I recently ordered and installed a set of West Marine brand Stainless Steel clamp-on rod holders and installed them on my boat. On 17 March, 2011 while trolling off Cape Hatteras I had a strike on a rather light Billfisher trolling rod with a Penn International 30 TW reel spooled with 130 lb. braid line which was seated in the clamp-on rod holder. The rod tube immediately broke loose from the clamp and all went overboard. All of my trolling rods are set with 12 to 14 lbs. of tip pressure, so the strike setting on the reel was not the issue.
The problem is that these rod holders (West Marine and many other branded holders) are badly designed and that design flaw is not evident to the typical user until there is a failure.
The specific problem is that the two screws which attach the clamp to the tube are entirely too short AND they are screwed into the a soft metal insert in the sleeve that holds the rod butt. See picture. By comparison, I also have two SeaSense SS rod holders, which I disassembled. Their tube attachment screws are twice as long as the West Marine brand (and similar ones) and the sleeve holders appear to be much thicker and heavier.
The bottom line is that you need to disassemble any clamp on rod holders you have and check these screws. As a minimum, you should coat them with permanent (red) lock tight. If these are the short screws, have the base spot welded to the rod holder tube, which is what I did.
The problem is that these rod holders (West Marine and many other branded holders) are badly designed and that design flaw is not evident to the typical user until there is a failure.
The specific problem is that the two screws which attach the clamp to the tube are entirely too short AND they are screwed into the a soft metal insert in the sleeve that holds the rod butt. See picture. By comparison, I also have two SeaSense SS rod holders, which I disassembled. Their tube attachment screws are twice as long as the West Marine brand (and similar ones) and the sleeve holders appear to be much thicker and heavier.
The bottom line is that you need to disassemble any clamp on rod holders you have and check these screws. As a minimum, you should coat them with permanent (red) lock tight. If these are the short screws, have the base spot welded to the rod holder tube, which is what I did.