No names, no pack drills. But it’s amazing how roughly some blokes treat their fishing tackle. Being on my boat with different crew all the time I get to see some pretty amazing examples. Electric reel deep drop combos parked in the gunwale rod holders, getting blasted with salt spray to and from the Shelf. Or rods in the overhead rack, with heavy jigs pinned to the guides, said jigs banging against the guides and rods all the way to the kingfish grounds. There’s a better way:
Introducing our new car and boat rod holder. Sure, you’ve seen various models before. But I’m guessing most of those required drilling into the car roof lining? Or in some other way, marking the car interior. Not ours. We use powerful suction caps to hold the rod rack in place:
The idea is firstly, to make installation as simple as possible. And secondly, to make a rod holder you can use in all kinds of ways. Storing your rods inside the car, but out of the way. Because stowing them on the car roof is not safe, in the long run. I say that because despite it happening all those years ago I still remember dad’s shock on returning to the family Holden at Tea Gardens and finding all our beach rods had been nicked. Inside the car is so much safer – as long as they are out of the way of your other gear. Here’s how the system works:
Each rod rests on twin cradles, with the reel between. Each cradle has a padded tension spring which secures the rod safely, and makes sure it doesn’t jump out. The five cradles supplied with each rod rack are easily adjusted horizontally and vertically. This helps if, for instance, you want extra clearance for a reel with a big handle, so it doesn’t touch the reel in the next cradle over. Fishing mate Mike Fitzgerald gives that setup his seal of approval:
The five holders hang from a aluminium bar. That can be trimmed to the width of your car. Two arms, adjustable to your preferred angle, go to the suction cups. Those are attached to your rear window:
The system is simple, inexpensive, and it works well. ‘But Andy, I don’t have rear windows in my car!’ No problem. Do you have handles over the rear doors? We have a system that uses those for mounting, instead. No drilling. Here’s John Howells set up:
"Hi Andrew, the rod holder brackets arrived today. This is going to work! I’ll need to do a couple of minor mods. I’ve cut the main bar down to 900mm and will most likely cut another 20mm off"
Being such a new product I haven’t had time to investigate but I’m thinking this could be a great option for hard top fishing boats. Why nor get your valuable jig and game combos – and electric reels – inside the boat, out of the sun and spray?
So to finish up, this rod rack:
Holds five (or more) rods, in locked cradles;
Attaches to smooth surfaces like glass or, overhead door handles;
Keeps your rods away from thieves, wind, sun and rain;
Is easy to neatly install;
Costs only $195.
Click here to see the Car Rod Rack
Call, email, or send me a text if you’d like to know more? Thanks for reading,
Andrew Hestelow
Managing Director
http://www.downriggershop.com.au/
Tel. 0402075000
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