23 SE Fly Rod Holders

[Wild Bill]

A number of guys have asked about fly rod holders for center consoles. I do use I-Fly vertical holders and fly rods will fit in my vertical spinning rod holders, but it is nice not having fly rods sticking up vertically. I designed and made these three years ago when I purchased my 23 SE. They have stood the test of time. Starboard and PVC pipe are used in the construction.

Unfortunately the Parker has a box that houses the gas fill line on the port side, so I only have these holders on one side. Three can be held horizontally in these holders and two more in the top Allen horizontal rod holders that came with the boat. The bottom Allen holders are too low and the fly reel would be lying on the deck. If I have more than five fly rods strung up, the others must be placed in the vertical holders or left in stripping barrels.

I wanted the rods as close to the hull as possible so that they were out of the way. Also have 30" of the tip section in tubes for protection. These holders have worked quite well. In some pretty rough ocean trips, zero rods have been damaged or broken.

 

[DaleH]

If I have more than five fly rods strung up ...]

Wow, looks great ! Yeesh, if you have 5 or more fly rods strung up ... you sure have a betterer job than me :shock: !

 

[Wild Bill]

Dale-

I have the best job of all. It is called retirement. I highly recommend it. Now all my boating and fishing is during the week. Every day is like a Saturday. I retired at 55 and even earlier is better if you can do it.

Most of the saltwater fly fishers I take have many more than five fly outfits. There is always something newer and better to try and you do not use the same rod for bluefin tuna as you do for stripers. When you take long trips to far away locations, you need backups or you are wasting your time. There are so many ways to break a fly rod.

 

[Capawock]

Wild Bill-

How did you affix the starboard to the hull? I have a 21 SE and am considering a similar set up. Also, could you post some photos of your vertical rod holder setup.

Nice job.

 

[Wild Bill]

Capt Phil-

It is late. Get to it tomorrow.

 

[Burtona]

Wild Bill-

How did you affix the starboard to the hull? I have a 21 SE and am considering a similar set up. Also, could you post some photos of your vertical rod holder setup.

Nice job.

5200 works well for something like this. I'm going to build holders like these on my 21SE and glue the starboard on with it. I used 5200 to glue on a starboard mounting plate for my washdown pump on the foreward bulkhead in the bilge so I would not have to drill holes and it has held for 5 years with no problems.t

 

[Wild Bill]

Capt Phil-

A set of holders like these were constructed for my 21 SE so this is my second set. The inside of the hull is not flat, but curved. It is hard to detect that in the pics. On my 21 SE, 5200 held for about three weeks and then popped off. I had to come up with something else. Here is how I did it on my 23 SE.

The center of the rub rail was temporarily removed revealing through bolts that hold the top cap to the hull and sheet metal screws that fasten the rub rail. I used one of these holes and drilled a second hole to place two bolts through the tops of the starboard. You cannot see the screws on the holders for the reels because it is hidden by the top holder. If you look closely you will see the starboard is curved slightly on top to match the shape of the hull. The bottom of the starboard is also shaped slightly to rest against the hull. A heat gun will soften the starboard enough to do the shaping. One end of the starboard is protected and placed in a vise and the material is free formed to the needed contour.

With the rod tip holders, the starboard could not be shaped to match the rub rail area. A piece of 16 gage SS was attached to the top of the starboard with recessed SS bolts. The sheet SS was then through bolted to the gunwale like in the stern. There was more shaping of the starboard required on the bow because of the compound curve in that area. It took a few trial and errors to get it right.

With the tops of the holders firmly bolted at the gunwale, the bottoms needed to be secured. Starboard does not take well to standard adhesives so I created undercut grooves in the back of the starboard with a router and dovetail cutter. I used white Marine Tex which filled the undercut grooves and created a mechanical hold once cured. I blocked wood across the hull to hold the starboard in place while curing.

This system has been in place for three years and 975 engine hours, many hours in the Atlantic. It is holding as good today as when the job was finished.

BTW the front 1" dia tubes are standard PVC pipe. I machined a tapered mandrel out of Delrin for the flared end and softened the PVC with a heat gun. Guys say you can use a Coke bottle for this but I was not happy with the results of doing the flare that way. All tubes were placed in my metal lathe and the ends tapered and smoothed out with file and abrasives. This saved hand sanding.

BTW, there is an industrial adhesive specifically made for starboard. When I first started talking about sticking starboard to the inside of the hull, someone from another forum sent me two tubes of a special adhesive that had to be mixed. By the time I got around to actually doing the job, the adhesive had dried up and I had forgotten who sent it. So I came up with another method of doing it.

Other rod holders to follow.

 

[Wild Bill]

Four I-Fly rod holders are placed on the front port side of the console. These are positive locking and fly rods will not come out once the tops are secured.

Four standard Fentress rod holders are placed in the front starboard corner of the console. Fly, spin or casting rods can be placed in these but the fly rods are not positively locked in. For the most part they will stay in those holders if it is not too rough.

Three Fentress holders are placed in the rear starboard corner of the console.

The rear port corner of the console is kept clear for running. When it is dark or the spray is excessive, I often stand to the side of the console and I do not want any rods there.

The two top Allen ring holders that Parker installs can also be used for fly rods or conventional rods. The bottom ones place the reels on the floor and are too easily kicked. I keep one of those adjustable boat hooks in one of those holders.

All told counting the four rod holders on the back of the leaning post and the four gunwale holders, there are 22 usable rod holders on my 23 SE. Since I normally take only one other fly fisher, I have ample rod storage.

Action like this makes fooling with 9' rods worth the effort.

 

[Capawock]

Thanks for all the info and photos. This gives me some very good ideas as I will be adding several rod holders in the next couple of weeks. Nice linesider by the way!

 

[Porkchunker]

Nice job.

The cabin in my WA doesn't allow me to do something like that easily...also the fresh-water tank and pump on the port side block any attempt to install long-rod holders there. So...here was my solution for a WA with a hardtop: http://www.classicparker.com/phpBB2/vie ... ht=fly+rod

 

[Megabyte]

Excellent work Bill!

Your attention to details shows in your work.
Very nicely done! :wink: