Accessory Mounting Options on the RTM Rytmo

The RTM Rytmo Angler has plenty of space and features to make installing a range of accessories easy. This blog post takes a closer look at some of the mounting options for accessories such as rod holders, fish finders and more....

It as now become commonplace for kayak anglers to customise their fishing kayaks with accessories such as rod holders, fish finders, camera mounts and poles, anchoring systems, rod rests and more to suit their style of fishing. Many of the top end fishing kayaks, such as the RTM Rytmo, come with accessories and designated areas to make installing accessories easy and places them in sensible locations on the kayak. Below i run through the various rigging options for installing rod holders, fish finders, a rod rest and camera poles onto the RTM Rytmo Angler. This may be of help to those looking at rigging a RTM Rytmo and want to know what accessory mounts are compatible and where they may fit. 

Rod Holders

The RTM Rytmo Angler comes with two rear facing flush mount rod holders and an adjustable rod holder that can be deck mounted or slide track mounted. Many anglers like to install additional rod holders to their kayaks to suit their style of fishing. The 3 most popular rod holder brands, Railblaza, RAM and Scotty, can be readily installed on the Rytmo, either fore of the seat using the slide tracks or centre pod or behind the seat fixed to the hull itself. 

The slide tracks make a great place to attach rod holders for trolling with the rod at a right angle to the kayak, and also for drift fishing and when fishing at anchor. Using the slide tracks means that you don't have to drill the kayak for installation. The position of a rod holder can easily be adjusted during a session and then removed at the end of a session. The slide tracks are compatible with Railblaza, RAM and Scotty track mount products.

The Railblaza StarPort Tracmount Kit can be used to attach a Railblaza Rod Holder 2 or Rod Holder R to the slide tracks. Extenders could be used to raise the position of the rod to keep a long rod butt clear of the centre hatch. 

A Ram 1.5" Quick Release Track Base can be used to attach Ram Rod holders such as the popular Ram Tubes. The T-Bolt within this mount that slots within slide tracks has two different settings (A and B) to suit different width tracks. For this mount to fit well on the Rytmo tracks, it needs to be on the 'B' position. Once fitted this mount is very secure.

Scotty Gear Head Track Adaptors can be used to attach Scotty accessories to the slide tracks. This mount doesn't fit as securely as the Railblaza and Ram mounts shown above but the slide track mounts that come with the Rytmo could easily be used to attach a standard Scotty base to the tracks as this is practically identical to the rod holder base that comes with the kayak.

Rod holders could also be fitted to the centre hatch and again Railblaza StarPorts, Scotty Bases and Ram Ball mounts will fit here. For me, this space will be used to mount a fish finder. 

Additional adjustable rod holders, such as Ram Tubes and Scotty Rocket Launchers can also be installed behind the seat. Mounting such rod holders here is popular for trolling at right angles to the kayak, having the rods facing forwards when fishing at anchor or, if position pointing to the rear, for having more space to hold more rods. 

There is space beside the flush mount rod holder to mount a 1.5" Ram Ball, which can then be used to attach a Ram Tube or other Ram rod holder.

The Scotty Rectangular mounts, both standard and flush mount, fit here well too and could be used to attach Scotty Rocket Launchers. 

There is also space to fit a Railblaza StarPort HD or standard StarPort... or both! Railblaza don't produce a tube style rod holder (i'm sure they will bring one out soon enough) but positioning StarPorts here would be useful for fitting Railblaza Camera Booms and Poles.

So that about covers the rod holder options, with plenty of locations and styles of rod holders that can be fitted to the Rytmo. 

Fish Finders

Fish finders are becoming ever more common on fishing kayaks. There are two obvious places to install the main head unit of a fish finder for easy viewing whilst paddling and fishing - on the centre hatch lid, or on the side of the kayak using the slide tracks. 

As shown above various mounts will fit onto the centre hatch lid. Fish Finders usually come with a mount that can be bolted straight onto the kayak but often people will upgrade to more flexible mounting options so that you aren't left with a large chunky mount attached to the kayak when its not in use. Two popular options are available from Ram and Railblaza as shown below.

Probably the most popular option is to use a Ram mount for mounting a fish finder head unit. The Ram ball and socket technology gives all but infinite adjustments angles to get the perfect view of the screen and this is what i will be using on my Rytmo. This mount involves bolting a Ram Ball with round base onto the kayak. This then connects to the unit via a double socket arm either using a specific adaptor ball that plugs into the back of the unit or by mounting the original unit mount onto a mounting plate that has a ball incorporated onto it. Smaller units (3"-5" screens) will usually work off a 1" ball system with larger heavier units (5"+ screens) requiring a more secure 1.5" ball system. At the end of a session you can simply detach the double socket arm leaving just the 1" ball on the kayak.

Below shows a Lowrance Hook 3x mounted to the Rytmo Centre Hatch Lid using a 1" ball system  specific to the Hook series that plugs straight into the back of the unit (part number: RAM-B-101-LO11). I will be mounting my Raymarine Dragonfly in this position using a similar mount specific to the Dragonfly series. 

A Railblaza Rotating Platform is another option for installing a fish finder head unit to the centre hatch. This mount involves bolting a StarPort or StarPort HD to the centre hatch lid. The platform simply plugs into the StarPort and provides a flat space to bolt on the original fish finder mount as shown below. At the end of a session you can simply unplug the whole mount leaving just the StarPort behind. 

The slide tracks also make a useful place to mount a fish finder unit. Again a Ram Mount or Railblaza mount can be used. Installing on the tracks means that the entire base mount can be removed at the end of a session and if used in conjunction with a arm-mounted transducer and deck-mounted battery could make for a completely removable fish finder set up. 

Below shows a Ram 1.5" Quick Release Track Base being used to fit a Lowrance Hook 3x and Hook 5 unit to the slide tracks on the RTM Rytmo, using the double socket arm and adaptor ball from the RAM-B-101-LO11 mount.

With the head unit in place that leaves just the battery and transducer to sort out. The battery can fit in the designated space in the centre hatch, or kept within the main hull with the wiring passing through a deck seal, which could be fitted in the space just fore of the hatch hinge. The transducer can either be installed in-hull, through the designated scupper hole or on an arm over the side of the kayak that can be attached to the slide tracks. This will be covered in more detail in a later rigging blog post.  

Handheld GPS Units and Phones

A stand alone GPS unit, or Mobile Phone could easily be held in a Ram or Railblaza device holder. Ram produce several specific device holders as well as generic device holders. Railblaza produce a Mobi device holder that would take most handheld GPS units and phones. Both systems could be attached to StarPorts or Ram Balls fitted to the centre hatch lid alongside a fish finder, or on the slide tracks for easy viewing. 

Rod Rests

A front mounted rod rest has become popular on fishing kayaks over the last few years. They are useful to rest rod tips in a low position when fishing at anchor or on the drift, and also useful for resting a rod on whilst tackling up, baiting up or when dealing with unhooking a fish. There are currently no 'off-the-shelf' rod rests on sale so that leaves kayakers to retro-fit their own systems. I personally use a rod rest that uses Ram balls. This is covered in detail in the following linked blog post: Ram Pole Rod Rest for Kayak Fishing. I have mounted a 1.5" Ram Ball with round base on the flat space just fore of the centre hatch hinge for this rod rest.

Some kayak anglers use a Railblaza StarPort to attach a homemade rod rest system and a StarPort would fit well where the Ram Ball does above. 

Both Ram and Railblaza based rod rest system could equally be attached to slide track mounted bases and this would allow for the whole system to be removed at the end of a session. 

Camera Poles, Light Poles and Flags

Both Ram and Railblaza produce popular camera poles, boom and mounts systems so wherever you can mount a Ram ball or StarPort you could mount a camera pole/boom. Several areas already covered would be suitable - mounts attached to the slide tracks would be great for rear facing camera shots, a central mount base, such as the Ram Ball shown above, would also work well for rear facing camera shots and a mount just behind the seat would work for side facing camera booms, or above head shots with a pole such as the Railblaza Telepole. A mount could even be attached at the very rear of the Rytmo for full forward facing kayak shots. A StarPort mounted behind the seat would work well for installing a Railblaza visibility kit or a flag. 

Anchoring Systems

An anchoring system can be fitted to practically any fishing kayak. The Rytmo does not come with any specific fittings that are ready to attach an anchor trolley but installation of a universal kit is easy. This will be covered in a further blog post. 

Rigging my Rytmo

This blog posts highlights the numerous ways various accessories can be installed on the RTM Rytmo Angler. The variety of accessories that can be installed on the Rytmo and the locations they can be mounted on this kayak will mean that it can be customised to suit many styles of fishing, whether it be lure fishing and trolling, bait fishing at anchor or drift fishing.  I will be writing another blog post detailing exactly how i have rigged my Rytmo for fishing, including installing a Raymarine Dragonfly 5Pro, Anchor Trolley, Rod Rest and more!

If you have any questions about rigging a RTM Rytmo, please comment below and i will try my best to answer.