Maximising rod storage on your boat

Fishing and rods go hand in glove. Or grip. Only the old days where you had one or two rods have changed. Today we’re mixing up our fishing disciplines and getting prepared for a wide range of fishing possibilities and eventualities. Our boat’s are bristling with rods.

The bottom line is that we’ve got more rods aboard our boats than ever before. Take a look around the ramp at dawn on Sunday and you’ll notice the serious fishos with a dozen and often twice that number of rods bundled aboard. And that is just what you can see.

PACK 20 RODS ABOARD
You might need a couple of light sticks to cast lures, soft plastics and microjigs; a few medium-weight threadline outfits for trolling minnow lures and fishing for snapper; several serious all-round bluewater threadline and/or overhead deep jigging outfits that double for bottom bashing and trolling; and then a spread of game fishing gear.

That’s about 10 outfits right there and we haven’t even considered a fly rod. Nor have we thought about a wide-mouthed landing net, two gaffs, as in medium and a large flyer, and tag poles. Before you know it, you will need storage for 20 outfits and your fish-landing gear with long handles and poles.

ROCKET LAUNCHERS
So a rocket launcher is essential. This lets you carry a half dozen rods up high, out of the way and spray, but within arm’s reach when you need them. You must have a rocket launcher on your bluewater boat, be it a centre console, cuddy or cabin.

The best rocket launchers serve two additional purposes. They have side holders half way up the frame that let you clear away rods the moment you have hooked up a big fish in the spread. These are called, drum-roll, clear-away holders.

It's also handy if the outer rod tubes on the launcher are angled for trolling (see Sea Fox rocket launcher pics above). You can use these holders as Clayton’s outriggers and troll off the top. A long heavy bullet head trolled at high speed a fair way back from your launcher is a great way to nail Spanish mackerel at first light. The Queensland boys know that.

Down south, you will score plenty of yellowfin and bluefin tuna trolling off the launcher. Don’t use heavier than 24kg if you want to get the rod out of the holder on the typical 8kg of strike drag.

VERTICAL ROD RACKS
The other vertical rod storage you should consider is alongside the centre console, the helm seat boxes, or just aft of the cabin on the internal hull sides. Vertical rod racks in these locations keep your outfits nearby, out of the weather, but handy. They don’t impede vision and won’t bang around and damage guides. And they are out of the way of casting room. Between the rocket launcher and the vertical rod racks you should be able to carry at least a dozen outfits aboard.

HORIZONTAL ROD STORAGE
Next comes horizontal rod storage, which can also be used for gaffs, landing nets, tag poles and the mandatory paddle. Under-gunwale horizontal rod storage is never that easy to get to, as you have to fiddle with bungee straps and pull the tips of the rods — carefully — from the tubes running up the side pockets. So this storage is okay for those outfits you don't need to access right away. All the Plan C (not Plan B) rods can go in the side pockets.

TINNY IDEAS
The exception here are those small open tinnies or dories and simple bass and barra boats. There’s often not scope to have vertical rod storage. Besides, it can impeded precious fishing space. So a horizontal rack on each cross thwart or down the hull sides is a common way to carry fishing outfits out of the way and, importantly, clear of your all-round casting room. Purpose-built bass and barra boats with underfloor padded rod lockers are the ultimate in small-boat fishing setups.

Here's a pro tip for rod storage in a small boat: carpet the sides of your hull and use velcro taps locked onto the carpet and then wrapped around a bundle of rods. The industrial strength velcro is terrific holding power.

GET YOUR LANDING GEAR OUT
Once you are into a certain fishing style, remove the landing net and gaffs and tag poles and put them in the vertical rod holders that have been left vacated by the rods you have in hand or the gunwale holders. This way, you won’t be fumbling for the fish-landing gear when you have that beauty next to the boat. You did know most fish are lost boatside? Not on your boat. Right.

ROD HOLDERS
Of course, your boat has gunwale-mounted rod holders — there should be two angled at 45 degrees amidships, a straight one (and preferably another angled one) in each of the aft corners, and at least one on the centreline of the transom. This way you can troll five outfits with a bit of a spread between rod tips and pulling points, reducing line cross overs in the turns when towing your lure spread.

Along with these flush-mounted rod holders, you may have a few more on your bait board for holding rods when you are rigging and baiting up. Rods can be left in these positions for short runs offshore, but they are not the best spots for regular rod storage.

When bounding offshore, even if you have safety landyards attached, rods and reels in deck holders tend to cop a beating and drenching… they will require lots of maintenance in the long run. Worse, a wet sticky drag can lose you a fish of a lifetime.

SNAPPER RACKS
Victorian and SA anglers also use snapper racks, but again they are for the purpose of fishing rather than rod storage. Obviously, these racks let you lay out a big spread of baits. But every bait fishos will benefits from a good rod spread.

A simple, cheap, drop-in triple rod rack that sits in a rod holder is a great thing in most boats. You can set three outfits from each aft corner rod holder and, when not bait fishing, simply toss the unit(s) in the cabin. Check out this BLA rod holder search.

CABIN STORAGE
Of course, cabins are useful compartments for dry storage. You can put a stack of rods in there and head to the fishing grounds thinking nothing of it. But often you’ll end up with a mess, if not broken and bent guides. Some boatbuilders add decent cabin rod racks and I’ve seen them in toilets cubicles, too. But they aren’t easily accessible and are more for secure storage while your boat is locked on dock.

When on the water, it is much better to have your rods pre-rigged, in an accessible rack, and ready to go with at least a snap swivel. Add a couple of casting lures to your flick sticks and have these rods close at hand, on the outside of your launcher or racks, as you leave the ramp. Fish are always busting up unannounced. You need to be ready to respond quickly.

With all your rods stowed aboard, rigged, out of the weather — and accessible — you will find you have more time for fishing than fumbling and, ultimately, you’ll land more aboard. A multi-rod flexible approach is often the difference between lucking out on a dead bite and finding some hot action in a different department. And did I mention to get the gaff and landing net ready?