Trolling rod holder position

On my F&S eagle talon the forward rod holder is quite a reach when trolling out to either side and the line sometimes gets in the way of the paddle. I've been thinking about getting a scotty 2 piece extension until I saw a couple videos of the rod holder position on some of these Viking kayaks where they go right over your head pointing to the back of the kayak. I was thinking about trying it this way for trolling herring for springers. Any thoughts?

Trolling hard body lures for snapper in the Viking Kayak Profish Reload:

My $.02. You can't see your rod tip so what's the point.

Over head works pretty well if you're flat line trolling (i.e. no extra weight added).  In the tropics, it's a pretty popular method for pelagic fish.

However, here in the Pacific Northwest we do a lot of our trolling with extra weight and things like flashers.   We use the extra weight not only to get our presentation down to depth, but to get it down to depth quickly and prevent our line from trailing too far behind us, especially in crowded fishing conditions like springer fishing.   

I'd stick to the Scotty extension route.

Here's a photo with my preferred rod holder set up.

Brian

P.S.  I also believe in having a really big net.

Brian pretty much nailed it.

He does tend to compensate for ...things... with a really big net, an extra extension arm and a really high holder position though.   

I prefer my rod holder at a height and distance where I can monitor it and make adjustments without reaching.

-Mark-

The trolling rod position shown in the video is pretty interesting, and looks like it has some advantages for paddle kayaks, because it keeps the trolling rod completely out of the way of the kayaker’s paddle stroke.

On my 13’ Revolution, I mount my trolling rod in a rod holder next to my calf, with the rod sticking out at right angles so I can easily monitor its tip for strikes.



On my 13’ Trident, I mount my trolling rod in a similar position, but further forward so the rod doesn’t interfere with my paddle stroke:



When a trolling rod is mounted in a rod holder in the center of a paddle kayak, pointing straight backwards, it's completely out of the way of the kayaker's paddle stroke, which is a significant advantage.  At first I thought that it would be very awkward to monitor the tip of the rod for strikes, but it appears from the video that the entire rod bounces enough to alert the kayaker to strikes.  It might be somewhat easier to monitor the tip of the rod if the rod is mounted fairly vertically, so its tip isn't in back of the kayaker's head.  And even if the rod holder is mounted quite far forward, such as in front of the kayaker's feet, it should be possible to take the rod in and out of the rod holder by grabbing it a couple of feet above the reel.

But it looks like this "straight back" method of mounting a trolling rod has the following disadvantages:

1. If you mount spare rods, large nets, camera booms, safety flags, or safety light poles behind your seat, the trolling rod and line might get tangled in them.  Although the guy in the video has a spare rod, camera boom, and flag mast behind his seat, and seems to be able to avoid getting his line tangled in them.

2.  If you mount your fish finder in the center of your kayak, such as in the sonar pocket of a Trident, you'd need to mount the rod holder behind the fish finder so it wouldn't block your view of the fish finder.  Which is what the guy in the video did.

3. The "straight back" pole position might not work very well for downrigger trolling, because your fishing line might get bent over the side of your kayak en route to your downrigger ball, and because unless you mounted the rod holder between your calves you wouldn't be able to reel in fishing line at the same time that you crank up your downrigger weight.  But if you swing the tip of your rod about 30 degrees toward the side on which the downrigger cable is located, so the tip of the rod is outboard of the side of your kayak and generally behind your downrigger cable, and you mount the rod holder as close to you as you can without interfering with your paddle stroke, that position should work very well for downrigger trolling.
 
4.  If the tip of the rod is behind your head, it might be difficult to tell when you get a strike from light-hitting fish such as kokanee.  It also might be difficult to tell when you get a strike when downrigger trolling, as the tip of the rod often doesn't bounce very much when you get a strike which doesn't pop your fishing line out of the downrigger release.

Good advice everyone! I hadn't thought about the weight being added. As for detecting a strike, I'm sure you would notice since the rod would probably try to smack you in the face. I'll most likely go the extension route.

When I used to slow troll for trout in my T-13, I dropped my line in the water off to one side, flipped the bail, set the rod in a hold aimed straight over the bow.  Then just paddled backwards 1 -2mph at most.  I had full control of the rod at any time, could see the tip at all times, and could quickly set a hook in one of two ways.  Either by grabbing the rod and setting it, or adding a few harder strokes with the paddle. 

I think the trolling in reverse made the kayak track slightly erratic, thus giving the lure, fly, etc some added attraction to the fish. 

Granted I wasn't trolling for salmon, or other larger species in this fashion, but if you have a good back stroke and plenty of room on the water to avoid other watercraft, or structure then I suppose it could be done successfully.

If I'm paddling when I get a strike if possible I use the paddle to push or pull the line to set the hook.

I use the scotty gear head extenders and love them. It easily gets the rod and line up out of your way for paddling. If you are using a downrigger for your trolling and depending on where your downrigger is placed, you might consider a quartering forward positioning of your rod.  The rod doesn't care and since  you are hooked into a downrigger clip you are not missing strikes.  Having it pointing forward gets it completely out of your way and maximizes visibility.

I know my boat is unique but I think it could work equally well on a single hulled boat.

.02 good luck.  (umbrella sailing for downwind trolling is optional   )

The down side of mounting a rod holder in front of your feet and pointing forward is that you have to lean w-a-a-a-y forward to get the rod out of the holder when you get a strike.

(umbrella sailing for downwind trolling is optional   )

Love the umbrella system!

Yeah I can see how that could be a problem depending on where you put stuff.  Not an issue with the Wavewalk, but when your feet are out in front of you that could be problematic.

That was the prototype, looking for a clear one that is a little bigger.  More sail area as well as being able to see where I am headed. 

I also use a setup similar to bsteves.  There are times when it will apply LOTS of torque to the holder, arm and the deck of your yak, so use a backer or really big washers for the rod holder base.

I also use a setup similar to bsteves.  There are times when it will apply LOTS of torque to the holder, arm and the deck of your yak, so use a backer or really big washers for the rod holder base.

I try to avoid raising my rod holders on extenders because the extenders increase the stress which the rod holder places on the hull of a kayak.

Love the screwdriver carrier.

I use the scotty gear head extenders and love them. It easily gets the rod and line up out of your way for paddling. If you are using a downrigger for your trolling and depending on where your downrigger is placed, you might consider a quartering forward positioning of your rod.  The rod doesn't care and since  you are hooked into a downrigger clip you are not missing strikes.  Having it pointing forward gets it completely out of your way and maximizes visibility.

I know my boat is unique but I think it could work equally well on a single hulled boat.

.02 good luck.  (umbrella sailing for downwind trolling is optional   )

I also use a setup similar to bsteves.  There are times when it will apply LOTS of torque to the holder, arm and the deck of your yak, so use a backer or really big washers for the rod holder base.

I try to avoid raising my rod holders on extenders because the extenders increase the stress which the rod holder places on the hull of a kayak.

My mounts have seen some crazy torque.  Out of curiosity, I removed the one that sees the most and found that there was no appreciable deformation or cracking after about 3 years of salmon abuse.  That's even though I use one long extender and one short extender in tandem.  If you check out my Tillamook bay vid you can see the holder twist several degrees when I hook up.

I back mine with large washers and use SS screws and locking nuts.

-Mark-