Damaged Fisha 555 Rod Holder

I had emailed Stealth about my damage and finally heard back from them. This is what they had to say:

nothing to major.

Behind the rod holder itself is some reinforcing for the screws so i would do it this way.

First i would fix up the small cracked area with some basic fiberglass repairs just to make it all the same level again.
Then fill all the old whole up with some nice thick epoxy.even the thick epoxy you buy from a hardware store- the glue style will do the trick to fill the holes,No need to buy epoxy resin and thicken it.
Then reposition the rod holder at a slightly different angle to the last time so you can set it.By changing the angle slightly you will screw in new holes and it will bite into fibreglass nicely.Don't forget to use silicone around the rod holder when you screw it back in to seal it.

hope this all makes send and helps.

Ill throw another little note in there

When the rod holder on mine came out it didn’t take much force, I was just pushed in against the pier and my rod bent over until the rod holder pulled out of the yak if you can picture that. I had trolled salmon a few times with rod behind me so there would already have been that stress on the screws, but screws threaded into glass isn’t the strongest way to mount them imo Must be the trolling in SAfrica is shallow w no weight so no need for more

I can’t remember what all I did when I repaired mine but if memory serves I reinforced and then epoxied a nut on the underside for a screw to thread into. I don’t think there was much room to turn the holders in any different position, but if you did enough reinforcement it wouldn’t matter

If I was doing it now I’d reinforce as much as I could then epoxy the screws sticking up from underneath instead, (which would be much easier than getting the nut in the right position underneath) in which case would just be a matter of getting the right screw length and maybe one of those cap style nuts whatever they’re called

In fact when I get around to doing some tlc on mine I may do a redo and seriously reinforce them so they can hold up to trolling a 2 lb ball which I don’t think they’re built for

And maybe some other simple mods while Im at it

I really have no experience with fiberglass, but the thought of using what look like deck screws to mount things seems a bit odd to me.  Is that really the best way?  Why not rivets or well-nuts, or at least machine screws with lock-nuts?

I really have no experience with fiberglass, but the thought of using what look like deck screws to mount things seems a bit odd to me.  Is that really the best way?  Why not rivets or well-nuts, or at least machine screws with lock-nuts?

Agreed. It's a disappointment. I hope to reinforce the underside w/ marine plywood (or similar) and replace the screws w rivets or bolts w/a lock washer. Maybe even bluekayaks's upside-down bolt idea...

How will you get plywood under there?

I still haven’t got out to look at mine but my memory is i epoxied a nut and washer on the underside before putting the rod holders back in

Threading little screws into glass like they did on mine was a recipe for failure

My rod holder pulled out when I was 50 ft from shore but it easily could’ve happened while I was trolling 4 or 5 miles out

Whatever they use the rod holders for in South Africa they’re no good for trolling salmon

Then you have a problem

Seems like the guys in S Africa and Aussieland tend to fish for pelagics so they either liveline bait fish or chase foamers to toss topwater plugs and poppers -- more of a San Diego style rather than NorCal. All these issues with weak rod holders are definitely making me lean towards the swell scupper instead of a stealth for my next kayak.

Seems like the guys in S Africa and Aussieland tend to fish for pelagics so they either liveline bait fish or chase foamers to toss topwater plugs and poppers -- more of a San Diego style rather than NorCal. All these issues with weak rod holders are definitely making me lean towards the swell scupper instead of a stealth for my next kayak.

I don’t think the rod holders are weak if you have your drag set properly.  Not many rod holders could hold up in a perfect surf flip with gear up.  I was launching at Bo with full crab pots in the kraken(poly) and got crushed on the launch with my net extended.  The power of the surf with the net grabbing the bottom broke my flush mount off the poly but the poly held.  Too secure of a reinforcement under that stealth mount would tear off way more than a screw lifting in a shore flipping gear fulcrum shallow sand leverage situation.  The flush mounts on a stealth are plenty worthy for trolling in my opinion.  With the rear hatch opening I installed I did get access to the flush mount and replaced the screw with bolts if I’m not mistaken but with no access it’s a puzzle.  I think stealth’s advice is sound.  Fiberglass is generally tough stuff though the learning curve is intimidating.

Without modification there is no way I would attempt trolling 2# balls in the stock Evolution rod holders perhaps the Fisha was more reinforced?


UpTheCreek if your doing this repair I highly recommend scuffing up boath mating surfaces lightly with sand paper and using this product to mount and seal the holders. This glazing silicone is very durable and works great sealing hatches, screw points as well as mounting in hull transducers!

I don’t know anything about Stealth kayaks, or much about fiberglass, but I think Eddie’s point is a good one. While it is tempting to make things as strong as possible, you need to consider what else might break if your strengthened part is put under a lot of stress, but fails to break.

I am familiar Hobies, and they have some sacrificial parts. One obvious example is the plastic rudder pin. If you break one of those on the water, it’s a hassle to replace, so some people are tempted to replace the plastic pin with stainless, which will never break. With a stainless rudder pin, if you have an incident where the plastic rudder pin would have snapped, thanks to the strength of the stainless, you might instead damage the hull.

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

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

Revive that beast on da wall...I would love to paddle witcha' at any given spot...

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

UPDATE:

After soliciting everyone's advice (thank you!) and assessing my confidence, skill, and expectations, I decided to have it repaired professionally by a surfboard repair guy in SF. He reinforced the underside and laid some new fiber over the top. He enlarged the hole a bit to accommodate the larger diameter rod holder I wanted. I was shocked that this repair cost only $100 and was done in less than 48 hours.

Mike spent 17 years in Baja, much of it fishing from his Whaler. He understands boating and fishing and will happily talk shop with you about any of it.


Mike (owner)
Avenue 34 Surfboard Repair
1930 34th Ave
SFCA 94116

Feel free to message me for his phone # if you want to contact him.

Boom!  Gettin’ it done right!  Glad you found someone

Nice job. Back in business.