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| RAM tube fishing rod holder | | Print | |
| Saturday, 20 October 2007 | ||||
 I've been a fan of the RAM tube-style rod holders ever since I saw them, offering what I figured to be a more simple design than the Scotty holders I was previously using. Above that, however, I was fond of the height they stick up and away from the water. This, I figured, would help keep the salt water away from my precious reels. So when I moved on from the Hobie Outback to the Hobie Revolution it felt like a good time to switch to the RAM holders as well. Being the typical male that I can sometimes be, I never read instructions. So even had the tube-shaped RAM rod holders been supplied with instructions, I would have ignored them anyway. Either way, I don't think they did (mine didn't anyway) so it was up to my own bumbling self to figure out how to use them properly. I mean, it's a no-brainer right? Just place the clamping bracket over the ball and twist the tension handle as tight as possible, right? Well yes, but not (as I found out later) without a little clear thinking. There is a right and a wrong way to go about it and for the first couple of months of use, I was busily doing it the wrong way. That was until I got amongst a school of longtail tuna at Emu Park recently, which left me thinking that if I did hook up on the troll, one of these guys would surely be strong enough to pull the rod holder down from its horizontal position to a vertical one. And that could result in the rod being pulled out for early retirement into Davey Jones locker. So I decided to have a closer look at the rod holders design and in doing so, figured out what I was doing wrong. The securing bracket is essentially made of two braces, both of which cover most of the ball that they secure to. When attached there is a small gap on each side. If enough pressure is levered from either side where that gap exists, the rod holder will move (rather easily) from a relative horizontal position down towards a vertical. My big mistake (and I'm not sure what I was thinking now) was in securing the tubes with that small gap facing front and back. This meant that any big strike from a fish while trolling had potential to pull the holder down, and thus making the rod precariously close to being ripped straight out. The remedy, of course, is to install them properly, which is simply a matter of making sure that those sides with the small gap are positioned to the left and right of your sitting position. Or another way of describing it would be to say to install them either with the tension lever directly forward or back. When installed this way, there is only so much room for movement for the rod holder to be pulled backwards. At an approx angle of about 25-30 degrees, the securing bracket will hit the base of the ball, thus preventing it from going any further. In the photo below I have the tubes positioned with the levers toward the bow of the boat. Soon after I realised that it just made more sense to have them positioned toward the stern, allowing for easier access to the kayaker  There's a lot of worthy rod holders that are highly suited for kayak fishing, although I don't know of any others that keep your reels well clear of water (not without optional extra extensions, that is) even if it's splashing up from the bow. The fact that my reels don't cop as much splash damage as they previously did in my old Scotty holders is probably the biggest advantage to these RAM tube holders, although the ability to position them at pretty much any angle I want is also a big plus.  Holders mounted with levers facing forward - it's more user friendly to have them facing back     
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