A critical review of the Cannon 3-position adjustable rod holder

Having used various models of Scotty and Berkley adjustable rod holders on kayaks, I was very excited to see a new choice offered by Cannon.

The price was also nice at just under $20, so last summer 2009 when I was looking for a rod holder for my new Malibu Stealth 14 fishing Kayak, I decided purchase one and give it a try.

New adjustable rod holder by Cannon comes at a good price for under $20.

I prefer to have at least on adjustable rod holder mounted in front of me to one side just far enough in front of me so that it doesn’t interfere with paddling when a rod is in place. The Cannon rod holder base was easy enough to mount in the same fashion as other similar models, which I did with brass bolts and nuts. My first impression were that this was that the rod holder was constructed of quality components and nearly indestructible ABS plastic. Although this rod holder was a bit bulky in comparison with its peers, I found the size to be an advantage overall because the oversized and spring-loaded adjustment knob and the locking ring were easy to use when my hands were cold and/or wet. This model accepts both spinning and baitcasting reels and while none of my rigs ever fit into it any too snug, the beefy locking ring provided peace of mind that my rods and reels were secure.

This was the last picture of my Cannon adjustable rod holder before it went to the depths of Lake Ontario...

Then came the unexpected mishap. While I was fishing on Lake Ontario for Smallmouth Bass east of Rochester, NY, my relatively new Cannon rod holder went overboard when I lightly clipped it while adjusting my anchor line. It happened so fast and with such little effort that I began to question whether I had locked it into its base properly. Thank goodness that I had my rod sitting in my lap instead of in this rod holder when it happened or my relatively successful fishing trip would have turned into a major disaster. It wasn’t until I happened across an open box at a major retail sporting goods store last week that I was able to fully investigate what might have happened.

An open box at a retail store provided the opportunity to investigate why my Cannon adjustable rod holder went into the lake.

I removed the Cannon adjustable rod holder from the already opened box, locked it into its base, and began lightly pulling at it to see if it would pull straight out of the base. Much to my surprise, it did! I repeated this several times over and was met with the same results. Furthermore, I found that sideways pressure only exacerbated the problem. This is particularly troubling because this is the same force that would be experienced by the rod holder during a trolling situation and hookup with a fish. I believe that the design flaw is the slits in the post of the rod holder that you can see in this photo below. The slits allow too much flex in sides of the post and it can be easily pulled past the stops in the base.

The slits in the post of the Cannon adjustable rod holder are the major flaw in the design which makes it possible for the rod holder to pop out of its base even when it's properly locked into place.

While I have a lot of nit-picking complaints about some of the other adjustable rod holders that I have used from other manufacturers, I’ve never had one come unlocked. Perhaps this was purposely designed by Cannon as a safety feature. I don’t know for certain, but if so, I’d prefer to rely upon the drag setting of my rod and let my line and the knots that I tie to be the weak links connecting a fish to my kayak, not the rod holder! In my opinion, this failure of the Cannon adjustable rod holder takes it out of the running as a usable device for fishing. If you already own one, I believe that you could remedy this problem by inserting and gluing a dowel rod into the bottom of the post which would prevent it from flexing enough to come unlocked. However, I was unable to test this notion because of my unwillingness to waste the money by purchasing another.