I am wanting to remove the forward flush mount rod holders on my Malibu Stealth 12. They are too far forward for me to reach easily and the bottoms get in the way of stowing rods or other items. Has any one ever removed these and what can you recommend for a watertight cover for the holes that does not look too clumsy?
thanks

Removing them would leave a large hole for sure. You might want to look into cutting the bottoms off inside the kayak if you want that room and just plugging the rod holders.

And I agree, those forward rod holders are pretty useless for our style of fishing.

I wonder if anyone makes a cap for those rod holders like they do for boats. That would be the route that I'd go. You may not want to remove the rod holders because they may contribute as a structural element to the kayak.

I don't know of a way to cover the hole left by removing the flushmounts...but if you just want to have less obstacles inside the hull, remove the flushmounts, pull the cap off the bottom of the tube, cut most of the tube off, recap and reinstall.

That was the suggestion made by Malibu.
Thanks

Just go to lowe's or home depot, buy the expanding foam, fill the rod holder, let it cure for a day or two, then cut it off. Watertight seal. or maybe a rubber stopper from the hardware section. John

You could replace it with a Scotty No. 344 Round Flush Deck Mount. I would not use expandable foam. It will hold water.

And decay in the sunlight. Good suggestion Sam

I just ordered two Stealth 14’s after communicating with the good folks at Malibu Kayaks Customer Service. They advised me that it is against their policy to produce these kayaks without their four customary surface mount rod holders. After several crossing e-mails they finally agreed to accept orders for them without the rod holders.

I just got both of my new Stealth 14's in from Masthead, no flushmounts and they look great...can't wait to customize them!!!