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| The author rigs his truck with these PVC rod tubes that allow him to transport dozens of rods safely. |
Any way an avid angler slices it, transporting fishing rods and
reels can be challenging. At Fishing 411 that challenge goes double because on
any given trip we are tasked with transporting 20 or more rod and reel
combinations.
Because Fishing
411 is a multi-species television series, we have to be prepared to fish a wide
variety of species and also presentations. That adds up to traveling with
dozens of different rod and reel set ups.
Thankfully the
rod locker in our STX 2050 Starcraft easily handles up to a dozen fishing rods.
While we’re on the water rarely do we need more than a dozen set ups for a day
of fishing. The problem comes in when on Monday we’re targeting walleye and
Tuesday we have our sights on filming another species like northern pike.
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| The Fishing 411 crew targets a wealth of freshwater species ranging from panfish to steelhead pictured here. Staying on top of all those fishing opportunities requires traveling with lots and lots of rods. |
To solve this
constant problem, the Fishing 411 guys have taken a page out of the
professional bass fishing handbook. Anyone who has followed the careers of
tournament bass pros has no doubt seen how these guys re-purpose construction
grade conduit carriers into traveling fishing rod tubes.
These rather
impressive looking rod tubes made from PVC pipe are mounted to roof racks and
down the road they go protecting up to a dozen one piece rods each. Kits are
available for 4, 6 and 8 inch conduit with six inch tubes being the most
popular and practical choice.
For the guy who
thinks these are cool and just wants to purchase a set, A.R.E. Truck Caps
produces some very nice ones for about $500.00 each. I opted to make my own
using a 6 inch kit that includes the end cap, locking hinged front door and the
necessary U bolts for mounting to a roof rack. The kits are about $60.00 each
and you’ll also need PVC pipe that costs about $20.00 each at the big box
lumber stores.
I painted mine
using spray Plasti-Dip a spray rubberized product that works well for painting
the rather boring cream colored PVC pipe into more interesting colors to match
or contrast with your tow vehicle. Plasti-Dip works well, but first the PVC
needs to be sanded with 80 grip paper to provide a better surface for the paint
to adhere to.
Also this unique
paint product sprays best when warmer than room temperature. I took a tip from
the website and warmed up my cans by putting them in a bucket of warm tap water
for a few minutes. A can will cover one eight foot length of six inch PVC pipe.
I recommend three or four coats to get a durable and lasting finish.
The finished PVC
pipe rod holders mount easily to a roof rack using the U bolts supplied with
the conduit carrier kits. I opted to first mount an off roading basket to my
truck and then mounted the PVC rod holders to the basket. The off roading look
is pretty cool, provides a place to mount work lights and if I need extra room
to carry more cargo the roof basket is ideal.
The PVC conduit
carriers work perfectly for hard to transport one piece rods up to eight feet
in length. To give the rods some extra protection in transit, I cut four pieces
of two inch thick foam six inches in diameter. One piece of foam fits near the
end cap and the other near the door opening. This helps cushion the rods from
sudden stops and starts.
I also recommend
bundling the rods before putting them in the PVC conduit carrier. Alternate the
rods so the more delicate tips are bundled with heavier butt sections. These
simple steps help to protect the delicate rod tips and makes it much easier to
put the rods into and also to remove them from the PVC tubes.
The matching
reels are stored in plastic hard boxes designed for transporting hand-guns.
Both Flambeau and Plano make these handy and inexpensive cases for transporting
fishing reels.
For about
$200.00 and a little handy-man time I was able to fabricate two traveling rod
tubes that no doubt will pay for themselves. The conduit carrier option sure
makes it easy to travel with fishing rods.
