For as long as I have fished from a canoe, I have trolled with my rod resting between my legs wedged behind one leg and on the shin of the other. In my older age, I troll more often and for greater lengths of time, and find my shins becoming very irritated with the constant rod pressure. After doing many remedial practices such as a bandana wrap or other buffer, I am considering a rod holder. Recommendations of a removable, economical and sure-fire device would be appreciated. Thank you.

I use a Brocraft Pontoon Boat Rod Holder. The base fits on the aluminum thwart of a Wenonah canoe without any issue. I have two on my Champlain; one on the front thwart behind bow seat (on the right) and one on rear thwart (on the left). The two bases together probably weigh less than a pound. I've haven't installed/removed these on rental boats but that shouldn't be an issue - as long as your cordless drill is sufficiently charged.

Check out amazon, I have four of these and really like them.

Bekith 2 Pack Adjustable Powerlock Rod Holder with Combo Mount

Do you own your own canoe?

If so I’d look at one of the rail systems.


This is a Scotty system. Then you just pop in a rod holder.

Rod holder

You would mount it on the rail with the gear head adapters

Or you could just do a side mount.

Canoe/kayak mount

If you google 'fishing rod holder for a canoe' you might find what you are looking for, just did it. I bought a rod holder from Piragis a long time ago, but I don't think they have it anymore. I don't use it anymore because I lost fish when getting it out of the holder and couldn't set the hook fast enough. I went back to holding it with a knee and against the side of the boat. It looks there are better options available now after doing the google search. The best are held on with a clamp and removable when portaging IMO.

Scat, when I'm trolling and get a hit, I'm in no hurry to set the hook. I simply paddle faster to load the rod and when it's bending like grass in a gale, I stop paddling and play the fish, with the hook already set.

I hear ya mm, but sometimes getting the rod out of the holder would put slack in the line and I would lose a fish, and a not so cheap lure, if it was a pike with a toothy maw and able to turn its head and slice the line with the slack. It is the design of the holder I have which is a bit cumbersome to get the rod out of, it clamps down on the rod and needs two hands to get the rod out of, stopping the boat’s forward momentum. I like some of the designs I spied today where the rod slides into the holder only needing one hand to get the rod out. If I was to get another one I would go that route.

I have the scotty rod holder that timatkn has a link too. It is awesome! A little expensive but works.

If you are using a Kevlar canoe don't be temped by the cheaper knock off versions from amazon they clamp to the sides of the canoe and the Kevlar just doesn't have enough support for it. The scotty version clamps securely to the gunwale. I also have the rail mount for the same holder so I can either use the clamp if in am fishing the tandem canoe solo, or I use the rail mount when we are both fishing.

Have tried rod holders but have gone back to just bracing the rod under both legs. The one trick I learned was to tie the rod seat to a length of parachute cord tied to the thwart just in case a fish yanks too hard or worse I get a sudden snag while trolling. It's like a lanyard on a surf board.