Knee locks too low?

Anyone have this problem too? I've been in a n umber of drift boats and built a few myself and one thing I've always found was that the front knee locks are always too low. Hurts after a day of fishing (big problems huh?). I like the knee locks high- more like way above the knee. I'm about 5'9" barefoot, so its not like I'm a giant or anything.

I've devised some raised knee locks, they are functional. Now I'm trying to come up with something that works well but looks right. It has to be functional and pretty in a wood boat you know.

Her is a pic of my current setup. From the floor these are 28" to the center of the knee locks.
The locks are slanted to let fly line drop off them, rather than hang on them. It works well. The look is ok, but I'm looking for an aesthetic improvement...

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Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on January 21, 2009 at 9:56am
At first glance I would think that cutting the top of the knee-board in an arc or smooth curve might look nice. The smooth arcs compliment the overall lines of the boat I think...
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on January 21, 2009 at 9:59am
Tried it. Couldn't get a wide enough piece of wood to make that work. My boat has all the lines squared off, so the slants actually look right on my boat. Just needs an improvement. I really don't know what I'm after at this point, just ideas I guess. Thanks for responding.

dave
Permalink Reply by geno_86ed on January 21, 2009 at 10:16am
So I guess at 6' 2" I am pretty sure I will have the same problems. Maybe an arc that comes off the top of the gunwales with the knee locks mounted on top would help gain a couple more inches.

Geno
Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on January 21, 2009 at 10:40am
no prob. its hard to get a feel for it unless it's right in from of me... but I am sure someone has a cool idea...
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on January 21, 2009 at 11:03am
Jason, being the graphic designer, I was counting on you to provide me a nice looking solution! hahahaha!

Geno, my good friend is 6'2" and is ok with my 28" kneelock height. he would like 3" more, but hey, it's not his boat!

My guess is that you will want to do what I have done- what I did was remove my original height knee locks that were way too low. I temporarily attached a riser board across the front and took it for a float and fished. I used clamps to adjust where I wanted the board and made pencil marks where I thought the kneelocks would work nicely. Came home and got to work. My end result is in the photo. It works good for me. Like I said before, I'm looking for new ideas.... Jason cajune over at montana boatbuilders has some sweet looking designs for kneelocks/casting braces.

Another thing to keep in mind with kneelocks is that flyline LOVEs them! meaning, anywhere flyline can hang up on, it will hang up on.
Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on January 22, 2009 at 7:17am
Dave... I fished from my boat for two years before I realized I had that same problem... actually, it's worse on my boat because I added thick rubber matts to the floor to protect the wood and to create a nice cushion for anyone standing all day fishing. I don't usually fish from the front - but when I did, I thought "$#@&%" - those kneelocks are... shin-locks. I guess I have to go back to the wood shop or only take short fishermen out for a spin. Thanks for confirming something that I had put in the back of my head.
I'll try to come up with a version or two....
Permalink Reply by Mike Fox on January 26, 2009 at 6:41pm
Dave,

I agree that most knee locks are too low. In addition, I was constantly frustrated by how often my fly line became looped around various parts of the braces, usually when I wanted to set a hook or maintain pressure on a hooked fish. To combat both problems I rethought the entire design when I restored an old Kieth Steele boat, replacing the original forward casting station with something taller and including no cuts that can catch a fly line. Its inaugural Summer back on water was last year and not a single fisherman has caught a line when fishing from this brace. See attached pictures.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Z on January 26, 2009 at 7:15pm
Mike,

Nice. I'd love to see more of the Keith Steel boat. Send more pics! Yours look good.

You are 100% correct- Most contemporary fly line deck/kneelock combos are total flyline catchers. It gets real frustrating.

Part of my idea with the slanted kneelocks was to combat that, it works well when you are locked in, but if you stand sideways, the line catches the horn instantly.

I'm working on a design as we speak on paper (errr. AutoCad) I'll post what I come up with.

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