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My new Native Falcon 11 kayak comes standard with two flush mount rod holders behind the seat. Many other kayak models also have flush mounts. That style of rod holder is fine for holding rods while paddling or pedaling along. But they do not work well for trolling since they keep the rod in just one position (often directly behind the kayak). Also, the diameter of the flush mount opening may be much larger than the diameter of the rod butts, such that there is little friction to hold the rod in place for trolling. The next picture shows the molded-in flush mount on a Manta Ray 12XT kayak that has a large-diameter opening. I never used those rod holders for trolling.
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The Falcon 11 has a better flush mount with a smaller diameter and a gimbal on the bottom. This is a thin rod that can engage notches on a rod butt or an adapter to keep it from rotating in the rod holder. An example is shown here.
gimbal.jpg
I ordered a pair of Scotty gimbal-mount adapters that engage the gimbal in my flush mount holders. The other end of the adapter has a Scotty gear head track rod holder base. I was able to snap in a standard Scotty rod holder and adjust it to the desired angle. The blue and yellow discs are Scotty slip discs that allow infinite angular adjustments.
2021-04-11-004.jpg 2021-04-11-005.jpg
The next photo shows the lateral angle of the new rod holder on the right side vs the more upright position of the built-in rod holder on the left side. Having the lines separated decreases the chances of tangling.
2021-05-10-005.jpg
This photo shows both rear rod holders outfitted with the adapters and one other rod holder in the front.
2021-05-10-006.jpg
Yesterday morning, I trolled three rods with 3/16-oz jigheads and 3" to 5" paddletails in 3' to 4' water depth using this setup and did very well. Over three hours of trolling, I caught 15 stripers, with 6 of them 21" or larger (largest was 26").
2021-05-11-001.jpg
2003-08-03 00-22-49.jpg
The Falcon 11 has a better flush mount with a smaller diameter and a gimbal on the bottom. This is a thin rod that can engage notches on a rod butt or an adapter to keep it from rotating in the rod holder. An example is shown here.
gimbal.jpg
I ordered a pair of Scotty gimbal-mount adapters that engage the gimbal in my flush mount holders. The other end of the adapter has a Scotty gear head track rod holder base. I was able to snap in a standard Scotty rod holder and adjust it to the desired angle. The blue and yellow discs are Scotty slip discs that allow infinite angular adjustments.
2021-04-11-004.jpg 2021-04-11-005.jpg
The next photo shows the lateral angle of the new rod holder on the right side vs the more upright position of the built-in rod holder on the left side. Having the lines separated decreases the chances of tangling.
2021-05-10-005.jpg
This photo shows both rear rod holders outfitted with the adapters and one other rod holder in the front.
2021-05-10-006.jpg
Yesterday morning, I trolled three rods with 3/16-oz jigheads and 3" to 5" paddletails in 3' to 4' water depth using this setup and did very well. Over three hours of trolling, I caught 15 stripers, with 6 of them 21" or larger (largest was 26").
2021-05-11-001.jpg