Ocean Kayak Prowler Trident 13 Rigging – rod pod, fish finder, and rod holders

Aside from tying flies, being snowbound has enabled me to get some rigging done on my Trident 13. We have a lot of snow on the ground here in Maryland and I imagine that it will take some time for all of it to melt. I don’t mind fishing in tough winter conditions but the main issue with so much snow is that most of the parks and parking areas where I could fish are closed or haven’t been plowed. I drove to Dickerson a few weeks ago before the big blizzard and the park was closed. So basically fishing isn’t in the cards right now and all that can be done is to prepare for the times when I can.

Last week I installed the Rod Pod and this weekend I installed my fish finder and 2 Scotty flush mount rod holders behind the seat. I also finished a milk crate with a light and triple rod holder. Between the 2 Scotty rod holders, the 3 vertical rod holders mounted on the mik crate, and the space from the rod pod, I think I should be covered with rod storage. Just need to install the anchor trolley and zig zag cleats now.

Rod Pod installed with tray and small Plano tackle box.

Rod pod
The rod pod was the first thing I installed. It’s basically just a huge access hatch in the main cockpit of the kayak so it wasn’t too difficult. I used a Dremel tool to cut and sand the plastic. I think it took me 45 minutes total for this project. The only modifications I’m thinking of making to the rod pod lid are possibly mounting a compass inside the cup holder and some nubby tack or foam to hold flies and lures while I’m fishing.

Humminbird Piranhamax 170 installed and working perfectly.

Fish Finder
I’ve installed a number of fish finders on a few different kayaks and this was by far the easiest. I bought a Humminbird Piranahamax 170 from Cabela’s. When it came in the mail, I simply returned the transducer to Humminbird and they promptly sent me a replacement that was compatible with the OK scupper mount at no cost. No messy goop or lexel, just a large placitc nut to keep the transducer snug to the bottom of the boat.

View of fish finder wires: wire from trasnducer goes straight into the Sonar Shield, and through a large hole in the back. Cables are organized and tied off, stored inside hull. Cable heads for power and transducer come back though Sonar Shield hole and plug directly into the fish finder.

From there I just ran the wire from the transducer right into the Sonar Shield using a cable stay to keep the wire tight to the bottom. I coiled the excess wire into a neat loop, tied it off, and ran the cable head back out of the hole I drilled to the fish finder unit. The power cord runs through this hole as well. Neat, easy, and only one big hole drilled. Just need to finish the hole with a rubber gasket and some goop and it should be sealed.

I had envisioned keeping the fish finder stored there and simply folding the unit back on its pedestal mount when not in use. Some advice I’d give anyone about to do this install would be to put the fish finder unit onto the base before you mount it to see how it fits in the Sonar Shield. This will show you if there’s enough room for the fish finder to fold back. Another thing to note with my setup is that the when folded back, the power button of the fish finder lies just beneath the Sonar Shield lid. When I close the lid, sometimes it powers the unit on. I’ll think of something to protect the power button.

Finished Scotty flush mount on the kayak.

Scotty rod holders
This project concerned me the most out of all the installs I had planned. A mistake with where I’d cut or drill would compromise the integrity of the boat back there and would be difficult, if not impossible, to fix. Also, there isn’t a hatch behind the seat to use to access where I planned on mounting the round Scotty flush mounts. Wellnuts were the answer to my problem.

Cardboard guide for round Scotty flush mount that I made for my cut and drill holes.

The mounts themselves were a little unwieldy to use as cutting/marking guides so I made a cardboard guide of all the screw holes and the mount recess. Using the cutout plastic from the Rod Pod, I tested the cardboard guide to make sure everything matched up perfectly. After the trial run on the scrap plastic, the real install on the kayak went smoothly.

Everything matching up and wellnuts fit in the holes sungly. I tested the cardboard guide on a piece of scrap plastic first.