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Thanks for those picks. I went to my whaler dealer and looked at the dauntless 170 transom again. Mounting a garelick plate is a no go. The back end to the 170 dauntless has a low profile and not much transom above the water line. It would be a custom bracket build do to other obstructions on the transom (scuppers, u bolt used for tie downs when trailering, transducer ). One of those montauk pics had a custom bracket and that's likely the directions I would need to go. I have come full circle and am going to try and engine mount 80lb thrust minn kota. This gets me away from punching holes in the boat. Back to the drawing board.

Btw, nice display of rail mount rod holder ideas as well on those montauks :).