Need Fancy Rod Holders

I do a lot of bank fishing from rivers, lakes and ponds. If you have ever fished for catfish from the bank you know you have to have rod holders. Do you need fancy rod holders? No. You can use a forked tree branch stuck in the ground. However with a stick you may end up chasing your pole into the water if a big one grabs your bait.

Rod holders come in many shapes and design and are relatively inexpensive to purchase. They are worth the money and you would know this if you have ever lost a pole while digging around in your cooler for a cold soda. A lesson I learned a long time ago.

A few weeks back I purchased a rod holder that cost me $20.00. I wouldn’t ordinarily spend more than $5.00 for a rod holder but I was very curious about this one. This unique holder is spring-loaded under adjustable tension; when a fish hits, the motion trips the cocking mechanism, snapping the rod tip up and back for an supposedly instantaneous, hook set.

Well I tried this out this weekend. It has a tension setting that let’s the angler set the  sensitivity. You can set it anywhere from a hair-trigger to a trolling-with-heavy-tackle setting. Naturally I set it to hair trigger. Not a great idea as I believe every time a catfish sniffed at the bait it triggered the mechanism and the tip of the pole would be yanked rapidly upright.

I changed the setting and about thirty minutes later a catfish struck. The rod snapped back setting the hook as advertised. I just watched for a minute because the holder was also supposed to “play” the fish. Which I guess it did as the catfish struggled against the spring tension but it won’t do anything if the catfish is running toward you.

I am going to go back and get me another one. I believe it will help me get more fish. I have been taking a 12 year old boy with me lately and I can’t even count the number of bites where I had my hands full fixing his tackle and I just had to hope the catfish was hungry enough to hook itself.

Here is the link if you want to take a look   Lightnin’ Strike? Automatic Hook-Set Rod Holder