Catfish guys

What rod holders do y’all use for drifting ? I’m looking to have two sets of at least double rod holders so I can have them bow and stern. They will double to drift for crappie also. I’ve looked at lots of them online and Driftmaster seems to have the best looking ones. Just didn’t know if there are some I’ve overlooked. I don’t want plastic ones, not that I’m trying to set up like a pro, but stainless steel would be preferred, and quick detatch would be a plus. Thanks !

I have monster rod holders not the cheapest but built to last

I just looked at those, look really good with excellent reviews. I like to fish off the left side of my boat because I have more room, so I’m thinking I need the left-hand threaded holders and bases. Is that correct ?

Monsters here also. On there website they have a diagram to let you know which to buy. Left or right that is.

teamron

What kind of boat?

I had bass boats all my life until I bought the center console I am in now. When I used a bass boat I used the mounts from https://extremefishingconcepts.com they worked great and are very well built.

If you are wanting to drift fish out of the back of the boat then yes I would recommend counter rotation threads starboard side of the boat. That way the pressure from the rod is trying to tighten your rod holder and not loosen it

I've been using BeeReady for over 20+ years and never had a failure yet. Not cheap but guaranteed for life. They are easily mounted and are down low and out of the way. Made of stainless and will not rust. Different strokes for different folks a lot of good rod holders are on the market.

I figured out how to lose rods out of both driftmasters and bee-readys when I first started pulling planer boards out the back 5 yrs ago. If you make too sharp of turn when pulling boards out the back you will look back and your rod holders will be empty. Still makes me laugh when I think about it. Planer boards float so I was able to get the rods back on both occasions. I still have bee-ready and driftmasters down both sides of my boat but I switched all my back rod holders to flush mounts and outriggers. Here is my take on em. Driftmasters are best suited for drift fishing and anchor fishing but they are trip hazards and also get snagged a lot since they stick up so much. Bee-ready are best suited for anchor fishin. They work for drifting too but the rod tip doesn’t sit up high enough in the rod holder for my liking and the rod also moves more but they are less of a trip and snag hazard. The reason I installed all flush mounts and outriggers on the back is because I throw my net from the rear deck and I hate cast netting over a bunch of obstacles to get snagged on. There is no way a rod is coming out of one of the flush mounts when I make a sharp turn while planer boarding. I’ve also fished on my buddy’s boat that has monster rod holders and they are pretty much just like driftmasters except they have a little different bend and are colored red.

Thanks to all who replied. We mostly crappie fish, a combination of teaching minners to swim (while drifting), and also jigging at times. I want to do a little drifting for blue cats, but I’ll probably not get into planer boards and I’ll probably remove the rod holders when they aren’t needed and just leave the bases installed. The rod holders will probably be used more for crappie than catfish.

For crappie fishing make sure the model of rod holder can accommodate for vertical fishing. My driftmasters are the duo pros which can be used for drifting at 30° angle or vertical rigging at 0° angle.

Blue, I fish out of a Ranger RT 188, looks like I’ll go with the Monster rod holders as they’re about as good an option as I’ve been able to find online.

Thanks for everyone’s input !

I use Driftmaster half inch base. Similar to the Monster rod holder, and they're available locally.

Check out fish bite rod holders. I’ve anchored my 24ft boat with them and fish every way there is. There solid as a rock and can fish vertical as well.