I have done at least 4 times of salmon trolling with a 2-lb ball rod on the flush-mount rod holder of my 2021 stealth 525, while not seeing any weakening sign yet. I caught 3 salmons with this configuration. But to be conservative, I may use the 1-lb ball or less weight in the future, which should work as well but harder to control the depth.

The glass might be strong enough but the rod holders are mounted with little screws driven directly into the glass

Reinforcing the glass seems like a safe enough thing if it’s done right This isn’t a design where the idea of having sacrificial parts would work. If mine had failed in a typical rough water situation I would’ve had a long lonesome swim home

My profisha was the first shipped to the USA and an early version so they might have beefed up the glass in some spots since When I bought mine there were no stealth’s here to look at so I first had a series of calls with Bruce (Brett’s father) who designed or at least engineered the build. I was mainly concerned whether it would work trolling weight for salmon which is my only fishing mode

The yak is designed as a double hull which is required in South Africa for all vessels

If the rod holders fail it opens the sealed hull to water and no such thing as pool noodles in this case since there’s no access to the interior. Oddly when I communicated w Brett about one repair he suggested cutting a hatch into the sealed area to get access

Glass is strong material but screws threaded into it is too weak of an approach for a spot that will be under stress. Definitely not good for pulling any weight. When mine pulled out it came out so easily it was obvious the little bit of trolling I had done w the rod behind me was a mistake. Think I only tried that once

Either pop rivets or stainless screws/nuts would be better way to go

All this stealth talk has me thinking about getting my yak ready for fishing again

Beautiful 555 and good catches!

Wish you a speedy recovery!

Quote from: skyfight on April 22, 2022, 11:04:08 AM

I have a 205-215 epic small/mid wing paddle, which works great against the swell/current/wind. I could push a maxim speed around 6.9MPH which my other paddles could not give.

Yay, confirming my hopes.  According to their selection specs I would fit a 214cm though the stealth is 23” wide and I’m thinking their thinking I’m on a surf ski…

Side note, have you ever propellered off your yak on a mis-tuned catch?

Thanks for posting…

When I cruise about 4-5MPH, I have no problem on the mis-tuned catch. Actually I feel that the catch will be automatically aligned when I set my grip a little bit loose. When I was sprinting the yak at fastest speed, yes, sometimes I felt unstable when paddle catch went wrong. But stealth profisha has a very good secondary stability, never fell off 

what a beauty, nice!

HMB NW gust is the enemy of returning home. Couple times I felt that the gust became even bigger when entering the harbor. I tried a hybrid drive of greenland paddling and watersnake T24 tm last Saturday on my BKC kayak, which just maintained a 2.5MPH speed back. Moomoo outdoor's cousin was on a Hobie AI with crabs and gears stacked at that time. He took 2-hours to return from crabbing ground.

Santa Cruz Harbor (F/A dock) is a newbie-friendly kayak fishing start, normally less windy and smaller wave than HMB. Straight out of harbor to the east side of mile buoy, there is a reef holding RF/Lings.
But as well noted it is a late season with less RF/Lings now. Watch out for the weather/Swell forecast, and keep fishing safe.