I have a 16ft aluminum boat and want to rig it for drifting. Don't really want to put holes all in the boat so looking for some suggestions. I've tried the clamp on holders but they don't hold well on the round top rim of the boat. Thanks in advance!

I tried to find some pics of some rod holders I made when I had my aluminum boat, I had the same issue that you have and I used PVC pipe, I used a dremel and notched them on the bottom where the boat braces are, then I used two hose clamps to secure them to the braces that come up the sides of the boat, worked pretty good and caught some big blues and always stayed secure. Where are you located?

I'm north of Mckinney in Van Alstyne

I was gonna say bring your boat over and let's make some up. The only other option that I could find required drilling, I had an alumnacraft which had the rounded tops and I never could find any clamp ons that would hold securely.

I used Rivnuts made out of Aluminum, yes you have to Drill a hole but then you are putting a fitting (Rivnut) in it's place. You can find them on E-Bay real cheap. John

Here ya go. You will also need a tool to set them. John
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blind-rivet-nuts...=item43ca7452bf

I tried those on my old boat because they where holding on a jess handle. I almost lost a couple good combos on a double 30# hookup.

I say just get the bee readies and bolt them in. I tried everything else and couldn't find anything.

here's what i did

Not sure how wide the lip is on your boat, but Cabela's makes a clamp on mount that is solid as a rock. They're a little pricey, but I think you can get the mount with a holder for $30-$40.

just be glad you dont have a fiberglass boat with walls that you cant access the inside of. lol we had to use hollow wall anchors for my rod holders, got 16 of them custom made out of stainless with custom bases made of stainless by catalac rod holders. got all 16 rod holders and bases for about $400. thats about 25 bucks for rod holder, and the base that was custom made to fit the sides of my boat like a glove to provide maximum secureness once anchored in and loaded down with a big fish. my rod holders are mounted with a rating of pulling weight or force up to 360lbs

I had the same issue a couple months ago for my 16ft aluminum river boat as well. For the love of all things holy, DO NOT, purchase those cheap $5 as they are highly unreliable and I lost an $150 setup to one. I ended up buying four sets of higher end clamp on rod holders and they have yet to let me down. Like you, I was not wanting to drill any holes and do a lot of drifting for blues. They were like 20 bucks a piece I believe and get the job done. Here's the link. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B...5585&sr=8-1

Hey browning will that fit on the round top rim of the boat? Mine has a round cap

Yeah it did on mine. My only complaint is that I had to put the tightening rods to the outside because it didnt have leverage the other way around to hold.