Fishing Rod & Paddle Holder ?

[AsaBlanchard]

I love fishing and intend to have two or three fishing rods in my canoe at all times. When I was canoe camping in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota and Quetico National Park, it was pretty handy to leave the rods and paddles in the canoe tied with bungy cords to the thwarts, strap a flat tackle box under the seat, and portage the canoe without removing the fishing equipment or paddles.

I have designed a vertical rod holder traced from the station molds (Prospector station 2), that I was intending to epoxy to the side of the canoe, but I am not crazy about it. Has anyone designed a holder of multiple rods and or paddel holder they would like to share?

Also while paddling and fishing simultaneously, it is nice to not have your paddle "rolling" around the gunwales. Has anyone come up with a unique way to solve this problem?

I would appreciate any advice you may have.

Thank you,
Asa Blanchard, Wanna Be Canoe Builder

[David James]

I recently spent a week paddling and fishing in Quetico. We used velcro straps to secure the rods during paddling (straps sold in bicycle shops to keep pant legs away from chain). These were convinient but left the rod tips exposed - we broke off two of three, and I was discusted about it. I thought of a hollow tube (aluminum maybe?) about 1.75" wide and a foot long and mounted just below the gunnel to receive and protect the rod tips, with a strap to hold the handles of the rods to the thwart.
Haven't yet figured out a good system yet, and I'm also interested in any suggestions / solutions. It needs to be convenient, light and effective.

Dave

[Rick]

I keep a telescopic rod and small tackle box in a day pack and can have it out and fishing in a minute. A telescopic rod won't be a quality rod but if the fish happen to be biting, it'll be good enough, especially for some dinner.

I had a favorite fly rod stepped on and broken so I no longer bring those on canoe trips... no worries.

[Jeff in Farmington, MI]

During our first trip to the BWCA some years ago, we struggled with carrying loose gear on the portage trails. This included fishing rods & tackle, paddles, watter bottles, etc. Velcro straps through the scuppers work pretty well for securing assembled fishing rods under the gunwales, but they can get get in the way when shouldering the canoe. And as mentioned, the tips can still be damaged.

We normally fish before or after our travels from one area to another, so our rods are usually disassembled on the portage trails. Even so, the question remains, how do you safely carry these half-length rods? I actually purchased material to make a kind of shoulder bag for fishing gear before I realized that I had the solution already in my garage. It seems everyone has those "bag chairs" ... you know the ones that fold up and are carrried in a tubular bag. These bags work great for carrying fishing poles or paddles; especially the bags with two shoulder straps!

I roll the fishing rods into an old bath towel to keep the different rods separate and to prevent tangles. With our two canoes, we have five paddles in one other bag. This way it is simple to grab all your paddles or all of your rods in an empty hand. When my daughter was a young child, she was responsible for carrying the paddles (in a bag on her back) and the rods in another bag.

Jeff

[Moonman]

When I'm portaging the rods get put away in their tubes (most of my fly rods and spinning rods are all 4-5 pces specifically for travel and canoeing). I have broken too many rod tips in exactly the way stated in the posts above. For a home made rod tube, I use central vac tubing, available at Home Despot and the like. Its strong enough for the job but way lighter than abs or pvc tubing. You can get caps that fit the tubing and glue some foam insulation into the caps to protect you rod tip. If you want to carry an assembled rod, you can cut a slot in the end of the tubing that will fit the width of your reel arm. The slot should be at a length of about the distance the reel arm is up from the bottom of the rod bottom. At the end of the 'vertical' slot (the tube standing up from the ground), cut a horizontal slot about1.5" long. You can now slide your rod into the tube with your reel attached to the rod, the reel arm slides into the vertical slot, you get to the 1.5" horizontal slot and the reel arm slides over into the 'horizontal' slot. This sort of 'locks' the reel in place. The reel will be exposed but your rod will be safe in the tube. Duct tape a loop of light rope to each end of the tube, or run a loop through two holes you make in the end caps (aids in pulling the caps off, which at times don't want to come off easily). Use these loops to attach the tube to thwarts or scupper slots.

Moonman.

[AsaBlanchard]

Moonman,
That is exactly the kind of tip I was looking for. You might also consider golf club tubing, which is very lightweight plastic tubing, but I don't think it will come with end caps. My brother and I are fishaholics and we leave a rod on top of the packs even when we are traveling in case we see one "roll over", we can make a quick cast.
Can someone share how to post a .jpg file on here, I would like to show you my idea of a rod holder.
Keep the good ideas coming.

Thanks for the tips.

Asa,
Gettin' close to having a canoe

[Glen Smith]

Please visit this link for photo posting info: http://www.bearmountainboats.com/phpbb2 ... php?t=1150

[AsaBlanchard]

Glen,
I am a beginner canoe builder and novice computer operator. Outside of email and Google searches, the computer is Greek to me. Please check to see if I have entered this link to my Rod Holder correctly.

Thank you,

Asa Blanchard,
Prospector Glassed inside and out, chomping at the bit!

Rod Holder Idea, http://sitebuilder.verizon.net/trellix/ ... _page.html

[Glen Smith]

Sorry, that link does not work. You can email the pics to me and I will post them for you.
glen@charlevoix.net

[Glen Smith]

I am posting this photo and description on behalf of ASA:

This is my idea for a fishing rod holder in the Prospector canoe. Assuming there are two fisherman, with three rods each, the stern man will have two rods right(top and bottom) and one rod left (center position). The bowman(turning toward the stern) will have two rods right(top and bottom) and one rod left(center position). To clarify, this rod holder pictured will be located(facing forward) at station two, stern right and also at station one, bow left. The receiving end of this rod holder is opposite, with a “closed” hole top and bottom, and a reel slot in the center, placed at station one, bow right and station two stern left. The fisherman will place the rod tip in the “closed” hole and drop the rod in the slot, sliding it forward to lock the handle in place. A dowel rod, running horizontally through the rod holder, centered in line with the hole, will allow you to wrap a leather strap or bungy cord to secure the rod butts, to the “holder”.



The advantage of this, If the canoe owner goes solo and reverses the direction of the canoe by setting in the “bow” seat, going in the opposite direction, he still has two rod holders to the right and one to the left.



Since an early age, I have always carried a bait caster(Ambassador) for jigs, spinner and buzz baits, a spinning reel, (Mitchell or Diawa)for floating Rapalas and a flyrod, and have enjoyed three ways of attack. I know from an extensive canoe and portage journey through Quetico National Park, that storing the rods on board, save time, damage and let you hit the portage and start traveling immediately, knowing your rods and reels are protected on board. This design allows the rods and especially the tips to “hug” the interior walls of the canoe and still have plenty of room for Duluth packs and tents.



Hope this works for you,

Asa Blanchard, Canoe builder wanna be,