Rod holders – Aluminum rail vs. hand rail mount

Any recommendations on aftermarket aluminum rail, versus hand rail mounted rod holders? Both physically mount to the gunnels. Just wondering if anybody has preference to one or the other, and why?

I am going to use one of the two to increase the number of rod holders on my Alumicraft Navigator.

Thanks

Hand rail mounted? Do you mean mounting directly to gunwale?

Stainless steel Hand rail would need to be mounted to gunwale, and rod holders mounted to the hand rail.

I use Down East rod holders which are metal. However I troll for Pike & Muskie so I want something stout. I mount mine on rails.

I have traxtech track with down east rod holders. I to fish musky from time to time and want the added security of having the metal rod holder. I also troll crank baits and lead core. The down east rod holders are very easy to use with those rods also. Using a track system, you can add downriggers, towers, or any other equipment you may have that works with a track system. Adding rails only allows the mounting of rod holders. I have heard that it can be difficult to get the rod holders to tighten down on the rails sometimes so they spin and move on the rail.

Check the width of the gunnel before committing to tracks. Not sure what year navigator you are running, but when I had my 08 navigator, if I would have put tracks on it they would have hung over the edges as the gunnel was only 3 inches. I had rails on that boat and ran ram rod holders. On my current boat I have both rails and tracks and run a mix of ram holders and cisco cradle holders. The cisco holders are built like tanks, but they will run you between $125 and $150 per rod holder depending on the mounting option you use.