Ron's Tips #2 Riser for Flush Mounted Rod Holder

[campr]

My current boat a 5.6 metre Quinnie Classic has 6 flush mounted deck rod holders that are great for overhead outfits but I believe are unsuitable for threadline reals.  Unless the rod has a very long handle Threadlines tend to rest the body of the real on the deck which in time damages both the real and the deck.  I have heard many stories of rods being pulled out of holders by fish which is nearly impossible, especially if drag is set correctly.  I believe what has happened is the rod has had a short handle popular with plastic flickers and has been levered out of the holder by the real being on the deck.  Either way to prevent rod loss and damage to your real and deck, you need to fit a simple rod riser as per photos.

You will need a piece of tube that fits into snugly into the rod holder which in most cases will be 40mm outside diameter.  For normal estuary work these can be made from plastic plumbing pipe, but don't store permanently in the sun or they can go a bit brittle.  Mine are made from 4mm walled aluminium pipe which I recommend should you troll outside with big threadlines or fish for kingies etc, plus you have no sun deterioration issues.

Cut your pipe to length and round off and smooth ends.  Mine are 340mm long but adjust to how far you want your real off the deck.  This creates another small problem as the real can get a small damage point on the stem where it rests on the pipe.  To solve this I got a hard polystyrene bobby cork like the rock fishos use and trimmed the sides so that it could be hammered into the tube for a stopper.  You can use other materials for stopper like wood etc but I had heaps of bobbies picked up when trolling and they were the right shape anyway.  I then used a wooden rod to hammer the stopper down the tube to where I wanted it.  Use your shortest rod butt as a guide so real sits just clear of the pipe.  Rod in photo has a longer butt so it stands higher from the pipe.  Riser in photo is many years old and stopper has never moved but you could glue it if your fussy.  

I came up with this simple solution many years age which I haven't seen anyone else use and thought I would share.  Hope this is of use to someone.  Ron