NEW IDEAS

[captd]

They say " necessity is the mother of invention." And boy Have I had a problem. How to carry rods and reels when you have no long areas in your pickup camper or boat. I can carry the ones I need for the day, in the boat, but what to do with the ones waiting for other trips or other kinds of fish. In other words, how do you carry a half to a dozen rods. Without tangling them altogether or breaking off the tips. Well we are ready to leave on our annual trip to Mexico and It finally dawned on me. Use two inch drain tubing and two inch pvc. pipe. By plugging the bottom of the square tube with plastic king board and bungeeing the tube behind my ladder on the camper, I can carry a few back up rods. By carrying a few tubes up in the v-birth I can carry the rods in play. They don't look to bad on the back of the camper either. I think I have it figured how to lock them up so they can not be stolen. I send picture lateriof anyone is intersted in seeing how it looks.
Capt D[/b]

[Sea Wolf]

Captain D-

Glad to hear you've found a solution for your rod storage problem. I'm sure rod storage on the C-Dory, or any small boat of this type, is always an issue, and varies from boat to boat depending on the type of fishing involved, the way the boat is stored or trailed, and other space use issues inside the boat and tow vehicle. Others would like to see exactly how you set up your storage tubes, so a picture or two would be greatly appreciated.

Once rods are stored in tubes or cases, they're pretty much bulletproof, except for extreme cases, like getting run over by a forklift by some idiot working for a shipping company, etc. I understand that guys going on fishing trips can get special rates for rods shipped with them on the airlines (the way golfers get to ship their clubs). Do they simply tape a bunch of rod cases together or ???

When I first acquired Sea Wolf, my first instincts were to tear all the rods down and store them (with the reels mounted) in the v-berth, but as you discovered, this is not only inconvenient, but also hazardous to the rods themselves.

The best of all possible worlds would be to leave the rods assembled, with the reels mounted, and even be able to store them with the rigging set up so as to save the re-rigging time as well. Tyboo Mike devised a cover for his rod rack (on Tyboo I) which covers the lower section of the rack so that the reels and lower sections of the rods can be locked in place. This allows six or so rods to be left ready to fish with only the removal of the locking mechanism. I copied the basic design, and it works especially well for me, mostly because my boat is stored in a covered berth where rain and other moisture are not a problem. Kind of helps force you to use them every few days or at least once a week before the spider engineers can "weld" them in place with their webbing!!!

For outside storage, a more complete total box would provide greater shielding against the elements for rods and particularly for reels. Such a box could be fairly easily be made out of plastic, aluminum or stainless, but the real challenge would be make it esthetically fit into the boat's good looks. A snow ski box would be an easy adaptation (mounted vertically behind the starboard bulkhead in the cockpit, but the length available inside for rods would probably be no more than 205 cm ( approx. 80 inches, or 6' 8"). I suppose one could cut holes out of the bottom to allow the rod handles below the reels to protrude out, adding some extra accomodattion. The box alternately could be placed on the cabin roof, but would be a lot less convenient to use. These boxes probably aren't cheap, but might well be worth looking into. Perhaps one could be purchased used and appropriately modified.

Does anyone use horizontal storage under the gunnel boxes? Is it possible to lock this storage up easily or provide weather protection? What are some of the other schemes on rod storage? Joe

[Flat Iron]

Hi Joe,

Depending on the number of rods carried on your boat another solution is to put them in a full length rod sock and lay them up on top along the top rail. Some fishing stores carry these rod socks and they not only cover the rod but also the fishing reel. My brother has one for his salt water rig with a big Penn reel. I think its made of Sunbrella materiel, it's pretty heavy duty stuff with a draw cord on the reel end. He bought it several years ago at a local fishing store. We held it in place with two small bungee cords which worked real well. If laid end on end four rods can easily be carried this way, two on each side. It's a pretty simple solution if you don't have vertical multiple rod holders. If you have to go ashore for any length of time just lay them on the floor in the cabin until you return or when you're on the road and traveling.

Dan and Jan on Flat Iron

[captd]

Thanks for the comeback. Yes I will be using those ideas right shortly. We will be leaving Friday for Rincon, Mexico. Hope to take pictures this time. See all you brats next spring.
Between this new site and this bum computor I'm having a #@$%^&$#@ time. You all have happy holidays.
Capt D