Rear Rod Holders for a Sportfish?

For anyone that has fished out of or has a Crestliner Sportfish do you know if you can just use stainless steel screws to mount rod holders to the gunnels? Or do you need to reach as back in the rod locker to use a bolt/nut combo?

I have a 2003 Sportfish and I use the flush mount ram’s with screws. Had to drill a hole first of course but then just screws. No problems so far.

Wade, if you want to insure that you will never have any issues use stainless bolts and ss nyloc nuts as well as ss fender washers.

Overkill? Maybe, but I guarantee you will never have one rattle loose or need to make any middle of the lake repairs. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It will take longer but you will never regret it.
-Mark

Agreed!!! If you can get to it use bolts. Screws may work just fine but at some point you will have one work its way out, then your going to strip it and be drilling it out to install an oversized bolt. trust me on that one! almost everyting screwed down in my boat has one bigger screw in it! But thats the down fall of a glass boat.

thanks for the tips, ideally I want to use bolts but not sure if I can get back far enough to do so.

What length of screws did you use, do you remember?

Length more depends on whats behind and how thick the aluminum is. When you drill your piolet hole you will get a better idea.

My boat is a glass boat so the gunnels are foam filled and I usually use 1″ screws. I drill a piolet hole then use a little silicone in the hole to help with vibration and seems to help hold the screw a little better in the fiberglass.

I used 3/4″ stainless screws. Don’t know the number but they are a solid diameter. There was about 1/8″ or so of aluminum and roughly 3/4″ wood to screw into. With the flush mount the pressure is not a direct pull, no fish will pull it out. Maybe if you tied an anchor to it you’d have a problem. I do check them once in a while but have rarely had any loosen. No doubt bolts will be better but screws appear to be plenty strong.