Best Rod Holder for Salmon Fishing?

While the job of a rod holder seems pretty basic and simple, the type of rod holder you use can really affect the ease and efficiency of how you fish, reduce needless annoyances and maybe even help you land a few more fish!

And while the wide variety of shapes and sizes of rod holders available can make choosing one seem somewhat complicated, after many decades of salmon fishing all over the entire BC coast, here are some thoughts which will hopefully help you pick the rod holder that’s right for you.

Different types of fishing techniques and rod and reel setups are main factor to making this decision, and this discussion will be focussed mainly on trolling/mooching with single action reels, which by far the most common method used by most salmon anglers on the BC coast.

Diving right in, my overall top pick is the Scotty Rodmaster II. Currently I have about 8 of them covering my two boats, and it is the only rod holder I use for salmon trolling.  This is a simple and very basic, 10” tube style holder with a small front end reel slot. You will find many versions of this rod holder with model numbers such as: 350, 351, 358, etc which basically just refer to how they are mounted - either side deck, flush deck, on your downrigger boom, etc etc. The base model though is the 349 Rod Master II, and this one will fit with any of the wide variety of mounts that Scotty makes for various applications.

So why the Rodmaster II? First and foremost, when trolling with a single action reel on a standard mooching rod setup, a simple tube style holder is all that is required, so there is no reason whatsoever to complicate it with needless additional “features”. The reel hangs at the front of the tube off the bottom of the rod, so there is no need for reel cutout slots on the top of the rod holder as you would have for a baitcaster type reel that sits on top of the rod. There is also no need for any kind of locking ring, or quick release system or whatever that you will see on other models of rod holders. The downward pressure on the rod tip while fishing is all that is needed to hold the rod securely in the tube, and in fact, I run with my rods in these holders even when they have no gear on them, and in over 30 years have never had a rod just bounce out of the rod holder on its own, in any water condition.

The simplicity of this basic tube style holder is indeed it’s main selling feature. When a fish hits, all you need to do is pull the rod straight out of a tube - which is as quick and easy as it gets. With no other locking rings, slots, knobs and unnecessary edges or protrusions, there is also nothing that your line can easily get hooked around or tangled on.

The simple tube design also works well for when you are setting your gear/bait, as it’s just so quick and easy just to slip the rod in and out of the tube as required, with no messing around with locking rings, etc etc. While setting gear (or anytime for that matter), it’s always good practise to use your rod holders to hold your rods - rather than set them on the floor, or across the seats or wherever, while you snap on your flashers, spoons, baits etc. This keeps your rods and reels easily accessible and safely out of the way where they’re not going to get kicked, tripped over, or fouled up with anything else on board, or worse.

If you are using a baitcaster or level-wind style reel for salmon trolling, you might want to consider a different style rod holder which has a slot in the top, allowing for the reel to sit in the holder facing up. I have used these types of holders, and the basic problems I’ve noticed are: first, getting the rod out during bites can be clunky as the butt of the rod often gets hung up on the back of the holder as you lift the front of the rod up and out. Also, some of these types of holder have a locking ring on the front which spins over the the rod to keep it in the holder. When a fish hits, you first have to spin the locking ring open to get at the rod to get it out, which can be kind of pain when you’re in an rush.  Second, while setting gear and /or putting a rod back into the holder you can easily slide the butt end in, and have the rest or the rod miss the front slot of the holder - and these are the times that I’ve seen rods come very close to falling right out of the holder altogether.

Finally, Scotty is a tried and true brand which offers a wide range of different style mounts for whatever application, and  that are universal to all their products. This is extremely handy as where you put your rod holders will depend on how your boat is configured, so more than one style of mount will probably be needed regardless of what rod holder you choose.

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