Ocean Kayak Prowler - Modular Fishing Pod Upgrade

I have just received and installed the new Modular Fishing Pod.  I wanted to give everyone here a quick report just in case someone is sitting on the fence on the decision to upgrade from the older Rod Pod hatch cover.

A bit of background:
I had my Prowler 15 for 2 years now and I have been looking for a way to troll with rod setup in front of me instead of blindly listening to the clicker while I troll for Salmon.   I also have been very reluctant to put holes in my kayak; therefore, I just live with the two rod holders behind the paddler that came standard on the Angler's edition.  When I saw the new Modular Fishing Pod hatch cover online from OK, I realized that I've just found the "Off the Shelf" solution that I've been looking for.

The new Modular Fishing Pod hatch cover:
I bought the Modular Fishing Pod kit directly from OK.  It came with all the hardware necessary for ADDING a new hatch cover to a Prowler that didn't have one installed by the factory.  It included the Cover, Rubber Gasket, 2 Straps with quick release, 1 keeper line, and all the screws and washers plus the installation manual.

Since my Prowler already has the original Rod Pod hatch cover, the only thing I needed to do is install the rubber gasket and drill a hole on the new over for the keeper line.  The new gasket in the kit is about 8 inches longer than what is needed, so I just pulled the gasket off of the original cover and installed onto the new Modular Fishing Pod cover.  Please note, the sliding tray under the old rod pod cover will not fit under the new cover.

Immediate observations:
The new Modular Fishing Pod cover is significantly stiffer then the original Rod Pod cover.   It felt rigid enough to stand on it without much yield when properly seated & mounted; however, I didn't want to push my luck and break the new cover just to prove a point.   What seems to make the new cover so much more rigid is that it is made from less flexible plastic and it has a web of stiffening gussets across the entire bottom side in addition to a secondary stiffening ring that fits tightly around the inside of the kayak opening.  This new cover fit so much better than the old.  It goes all the way in, nice and snug, every time without having to work on the alignment.

Rod holder Recess:
Ocean Kayak states that the rod holder recesses can fit both Cannon and Scotty rod holders.  I went with Cannon because I do not own any Scotty holders and the new cover is made by Johnson Outdoors Marine (same company that makes Cannon Downrigger and rod holders), so I figure it will fit better.   Also I chose the Cannon over the Scotty because I like the design of the "3-way" holder from Cannon and it is made from a stronger carbon infused plastic.  The Cannon rod holder fits the recess extremely snug with no play what so ever.  A careful examination of the recess shows the triangle shaped ridges match perfectly with the recess (Scotty rod holder employs a semi-circular shaped ridges).  The rod holder recesses on the cover do not have the locking tabs, so it is held in by friction.  I have only tested this in the garage where I placed a rod in the holder and repeated pull on the rod tip with significant force and then release with no sign of loosening in the joint between the holder and the recess.  I will provide an update after full field test.

Pre-Drilled screw holes:
Each of the numerous pre-drilled screw holes is completely encapsulated on the underside and appears to be very strong.  They seemed to be molded at the same time as the cover.  The print on the underside of the cover states that one should use a #10 self tapping screw with a maximum entry of 5/8 inch.  When I tried to mount bracket for my handheld GPS with #10 SS screws, they were very-very tight, such that you can see a slight bulging of the encapsulated pieces on the underside.  Then I tried the #8 SS screws and the fit was much better.  I concluded that unless you need to anchor something down with exceptional force, the #8 SS screws are the way to go.

I hope this report helps.  I am currently out of town on business; therefore, not able to take any photos.  If you'd like some close up photos, please let me know.  I can post it by May 31 at the earliest.

Now all I need to do is figure out what to do with my old cover, the tray, and all the new mounting hardware.

JT

Hang on to the old parts in case you need to replace what you've just installed.

Scotty not fitting as well as Cannon makes sense since the same company that owns OK own Cannon too. So it's probably biased towards their in house designs.

Thanks for the review. nice tip about the screws. Will this also fit the T13?

I wish I could say that I gave them some inspiration when they designed that new lid.   
I built mine out of need, as there wasn't anything else on the market yet to replace the crappy flimsy lid.
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,3259.0.html

I wish I could say that I gave them some inspiration when they designed that new lid.   
I built mine out of need, as there wasn't anything else on the market yet to replace the crappy flimsy lid.
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,3259.0.html

I am biased towards the Insayn ingenuity.  It looks like they copied it and you should have received royalty checks by now.

Yeah.... they paid me enough to go buy a Hobie. 

J/K 

I still love my T-13.

Will this also fit the T13?

Yes, according to OK, the T11, T13, and T15 all have the same hatch dimensions for Rod Pod.

JT

INSAYN,

That is a totally awesome hatch cover that you've built.   

JT