ice rod storage in the off season

[nixstyx]

This might seem like an odd question, given that most people are breaking out the jig rods rather than putting them away, but I'm in the middle of finishing a room in my basement to store my hunting and fishing gear and I'm looking for a good way to store my ice rods. I have a stand up rod rack for my open water rods, but 24" ice rods won't fit on there. And, I can't just keep them in my carrying case, because that doubles as a take-down gun case during hunting season.


So I'm curious how everyone stores those jigging rods in the off season. I'm hoping for ideas that are more than just dumping them into a 5 gallon bucket. No offense to the bucket crowd, but I have some pricey St. Croix rods. Not opposed to building something  -- I'm handy enough to finish a basement -- but need some ideas.

[Fisherman 1]

If the rods are all around 3 feet long plus or minus a bit, just take a 1 x 2 inch piece of wood maybe 3 feet long,  depending how many rods you have and get a bunch of cup hooks from the hardware store.  Screw the cup hooks in about 3-4 inches apart.  Screw the board up on a wall somewhere and hang each rod by the top eye.  Never had a problem doing it.

[feklar]

My ice rods are all about 30 inches long, and I have 6 of them.  I cut 6 pieces of pvc pipe about 4 inches long, and screwed them to a board. I then screwed that board to the inside wall in my garage way up high.  I put the rods in the pvc pipe like rod holders and they sit there nice and pretty all summer long on the wall.  Come winter I climb up there with my ladder and hopefully catch fish with them all winter.

[Kyle_J]

I just keep all my rod in my otter hard case during the off season.

[FINSNGILS]

I have a couple of Berkley rod holders I use, they have a hard plastic housing with a foam insert that the rod fits in on top and a bottom mount with holes for the rod handles. Each kit holds six rods. You just screw them to the wall at whatever spacing you need for your rod lengths. They are pretty cheap and work well.

[IDbasser]

I leave my rods in the rod bags and on top of my sleds.

[Baetis62]

Since I've added a few nice TB custom rods to the mix I decided last summer to make a better storage box.  I used some nice 1/2" hardwood plywood which I used for the box walls.  I also stained and finished it.  Looks like furniture. It's about 18"W/40"D/6"H.  It's a two shelf deal with a piece of MDF that acts as the divider between first and second "floor".  It slides in/out which makes it easy to ID each rod.  I like it a lot.  Easily holds 12 rods without rubbing or stacking.  I did mine with a portable table saw but you should be able to get the lumberyard to quarter your sheet on their panel saw.  Then it would be easy to do the rest with a 7" circular saw.  Use a good blade and some painters tape to minimize chipping at the cut.

[fishinnut]

Plastic sided double gun case. Holds a bunch of rod reel combos.

[jtc]

I use a hard sided bow case for both in season rod protection and off season protection.  For the off season the reels come off and all of my rods fit in the case.

[RussW]

Laugh.........  But I keep mine resting on a pipe above my head  in my basement in between floor joists. Even temp, even humidity.  And they last year to year.  And they are the only thing I'm my basement that isn't in my way. 

[nail bender]

I also keep mine in the floor joists of my basement.  Tack two size 6 finish nails per rod and stair step so butt of rod is up against the reel above.  Fit 4 rows of combos on a 2X12

[tracksnorth]

X2 on the Berkeley rod holders. I use em for both my soft water rods and ice rods. Cheap and easy

[BlackDucksAndBrownDogs]

Did you save the tubes the St. Croix rods were shipped in?  Those are real handy and do a good job protecting gear.  Just take the reels off, slip the rods in the tubes, and put them in a bucket.

I store the reels (drags loosened fully) in their original boxes and then organize the gear in a Rubbermaid container.

I also leave a few rods rigged and in rod cases (Striker Ice and St. Croix cases) at the end of the season.  Dry everything thing off and, again, loosen the drags before storing.

[Gills-only]

I use a hard sided bow case for both in season rod protection and off season protection.  For the off season the reels come off and all of my rods fit in the case.

      That's what I use, put under the bed, out of the way till next winter!!

[hawk56]

Well I store mine in my rod bag. Consider using large pvc with capped ends. Remove spring bobbers. My reels sometimes do double duty as ultralights. Makes good use of the light line in the summer.

[Kevin23]

Strange, I was just thinking about this not 5 mminutes ago. Im planning on building a mini rod rack for mine.

[NoBadDays]

Save yourself the time of building hoaky looking rod holders out of pvc and wood. Get some Rad Rod Holders. I've got them on the walls of  my garage, in the cupboards so when the doors are shut the reels are in between the shelves, also on the rafters in the attic so my rods are up safe and out of the way in the off season. www.radrodholders.com

[JonPerry]

Years ago I drilled holes a tad larger than my handles in a 2x4 spaced to hold all my rods & mounted it to the wall in the basement. It was a scrap piece 3' long & sits next to my summer rod rack.