The ULTIMATE DIY rod holders | PVC, Rocket launcher rod holders, Kayak mods, offshore rod holders 

Hey Jim. Sorry to hear about you flipping, but I’m glad you’re okay. After 3 years fishing here in all kinds of conditions I finally got flipped too. Not in 15ft swells or 40 mph winds, breaking surf or any of the other extremely dangerous situations that I have got myself into. It was a trade wind day and I thought I could get away fishing for a few hours in the morning. At sunrise I saw a mahi by the kayak and ended up hooking one an hour later after I fought a big shark. After the mahi my pedal drive broke and I took out my half paddle and started heading in. At this point the wind was gusting from about 18-25 mph and the current was running at 2 knots both pushing me further away from the launch. I still had a bait out and I hooked into a 15lb yellowfin tuna. During the fight I drifted another half mile further away. I still had more bait so I put out another and kept paddling. In 500ft I hooked into another yellow fin tuna about 20lbs. With around 60lbs of fish and ice I released the rest of my bait and started paddling the two and a half miles in. 3 hours later after making only 0.3-0.5 mph against the wind and current I was finally almost in. The wind was still ripping but it wasn’t as bad now about 1/2 mile offshore. I didn’t realize that my kayak had been taking on water and while the wind gusted from my left a swell came from my right, meanwhile the water shifted to the right in the kayak and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I flipped in about 45-60ft of water losing all of my poles, but nothing else. It took about 5 seconds to get my kayak flipped back over and then I started grabbing my stuff that was floating. A boat came by and picked me up before I had a chance to get back on. As for the rod holders they were still in place held only by friction. I had tarp bungees to secure the rods but didn’t have the rods strapped down. I free dove the area with no luck later that day looking for my poles. It was bothering me a lot and I knew I could recover them if I could just find them. I had warranties on the reels and was pretty sure I could get the reels replaced at the very least. 6 days later I went out with a friend and some scuba gear and found all 4 of the poles sitting on the sand in 50ft. After 6 days there was stuff growing on the poles and sand had gotten all into the reels. I cleaned off all the poles and they are practically new again, less a little bit of shine. Three of the four reels had extended warranties and I have already gotten two replaced. The third a spinfisher 6 is still operational even after 6 days under water. It has problems though and I will get it warrantied pretty soon. As far as after this incident I have added a pin with a ring to hold the top of the rod holders to the bottom. I still have the same tarp bungees for the poles when they are in the rod holders. After the boat towed me in I found about 7-8 gallons of water in the hull and I thought no wonder I flipped. There wasn’t a crack, all the water had come in through the hatches and rudder line tubes. I had wind waves constant breaking over the kayak and the tail of the kayak was frequently underwater from passing short frequency waves. I gave the fish to the guys and counted my lucky stars that nothing worse happened. The only causality of the entire situation was my bait reel but it was mostly dead before it hit the water with no extended warranty.

@@FlyingFish_TV They say that everybody flips eventually so I guess were living proof of that. I flipped while leaning way over the side and a swell came from an unexpected direction behind me. I felt it start to go and realized there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. The problem was that the bow hatch wasn't locked down and the interior of the kayak filled with water. Once that happened it was virtually impossible to flip back over. I was able to flip it over a couple of times but once the kayak was full of water it basically wanted to be floating upside down so I had to constantly fight it to keep it upright. After awhile I just got too tired and let it float upside down. I thought the kayak would sink and I was going to lose everything. What I learned was that the kayak will float even if full of water although you can't climb on top of it because the additional weight will cause it to sink but you can hang onto it and stay floating (in addition to the life jacket). One really good thing was my fishfinder (same as you - Garmin Chirp 74cv). Underwater for over an hour, I thought it was toast but after new cables and a new cradle it worked fine. My fishfinder has been underwater a few times and all I've ever had to do was replace the cradle (about $25). If you do ever have issues with yours try replacing the cradle before anything else, except maybe cables (the contacts don't like salt water). Glad you're OK I almost can't believe you go out in such strong wind. Anywhere over 10 and I feel like a cork getting blown around and it's really difficult to maintain a spot. I guess with the trade winds you either fish in the wind or you don't fish at all. Be careful out there and thanks for the story. Good to know I'm not the only one to flip over and admit it.

@@FlyingFish_TV many blessings

Can u post a pic of yr set up?

Wow, sounds intense. Did you have your sidekicks on?​@flyingfishtv2122

Good advice. Thanks for the heads up.

Hi thanks. Spear gaff is to immobilize the fish. The only time I really use a hook gaff is on really big fish.

Right on frank!

Ditto. There's a video out there with one that does this. He uses a pin placed through an alignment hole to keep it from accidentally laying down. I really love the 45-degree holders on this build... thinking I may combine the two builds to give me ultimate rod holder 3.0

One of those cheap gopro domes

I would get a penn spinfisher 6000 and put it on a medium heavy jigging rod. If you want a cheaper reel you can get a penn fierce but it won’t last as long in the saltwater.

Mahalo! Keep Kickin Ass, Be Safe Out There.

At least for this round I’ll keep the space open for my fish bag. When I’m stateside again I will have more time to do diy projects. When we get a place on the big island someday I’ll run a super mod’d kayak.

Nice dude and even better if you can get some pvc for free

John Austin I believe that is for his light stick

Not really, but I don’t spend much time trolling. I primarily drift live bait or vertical jig.

No pistol, it would likely get ruined. I carry a Hawaiian spear gaff to poke at sharks if need be. I used it on a 16ft female tiger shark a few months ago. She wasn’t happy that I stole one of her fish.

@@FlyingFish_TV that's smart. I figured you needed someway to protect yourself. A friend went on a trip to Alaska for halibut and gave him a 22 rifle with his boat

Good idea

I have not, but it should be the same size rod holders.

He means 1 1/2 or 1 1/4... totally skipping over the "1 and" part of the statements... But you can see it on the price stickers at the store

You can put after market flush mount rod holders in and then use the same process.

Dehooking tool. Lots of vids on it Can find on Amazon

Depends on what you’re going to fish for?

@@FlyingFish_TV thank you

Nah, just hooked this up for my friend. Still got a revo 13

@@FlyingFish_TV I see. I was also thinking about trading my Revo 13 for OB because of the lack of room sometimes, but mine feels faster and safer in choppy water & offshore fishing

I have a new OB as well. I didn’t get a chance to use it in Hawaii, but I took it to Florida. I put it through the paces, Including flipping multiple times in offshore breaking waves. The room is nice, but it is not made for offshore conditions. Really nice cool kayak, but for Hawaii the revo is the best.

@@FlyingFish_TV that's exactly what I also believe. Stay safe& take care. Greeting from Spain buddy!

@@FlyingFish_TV I'm going to copy your model so I'll let you know once I finish. I was thinking whether to make yours or even installing a Yakatack GT90+backing plate as a reinforcement on the narrow gunnel next to the side pocket on the left, and well as another two on the back close to the built-in in rod holders, but I fear about suffering any breakage when big game trolling... So finally I decided about yours because once watched your vids it's more than proved/tested and way cheaper without the risk or need to drill anything.

Depends on the condition of the kayak. If the kayak is in good shape then you should be fine.

Over 90 thousand people have watched this video and you are the first to point this out. You’re either paying more attention than everyone else or you’re clicking through random parts of the video.