home made rod resters?

[todobien]

Has anyone made their own rod holders that function similiarly to the driftmaster rod resters?

[Minners N Jigs]

Has anyone made their own rod holders that function similiarly to the driftmaster rod resters?

Don't take this in anyway other than as a helpful solution... I am fairly new to the site, but one thing that has dramatically helped me is using the the search tool up in the right hand corner area of the page. Type a few keywords and then hit search. It's amazing how many people have already asked, cussed and discussed the very thing that was on my mind.... With this topic, you'll see lots of others people's ideas that have been tried and tested. Good luck !

That's not to say that you won't get plenty of feedback on this particular thread, but it will give you immediate access to the feedback others have already received !

[todobien]

will try that. I'd done a google search and hadn't found much.

[huntinslabs]

Just one thing to keep in mind taking this on. Unless you have material on hand to piece them together, time you buy flat stock, nuts, bolts, washers and everything else you will not be far off from the cost to buy. Lake Talquin Lodge sells a very economical set of rod holders. I built my first set and could have spent about $5.00 more and bought the driftmasters. Now if you are very handy and have a bunch of material around then all that is null and void. Look around for the ones guys are ,making from 6" pvc pipe, as those will be easiest to form, bolt to a piece of flat stosk and support with galvanized ridgid gas pipe and flanges bolted to boat.

[skeetbum]

There's a lot to what Huntinslabs said. I've used most and seen the others and I settled on Hi-Tek's. The extreme version is my last stop, and I have a bunch of em. They don't fit into a budget minded set up but do a very good job. I've seen several sets of the PVC holders and with a little finesse they are a good option. I've even seen some that folks bought the liquid rubber for plier handles and such and dipped the ends after removing the rough edges and those were really sweet. A router makes the grooves smooth and straight. Keep us posted, I'm interested in what you come up with.

[Hanr3]

Interested in this thread.
I too am thinking of making my own rod holders. Actually, I KNOW for a fact I will be making them. I have been working out the details. When you make them, options are limitless. I struggle with the options.
Mount to the gunwale or deck? IF I mount to the gunwale I could use 1/4" thick flat stock and run a mounting platform around the inside of the boat and hang rod holders wherever I want them.
IF I mount them to the deck I could cut costs, and do I really need an option to mount them anywhere?

Do I make them adjustable like ram mounts? Or solid like just about every design out there?

How do I make them quick connect? - screw into base, quick clamp to flat bar, slip pin and cotter pin lock? IF they are screwed into the base they must have some adjustment at the top to align them holders in the direction I want to point the rods.

Rod holders- mimic a current design? Hy-Tek are nice, however I don't like the little stubby front and worry waves/fish could pull the rod into the water. Other designs? All have plus's and minus's.

Materials- thought about galvanized pipe and plastic (pvc). I'm too vain and think it looks too cheap, cause it is cheap.
I do like the idea of 1" aluminum sq tube for the uprights and angled aluminum for the cross brace (t), then make the rod holders from aluminum block and bent tubing dipped in that plastic stuff. IF I do the gunwale mounted holders I can make the whole thing from two pieces of aluminum plate stock and some tubing. Will take some machining on my table saw and routers, but doable. Figure each holder will have 4 adjustments; clamping force to gunwale mount, vertical, horizontal, and angle of holder in regards to boat direction. Vertical and horizontal adjustment would be similar to a ram mount. Then, I wonder if I need that level of adjustment and am I making it too complicated?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

When you build your own, options are endless. I have several sheets of paper full of notes and options. I have boat configuration elements to consider that will impact my design as well. If I deck mounts, I can't put them at mid-ship- my rod locker/storage locker lids wouldn't be able to open and could open while trolling. This is where the gunwale mounts would be best. I could make the gunwale mounts work great on the front deck too. However for pulling cranks out of the back of the boat deck mounts would work better. Its a tiller boat. I could run the angled aluminum across the beam and mount rod holders to it. However I don't like the idea of blocking off access to the back of the boat and it may interfere with the captain chair. Then we get into the whole debate about power, trolling motor on the bow, or main motor on the transom. IF I go trolling motor off the bow, forward is my direction of travel. However I could go either forward or backwards using the main motor. Each will dictate rod placement. Most of this is a mute point if I have a partner in the boat. But IF I'm by myself, often happens. I have to be able to move about the boat safely while under power and not worry about sudden direction changes. Who will watch where I am going and watch all my poles? Granted it may only be two or three here in Illinois, but I only got one set of eyes.

Anyway, I'll be watching. By the way, this is one of my winter projects. The other is to tie up some spider rigging gear while recovering from my knee replacement surgery. Three weeks sitting on my arse will drive me nuts without something to do, and I ain't watching Jerry Springer type shows. No way, no how, not going to happen. Sorry I digress. back to your regularly schedule program.

[CrappiePappy]

If you're talking about the double loop add-on piece that goes around the upright shank of the rod holder, where you can stick your rod handle in it to "rest" (while you remove fish, re-bait, etc)
Then, no ... I simply let my rod "rest" sticking up between the rod holder loops or stick it back into the rod holder and just disengage the reel to do any "removing/fixing" on the end of the line.

And if I did have such a device, I certainly wouldn't trust it to hold my rods while I was running down the lake. I can just see me hitting a wave & then come crashing down on the following wave, booting the rods right out of the "rester" and right back at my face ... no thanks, I'll continue to strap them down, or break them down and put them in the rod locker.

... cp

[todobien]

Crappie Pappy - that is the type I was talking about. Trying to think of a good way for them to ride when moving from spot to spot in a boat without a bunch of space to bolt pvc

[jimp]

If you have some flat and vertical space on the side/end of the rod box, or anywhere on the boat, can use some 1" or larger pvc pipe and pipe clamps to attach suitable lengths of pvc pipe to the vertical wall so the handle will slide down in for short hops from one spot to the other. I cut a notch in the pipe to allow the base of the spinning reel to slide down in to keep the rod a bit more stable. You can buy the pre-made ones at WM/BPS, etc., in black or white, but I used gray pvc pipe to kind of blend in/match the boat interior. Mine are not as pretty as the store bought but just as effective. I have a deep V boat and mounted mine along the back vertical wall of the battery and storage compartments just in front of the splashwell. I need to mount a couple up front but haven't yet. Look in the rigging section here on CDC and you should find some pics' of what others have done. Or google pvc rod holders and you'll get lots of info.

[scrat]

Here is some PVC that I made.