Extra rod holders on a Grady White 307 Freedom

[Last Stop]

My 307 has an extending shade which opens up over the aft deck of the boat so fitting a rod rack over the hard top is not possible.
I need space to store 6 trolling rods up front while bottom fishing and visa-versa when trolling. Is it possible to for 6 rod holders to be installed in the Bow Gunwale. If I drill the necessary holes in the Gunwale where will the water that collects in the rod holders drain too?

 

[OceanSun]

My 307 has an extending shade which opens up over the aft deck of the boat so fitting a rod rack over the hard top is not possible.
I need space to store 6 trolling rods up front while bottom fishing and visa-versa when trolling. Is it possible to for 6 rod holders to be installed in the Bow Gunwale. If I drill the necessary holes in the Gunwale where will the water that collects in the rod holders drain too?

Something like this work with your sunshade? (GWPerformanceWelding.com)

 

[SkunkBoat]

Get rodholders with drains.
You can plumb the drains out to the deck or plumb them to the bilge(centerline) using 3/8" tubing



Don't let them drain straight down outside of the stringers. There is foam there and water will not drain to the bilge.

 

[DennisG01]

Yes, installing flush rod holders in the fiberglass would mean you would have to route drain lines for every one of them... kind of a pain when there are better solutions.

A custom rod holder bracket like pictured above would work. Or, you can get nice clamp-on rod holders that can be used on the bow rail (either the rail or the stanchion).

 

[SkunkBoat]

Agree, the rack on the hardtop is a must no matter what...

If you want fishable rodholders on the bow, then flush in the gunnel is the way to go. You can daisy chain the drains into just one outlet per side.

 

[Fishtales]

I'd mount rod tulip holders like the one on the hardtop across the transom if you can. I wouldn't mess with the bow area,
Could put more rod holders in the gunnels as well. Some nice heavy duty ones would be very nice.

 

[drbatts]

You almost have to find a way to put them on the hard top to get them out of the way. If not, the bottom rods will be in the way when trolling and the trolling rods will be in the way bottom fishing. on my boat I added additional clamp on rod holders to the hard top legs. I also added rod holders on either side of the transom fish box. I just used a T connection to tap into the cup holder drain. Additional gunnel mounts would also be nice in the front, however, may not be good for storing rods when running.