...we'll do the same if we end up going down that route...

Thanks for posting!

Only have a handful of rides with the track base installed, but so far it is performing as advertised. The glue is still rock solid on this thing. I like the composite rail system as well as it is light, strong feeling, and pretty low profile. However, I do find that mounting a fishing rod in a holder to the deck does adversely effect the handling of my kayak. The higher CG makes my narrow (24” beam) boat more tippy feeling, especially when pulling a lure while trolling. It’s not a deal breaker, but since I was hoping to do some trolling for salmon I’m going to have to adjust.

What if you did a rocket launcher type mount off the back with the bait clicker on.  I have hooked salmon that way on the Willamette when we could use two rods. The pull is straight back rather than to the side.  Again, as mentioned before, use a rod leash. You would have to be careful turning to grab it, though.

Only have a handful of rides with the track base installed, but so far it is performing as advertised. The glue is still rock solid on this thing. I like the composite rail system as well as it is light, strong feeling, and pretty low profile. However, I do find that mounting a fishing rod in a holder to the deck does adversely effect the handling of my kayak. The higher CG makes my narrow (24” beam) boat more tippy feeling, especially when pulling a lure while trolling. It’s not a deal breaker, but since I was hoping to do some trolling for salmon I’m going to have to adjust.

If you think it feels tippy while trolling, just wait until you get a bite.

Well, if they were designed to hunt seals and walruses a salmon should be easy. 

Check the RAM site and see if you can get a shorter arm.
Reduce a bit of the leverage it's producing.

Thanks for the advice everyone. So far I think it works ok. The arm on the rod holder helps to keep the rod butt from interfering with the deck, and helps get a good rod angle for trolling while keeping the rod out of the way while paddling. There’s a lot of adjustment in the rod holder which keeps it pretty low.  I think I can get away with no leash because the rod holder has a retaining clip built in. As for hunting seals from my boat: I would have starved a long time ago if my life depended on fishing or hunting 

So far I have been jigging off the bottom and had some fun catching some bottom fish. I’m a beginner paddler so my range and confidence paddling keeps me away from where the salmon are swimming for the most part. Pretty soon the salmon will be within range, gathering near the mouths of coastal rivers where I can get to them and then it’s on!

What if you did a rocket launcher type mount off the back with the bait clicker on.  I have hooked salmon that way on the Willamette when we could use two rods. The pull is straight back rather than to the side.  Again, as mentioned before, use a rod leash. You would have to be careful turning to grab it, though.

If you're gonna go RAM tube, move away from the ball for trolling and give this a go instead. No chance of slippage:
https://www.rammount.com/part/RAP-394-SSBMPU