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Post by flyfishingpastor on Apr 6, 2009 15:19:39 GMT -5
I really enjoyed the opener for a lot of reasons but 1 was the chance to play around with my new Creek Co. Pontoon. Seems very stable and reasonably agile. I definitely need to work on my rowing, but surely that will come with use. I figured there would be some casting penalty to pay for casting while sitting down but I was pleasantly surprised. My pontoon didn't come with a rod holder, but I plan to rectify that before next outing.
Since I didn't have a rod holder, I had my rod across my lap while rowing to another place (where I didn't catch any fish either) and it NEARLY slipped off my lap and into the water. Do any of you who fish from pontoons regularly have any kind of "tether" that you put on your rods - just in case? Or is this a non issue? Am I the only one that has almost, or worse, lost a rod while on a pontoon?
Pat
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Post by barryl on Apr 7, 2009 6:34:15 GMT -5
No your not the only one. I just unzip one of my side compartments a littile and place the reel and rod but in it. This keeps it to one side and holds it while rowing
Barry
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Post by rstaight on Apr 7, 2009 8:58:53 GMT -5
Pat,
Cabelas used to offer a tether. The reviews I read didn't have a lot of good to say. Since they are on your wrist, they have a tendency to get in the way.
You can get rod holders from Creek Company, which is what I have on my pontoon. The issue is the size of the fighting butt on your rod. The butts on my 7wt and 9wt are a little snug. The large fighting butts on the TFO's won't work unless you trim them down. By the way, I once checked into a TFO and they have no problem with this.
Another option is to make your own. Some PVC, Velcro, and pop rivets would do the job nicely.
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Post by flyfishingpastor on Apr 7, 2009 14:39:39 GMT -5
Barryl & Rick;
Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to order a couple of rodholders from Creek Co. but I think I'm going to talk to someone with more expertise and tools and see about using Rick's idea of cutting a piece of pvc in half and drill/mount them horizontally to just lay the rod on it (and wrap some velcro around 'em) instead of vertically which, I would think, would be a pain along wooded streams? Rick, do you have any such probs with your rodholders?
Pat
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Post by rstaight on Apr 7, 2009 15:14:06 GMT -5
I haven't had any problems with getting hung up on anything. With the Creek Company holders the rod points forward at about a 45 degree angle. This would put a 9ft rod tip about 5ft above your seat.
I have even toyed around with the idea of building a lazy Susan that can hold 6 to 8 spinning and casting rods for when I'm at Fairfield or Knop Lake using conventional tackle.
The lazy Susan would be made out of plywood with vertical rod holders about 8 to 12 inches long (maybe longer) and attach to the cargo deck. This way when conventional fishing I can have several rods already rigged with different lures.
You could even use the same type of system with fly rods on large open bodies of water. Either way you would need to be aware of your pontoon position with the lazy Susan when casting either conventional or fly tackle. You would have rods sticking straight up 6 to 9 feet or more.
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Post by reelteacher on Apr 7, 2009 18:50:31 GMT -5
I'm sorry I have not responded sooner, (that work thing again.) Anyway, yes, I have nearly lost my rod on several occasions, but luckily the line was wrapped around my feet and everywhere else, so there was no way it was getting away. A rod holder might be a good idea, but I fish creeks a lot in my pontoon, and I'm afraid the rod sticking up in the air would cause more trouble with overhanging trees and bushes. I rest the rod on my seat frame and that works well when I'm in transit. I throw a couple of loose rope coils over the handle to keep it from moving around.
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