Pontoon Rod holders

[muddydogs]

Thought I would post up some pics of the rod holders I built for the wife and I pontoons.

idahoron helped a lot with his post about his rod holders. Since I hijacked his trip thread I figured I would start one of my own and copy paste his post with the info.

TubeDude also helped immensely with lots of great information on working with PVC.

Post from idahoron
I will post a close up.

[url "http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Pontoons/RodholderFC9-B.jpg"][/url]

From the bottom up it goes.

1-1"x1"x3/4" Slip Fit T. The tube on my foot rest slides into the 1" part of the T.

1- 3/4" union. I join the T to the union with a short piece of 3/4" pipe glued.

1- 3/4 x 1 1/4" bushing. I glue a piece of pipe into the union and glue it into the bushing.

1- 1 1/4" 45 degree elbow. I glue the bushing into the elbow.

1- piece of pipe to fit the length of the rod butt.

I drilled the 1" x 1" x 3/4" T so I could pin it . I also drilled the foot peg on this one.
I like the union because I can set it anywhere I want it to point and tighten it with my hand. I have extra pieces made to replace either the lower half or the upper half if anything breaks. If you use the same brand of union they will fit together. This gives you the option to make other items. I have a Y set up for my sturgeon rod. that screws onto the union. with the union it gives you the option to change it or take it off. As you can see I have the end cut out to (lock) the rod into place. this comes in handy when I get a BIG hit on my second rod or if I snag bottom. I know my rod isn't going anywhere.
In this picture you can see how the rod locks into place. I used a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel to cut out the notch for the reel to fit into.
This one if for a Creek Company boat. They have a much smaller tube for the foot rest. I put a 1" pipe into the 1" T and that bushes it down to the right size for the Creek Company boat. I didn't have to add extra holes for the creek company boat. Ron

[url "http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Pontoons/Ronstoon11-j.jpg"][/url]
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[muddydogs]

As you can see from my pics I followed idahoron's directions and mine don't look much different.

Wifes rig. General shot


Back of wifes rig has two holders mounted and pinned through an existing hole in frame.




There wasn't enough room on my wifes to mount the rod holder with the union on the foot peg and still oar the boat so the union was left off. Holder is mounted through existing hole in foot peg.

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[albinotrout]

Very nice and well done. It is amazing what one can do with PVC, no? They look like they will do very well for you! [cool]
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[muddydogs]

My rig General shot.



Front rod holder pinned through foot peg holes.



Back of pontoon.


The back holders I used 2 self tapping screws to secure the 1" PVC T.


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[muddydogs]

So this little project cost me about $45.00 in fittings as I already had the 3/4" and 1 1/4" PVC pipe, pins and self tappers. The biggest expense is the Union's at $3.56 each.My glue was dried up so I had to purchase new. I don't know where a guy can buy 6 rod holders for $45.00
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[idahoron]

Looks good. Why didn't you go for the rod locks? Mine has saved my rods every time I have went fishing. Snagging bottom is the biggest problem but an unruly catfish can yank them out of the rod holder too. Ron
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[OldTroller]

I'll bite. What are rod locks?
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[muddydogs]

On the wifes rig I just don't have the room for the taller pvc on her foot peg holder, either the oars hit the pvc or the holder is to far away for her to reach. The tubes behind the seats on both our rigs are more for storage then anything else. I installed one holder for the net and decided that while I was at it I would but the second one behind the seat just so its there.

The foot peg holders are 6" long and the ones behind the seats are 9" long. The 9" holder will only hold a couple of my rods if they had a rod lock, to make the tubes universal I would have to go with at least a 12" tube which is getting long.

I have never had a problem with rods coming out of a rod holder if the drag is set right, now saying this I will probably lose a rod next time out. If I run into problems I will add some rod locks although I am not sure what I would do on the wifes rig.
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[muddydogs]

[quote OldTroller]I'll bite. What are rod locks?[/quote]

[img]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/jsandall/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/img][img]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/jsandall/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png[/img]The slot cut into the end of idahron's rod holders. They are added to keep the rod in the holder.
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[flygoddess]

[quote muddydogs][quote OldTroller]I'll bite. What are rod locks?[/quote]

[.img]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/jsandall/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/img][.img]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/jsandall/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png[/img]The slot cut into the end of idahron's rod holders. They are added to keep the rod in the holder.[/quote]


Much easier Ken, with fly rods, eh?
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[idahoron]

They are quick and easy to use. The rod is slid in with the reel to the side. After it bottoms out it rotates 90 degrees and locks. No way for it to come out. The only way that a rod could come out is if the rod lock broke. That would take a very tight drag and a snag. This picture shows the slot cut out and the rod in place. Ron


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[flygoddess]

Nice work there Ronster. What I meant by fly rods, is the handle is in front of the reel, so PVC would only have to be maybe 6" to put a lock in it


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