It’s easy to make devices which mount on the gear tracks on your kayak, because five minutes with a grinder and a minute of clean-up with a file will turn a 5/16" stainless steel carriage bolt into a fitting which goes into a track.





I mount my trolling rod holder on a gear track so it holds the rod at right angles to my kayak. I had been using a Scotty Gearhead to mount the rod holder on the track.  However, the tension of the line gradually twisted the Gearhead, and let the rod point more towards the stern of the kayak, which was irritating, because I had to keep correcting the orientation of my rod.  I could mostly keep the Gearhead and rod from twisting by cranking the Gearhead really tightly onto the track, but I don’t like to tighten the Gearhead that much. 



So I made a fitting which would hold my trolling rod immovably at right angles to my kayak.  Here’s what it looks like.







The fitting is asymmetrical because the gear tracks on my kayak point in towards the bow of the kayak, but I want the fitting to hold my rod at right angles to the centerline of the kayak.





By the time you buy a bunch of stainless nuts and bolts, a custom-made gear track fitting may not be much cheaper than a commercial fitting, but you can build fittings which do things which commercial fittings don’t do.  For example, you could mount a downrigger on a track if you can find a third attachment point off to the side of the track to keep the downrigger from rocking from side to side on the track.

Update:  I discovered that when I got a strike when trolling and grabbed my rod out of its rod holder, the rod holder often pulled up part of the way out of the deck mount.  I didn't lose a rod holder into the water as a result of this, but have heard about people losing rod holders.  I replaced the standard Scotty deck mount with a locking deck mount, which prevents this from happening.  It's also easier to install a rod holder in a locking deck mount, because you just put the rod holder into position and push it straight down in the base, where it locks.  You don't need to find the notch in the non-locking base, push the rod holder down part way, rotate the rod holder into position, and then push it down the rest of the way.  I recommend that you use the locking deck mount rather than the standard deck mount when making a base for a trolling rod.

Awesome!

Thanks for the pics.  I was having the same problem when trolling and the gear loosening up.  I went to the second hand store and purchased a used cutting board for .99 cents and they had a lot to choose from to make the base attachment.  I got the screws and nuts from Home Depot. I made the first one and had enough cutting board left to make three more.  I even drilled a extra hole to run the lanyerd through to secure my fishing pole.  Great idea for a DIY project in less then 30 minutes.  It is about the same price to buy one, but for $12.00 of meterials you can make four of them. Thanks again.

Did you get the thumb nuts (that doesn't sound right!) at the hardware store too?