Interior rod rack

[oldfrat]

Since the fly fishing vehicle thread has several mentions of transporting rigged rods inside, I assume many of you have figured out a good way to do this. My way was inspired by a friend's rig and I pass it along in case it helps anybody.

I drive a small SUV --a Mazda Tribute, sister to the Ford Escape. My interior rod rack cost under $10 and took under an hour to build. The basic ingredients are three lengths of light bungee cord, hooks for bungee cords (4 big and two small) and, since I already had them, two large wooden beads. You can skip the beads.

The two lengths of bungee cord with big hooks on each end hook over the grab handles over my front and rear doors. The length of cord with two small hooks on each end hooks over the cargo net clips that were already in the roof of my cargo compartment. I tied two loops in this cargo area bungee cord and slipped a wooden bead over each loop.

To transport the assembled rod in my vehicle, I turn the rod so the guides are facing up and slide the rod over the front two bungee cords, with the windshield bending the rod tip downwards. The end of the reel seat then fits in one of the rear cord's loops and I slide the wooden bead down to secure it.

You might need to modify this design to suit your vehicle, but I'll bet you can find a way to do it that works great and costs way less than a store-bought interior rod rack. Being able to transport a fully rigged rod in a safe place makes the effort worth it.

[thorarinna]

Ok, I'm tired and a foreigner and starting to get a bit older.
So I don't understand a word you are saying, I have an Ford Escape, so I'm interessed in what you are saying and also looking for a general solution to keep all my fishing stuff in the trunc in a neat way.

In short: Do you have pictures?

Ah, I'm done, now I can go to sleep, I just tie the PT later.

[ducksterman]

Here's pictures of something similar.

I just attached one bunge cord forward.

I used one of those stiff extendable rods for carrying hanging clothes in a vehicle.

I found that to get the best balance of the rods the reels had to be as far back as possible so I installed the hooks in the inside of my van....9 ft rods

The rods are held in place by those elastic loops women use in their hair..wrapped around the reel....actually looped over the rod handle.
As oldfrat said....no need to pay the big bucks.....

[oldfrat]

Ducksterman's solution is in the same family as mine.

Thorarinna, I'm not good at posting pictures, but describing it to a Ford Escape owner should be easy.

If you have grab handles over your front doors and/or your rear doors, run a length of lightweight bungee (stretch) cord between them. You can tie these to the handles if you wish, but I just have hooks tied to both ends of these cords and the hooks are big enough to fit over the grab handles. That makes it easy for me to put the supports in place when I need them and to remove them when I don't.

You need one more side-to-side bungee cord in your vehicle near the ceiling. You want it as far back as you get it to support the rod around its handle area, but not so far back that the butt end of the rod keeps tapping on your rear window as you transport the rod. If you look at the ceiling over your Escape's cargo area, you will probably see some metal clips sticking out or the ceiling there. If so, attach your rear bungee cord to these clips.

If you don't have clips in the ceiling, you will need to find some way to attach the rear bungee cord of both sides of your vehicle. Ducksterman did it by installing hooks in his plastic molding. I've seen other people temporarily remove some plastic trim molding, attach loops to the metal strip that holds the molding in place, then reattach the moldings.

Ducksterman's photos illustrate the concept. You want two or three supports that keep the rod up near your vehicle's ceiling in the front and one support that will keep the rod's handle up in the air near the rear of your vehicle's interior. It is easy to support the rod near the front, but you'll need a connection sturdy enough to support the heavier handle and reel section near the rear.

My rear bungee cord kind of looks like this: <---------U-----U-------->, where the U's are the loops the rod's reel seat fits in and the < and > are the hooks. I could also probably do without those loops and just rest the rod seat on top of the rear bungee cord like Ducksterman does with his bar, but that would require fastening the rod set to the bungee cord somehow.

Good luck with it.

[tailingloop]

Thats a nice, simple, inexpensive transportation solution. Thanks for sharing.

While I like the solution, in many areas where I have fished, locally and in other regions of the state, that type of solution is an invitation to someone to open my vehicle without benefit of a key.

My pickup bed is too short to carry a rigged and assembled rod. I transport my rigged and disassembled rods in Dan Blanton's "Rigged and Ready" rod bags. When in my vehicle, my gear is always out of sight unless I am with the vehicle or it is parked in a very busy and well observed area.

[thorarinna]

Thank you guys, after my beauty sleep, your pictures and explanations I understand.
What a great idea, I will try this in one or another way next summer

Thanks,
Thorarinn

[Big Bad Wulff]

Another very inexpensive idea:

[ducksterman]

Good one, BBW...is that a green bunge up front?

[Normand]

maybe i'm cheap but i just stick the top under the front headrest and the butt end on the back shelf. this is only for moving from local pond to pond. i usually put it all away in a db dun rod case

[Lotech]

I've often thought about running a couple of PVC pipes under the seats of my van. Access would be from the back hatch and the pipes would run up to the passenger side of the center console. A 9 footer would fit just fine.