Hacks For Transporting Your Fishing Rods Safely
- By: Pat Ogletree
- on
- Found In: *Tackle & Gear, Fishing Tips, Rods, Weekly Newsletter: 12-18-22
Below are some hacks for transporting your fishing rods safely!
These tricks will for sure help you avoid headaches and even save you some money down the road.
Check it all out here!!
Hacks For Transporting Your Rods Safely [VIDEO]
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You could be driving from one spot to another with your rods piled in your car or riding out to the spot on your boat.
These are opportunities for little bumps and dings to weaken or completely damage your fishing rod.
What we usually do is prepare our rods and reels the night before and have everything already tied up.
That way you’re ready to hit the water and fish.
But the problem with that is if the hooks, weights, and gear we have tied on is not secured properly, it can lead to further damage to your rods.
When it comes to surf fishing or fishing with heavier gear, we may have to use larger weights on our rigs.
During transit, these weights will bounce around and hit the rod blank.
Each time the weight hits the rod, it has the chance to make small microfractures in the blank.
Maybe you’ve seen videos online of people fighting fish when all of a sudden, the rod snaps.
Lots of times this is due to a microfracture that happened a while ago and has been there the whole time.
Hacks To Prevent Microfractures
As an example, I’ve got a Carolina rig tied onto my surf fishing rod with a large weight and hook.
There is a lot of room for the weight to sway back and forth and hit the rod.
To prevent this, take the weight and wrap it around the rod blank until it becomes tight.
Now the weight can’t move as much and it will stay away from the rod.
Another method to solve this is using a rod float that kayak anglers are familiar with.
Rod floats are held together by velcro straps and can be used in this case to protect your rod.
Position the float so that the weight hits the float each time it moves back and forth.
Or you can wrap the weight with the rod float instead of the rod itself.
This is useful when a guide is in the way and you can’t properly place the float on the rod.
I’ve tried this method with pool noodles before but the hole in the middle is much larger than the rod floats which makes it difficult to fit on the rod.
Conclusion
The last thing you want is for your rod to snap on you while you’re fighting the fish of a lifetime.
Over the course of time, microfractures can grow and spread leaving your rod weak at certain points.
Be sure to protect your gear during transport – it will only save you time and money!!
Do you know of any other ways to protect your rods during transport?
Let me know down in the comments section!!!
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thanks Pat for the awesome info i have the long rod protectors for my rods and love them
Hi Pat, do you happen to have a link for that product? I couldn’t find them in-store or online. Thanks.
A great video as always Pat. Thank you for your work!! I use a Butterfly Wrap on my heavier gear when I need to protect them. One size fits all. They can be bought in multiple packs too. See: https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-Butterfly-Cocoon-Wrap-5-Pack/dp/B002QFY792/ref=asc_df_B002QFY792/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312154679201&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2475467465536999931&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012304&hvtargid=pla-568637128449&psc=1
What brand rod is that in the last picture?
That is a Custom rod made by Black Pelican. It’s Tony’s, if you watch some of his videos you’ll see him use it.
Great info
Thanks Richard!!
Thanks for the hack
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the tip. I’ve been lucky so far w/ my kayack fishing!
Totally unrelated but have you considered a video of your camping setup and how you carry your kayacks w/ your RV?
I’ve had some requests for that. Seeing how my set up is a towable RV pulled by my truck it is probably relative to a lot of people’s situation.
Great info! Thanks, Pat
Glad you liked it!!
Haven’t tried myself but couldn’t you push the hook into the butt cap wind in and have the weight sat in the bottom of your rod sleeve away from the blank myself I use the hook eye on the bottom of the blank and usually use some sort of breakaway
That would probably work with a knocker rig or something similar.
Nice Tips Pat. I use rod sleeves on all my rods. I noticed the weight has a little movement in the video when you put the float on the rod at 3min in the video. Have you ever tried to wrap the fishing line above and below the weight with the velcro to hold it tight to the float.
That would probably work too although I haven’t tried it. Anything that cuts down or eliminates that weight from hitting the rod itself is a big plus.
Thanks for watching!