I troll with rod resting in front of knee, butt of rod braced against opposite heel. In my solo I can put the rod in front of the thwart and the butt against the foot brace- the tension of pulling the lure holding it in place.

No need to worry about hook set (sharp or not). The laker thinks its grabbing a 2oz minnow but instead has attached itself to (in the case of a tandem) some 500# of  boat/paddler/gear. Gotta be a shock on the system.