Keep rods organized, safe

Hanging rods from the ceiling of your storage shed keeps them out of the way and prevents damage.
Hanging rods from the ceiling of your storage shed keeps them out of the way and prevents damage.

PVC pipes, mounting brackets provide easy storage system

Admit it: Your rods are stuck in a corner of your garage, with the line and tips tangled. So every time you head out fishing you have to carefully pick through the mess to ensure you don’t break a rod tip.

It’s OK. You’re not alone.

We all spend hundreds of dollars on rods and reels so we can maximize our fishing efforts, and then we fail to care for them when stored.

In an effort to stop the madness, I even bought one of the foam wall-mounted strap storage units. And I had every intention of using them. But the rods were still in the way, and when I ran out of room I just quit using them.

And I pretty much stopped loosening my drags as every reel manufacturer recommends because loosened drags just guaranteed line would tangle.

But I recently discovered a better system that allows me to store 17 rods in a little more than 5 feet of space — under the loft of my new storage shed. And I have some room to expand as needed.

And the system protects the tips of these rods — many of which cost more than $200.

The set up

Putting it together is simple, with the only needs being 1 1/2-inch PVC pipe (I used electrical PVC conduit because it was the cheapest option) and some metal mounting brackets to match the pipe diameter.

I used the mounting brackets that are screwed in on only one end so I could put the pipes as close to each other as possible.

As I said, the location of my storage system is under my loft, which provides me with 8 feet of head room.

For the butt ends of the rods, I simply cut a small section of PVC pipe and mounted it to one of the 2-by-6s serving as the base of the loft. It doesn’t take much pipe on this end.

A longer length of pipe is cut for the tip of each rod. Longer sections of pipe provide support for limber rods and prevents anything from hanging in a rod tip.

Again, this length is simply mounted to one of the loft rafters.

The beauty is that the pipes can be adjusted to store rods of every length, and they can be mounted right next to each other to maximize space usage.

Now all I have to do is slip a rod tip into one of the pipes, and then place the butt into the corresponding pipe.

The rod is out of the way and protected, just waiting for the next use.

And now I can even loosen my reel drags because I don’t have to worry about the line tangling around other rods. That means my reel drags will operate better when a big red or bass grabs my lure.

About Andy Crawford 863 Articles
Andy Crawford has spent nearly his entire career writing about and photographing Louisiana’s hunting and fishing community. While he has written for national publications, even spending four years as a senior writer for B.A.S.S., Crawford never strayed far from the pages of Louisiana Sportsman. Learn more about his work at www.AndyCrawford.Photography.