Forward facing sonar pole mount

--In the first picture, all the printed components are in white.--

I made this forward-facing sonar pole mount to be used with a 1 1/8” (28 mm) pole (in my case a Summit carbon fiber) and the Scotty 241 and 241L rod holder bases that were already on my boat. (Why put new holes in the gunnel?) Also, because I have a portable system, I wanted to be able to move the sonar from the bow when bottom bouncing for walleye and then to the stern when using downriggers for lake trout. (Probably 70% of the time I’m fishing I point the transducer backward to watch the lures.) And, to use the system on a second old boat I have, or any boat, that has this type of base (with some limitations).

The design uses a Scotty 171 arm and two disassembled Scotty 176 (2.25”) ball bases, using only the ball, bolt, and nut. If you’re wondering why I didn’t simply model the ball in CAD, I did. The problem wasn’t making the ball—it was finding a rubberized coating that provided a reliable grip. Everything I fo