My mounts are basically the same as what Petty has on his boat. The only diffrence in ours is color. The serve the same purpose. Renforce the under side with some additional plywood and or some aluminum plate of sorts and you will find that its more than sufficinet.
To help with that problem, make sure that your down rigger has its drag set correctly. This way if you did snag a ball up, the drag will function correctly and prevent damage to your boat
