Professional Documents
Culture Documents
43 pages
127 Pictures
3-28-11
By TubeDude
I have been adding various contrivances to my float tubes since about the mid 1970s.
My most frequent and common add-ons have been rod holdersfirst for the single rods with
which I began tube fishingand ultimately progressing to fancy multi-tube modular rod racks.
My first rod tubes were pieces of metal or plastic plumbing pipe I bought at the local
hardware store or building supply outlet. I found some short sections of drain pipe with flanged
ends that were just about right to hold a rod handle. I attached them to my tubes by tying them
down with ropeor plastic clothesline cord.
One of my first manufactured float tubes.
It is a Fishmaster, made in Oklahoma.
Very bare bones with no D rings. I had to
lash on the piece of plumbing pipe on the
front to serve as a utility rod holder for the
one and only rod I took out on most of my
early tubing trips.
I also dissected a few commercially available aluminum rod holders to appropriate the
rod tubes for my float tubes. They also worked fine, when lashed down firmly before completely
airing up my tube. The added friction when I topped off the air chamber helped keep them from
rotating and dumping my rods in the drink.
There are two rod tubes lashed onto this float
tube. The white plumbing pipe at the front, as
a utility rod holderfor the rod I am using at
the timeand the red-lipped aluminum rod
holder at the left rear. It was disconnected
from a commercial stick-in-the-ground rod
holder and was used to hold a spare rod.
Sometime in the mid 70s the Fishmaster Companyone of the first commercial float
tube manufacturersbegan selling strap on rod holders for float tubes. They were actually
designed to hold the large pistol grip handles on the bait casting rods of that day. So they were
both too short and too spacious for the average spinning rod handle and my rods wobbled around
in them precariously. I nearly lost more than one rod while using them.
At first, I strapped those commercial models to the left side of my round tubesjust in
front of the left pocket. That kept the extra rod out of the way while casting with my right arm.
And, as in one of the pictures on the previous page, It served as a hanger for my fish basket. But,
because it became more of a nuisance than an aid I relocated it back behind the front pocket on
later modelsas in the above pic.
As always, the critical thing was to cinch it on before airing up the tube completely, so
that it would hold firmly and not slide around on the tube. I also began using a short stretchy
tether cord to keep the rod and reel from slipping out of the rod holder.
As my rod collection grew, I worked on new ways to carry more rods out with me on the
float tube. Initially, I just added one or two more single rod tubeseither plumbing pipes or
metal rod holder tubes from other sources. They were individually secured to the side of my
tubes with rope or plastic cord.
After buying a stick of 1 PVC pipe, to make my own rod tubes, I had the blinding
revelation that I could actually use standard PVC fittings to create multi-tube rod racks. I started
right out with a 3-tube modelshaped like a W. It lashed down on my tube firmly and held the
rods nicely. I still had not advanced to grinding out notches at the top for the reels to nest in.
The lash-down PVC rod tubes worked well for a few years. But then I formulated plans
for my first modular rod rack system. It consisted of a rectangular wood frame that was more
or less permanently lasted to the float tube. It was designed to allow another wooden frame, with
the rod tubes attachedto slide down inside with a close and secure fit.
This modular system accomplished several things for me. First, it brought my rods and
reels up higher off the water. And that was important because I sometimes tubed the salt waters
of the Sea of Cortez. There was never much of a surf condition, but always the potential during
launching and beaching for getting salt water and sand in my reels. Not a good lubricant.
The modular setup was also quick and easy to install and take downfor launching and
beaching. I could even carry my rods pre-rigged and then just slide them down into the frame
when I launched. That was better than having to tie the ropes on the PVC W every trip.
This wooden frame model also allowed me to add a fourth rod tubeand to attach a
couple of broom handle clips to hold the PVC shaft for my sonar transducer. It was a bit
heavier and more cumbersome overall, but vastly more efficient. The positives far outweighed
the negatives.
My first modular rod rack, designed
during the years when I was still fishing
from a round tube. The wooden frame is
lashed to the tube with white plastic
clothesline cord and the wooden and
PVC rod rack slips down inside to lodge
firmly during use. Note the inclusion of
the sonar transducer shaft.
At some point I decided that I wanted a simpler and lighter 4 tube rod rack. So I did
away with the lash-down frame and simply installed the PVC rod tubes on a similar frame.
This led to reducing the weight even more by using only the two lateral wood slats.
And also to the design for an even lighter rod rack made from a single horizontal wood
slat with the rod tubes secured with metal pipe clamps.
And, for short trips with a limited need for extra rods I also fabbed a 3-tube rod rack
using the same single strip of wood and the metal clamps.
In the early 1990s I graduated from round tubes to open-fronted craft. The first tube I
owned that was not round was a Kennebeca kind of mini-pontoon with an air chamber on each
side and an inflatable backrest in the middle. It also had a front stabilizer bar. Although it
proved to be tough to navigate in any kind of breezy condition, the flat sided shape allowed for
more creative rod holder designs. It also had more D rings.
While I truly enjoyed the greater ease of launching and beaching with the open front
design of the Kennebec, I never did like the handling properties. Thus, when I had the chance to
acquire an Outcast Super Fat Catwith the pointed nose/sternI jumped all over it. I have
been a Fat Cat man in the years since thenin spite of trying multiple other makes and models.
It was in the early years of my Fat Cat days that I really began to delve deep into the
mystical world of PVC-ology. My wood frame rod rack creations transferred well to my new
ride, but I began to lust after more exotic modelsconstructed entirely of PVC. I hung out a lot
at Home Depot and spent a lot of money on PVC pipe and fittingsand sniffed a lot of PVC
cement. That stuff must contain some powerful hallucinogenic properties.
The purpose of this write-up is not to provide complete diagrams and instructions on how
to fabricate each of the many different designs and innovations in float tube and pontoon rod
racks. It is merely to show pictorially the evolutionary process in creating rod holdersfrom a
variety of materialsand for a variety of applications.
There will be a couple of sections at the end that will show greater details on the cutting,
fitting and attaching of rod tubes. However, I have also put together a much longer separate on
WORKING WITH PVC. It goes into greater detail on PVC components and how to cut, shape
and attach them.
The remainder of this work will be broken down into arbitrary sections that more or less
go together.
COMMERCIAL HOLDERS:
There have been single and multi-rod holders available to the boating contingent for
many years. And most of their stuff can be successfully mounted and used on tubes and toons.
However, there are some basic design factors that make it more desirable and efficient to use
PVC rod racks that you specifically create for your craft, your rods and your way of fishing.
Almost any boat dealeror purveyor of
boating accessorieshas plastic rod holders
for sale. The good news is that they can be
successfully deployed on float tubes and
pontoons. The bad news is that they are not
as good as some you can make yourself.
UTILITY HOLDERS:
As mentioned in the introductory paragraphs, some of my earliest rod holders were single
tubes lashed down to hold one rod at a time. In those days I did not have as much tackle and the
laws were that I could only use one rod at a time anyway. No two-rod permits.
Over the years I acquired more rods and reels, made multi-tube rod racks and learned a
lot more about working with PVC. I also realized that no matter how many tubes there were in
my off side rod rack I still needed a single rod tube on my casting sideto hold my rod while I
re-rigged, baited hooks or handled freshly landed fish. Thus the ongoing quest for the perfect
utility rod holder on my right sidewith the extra rods in the rack to my left.
I cannot begin to remember all of the experiments I have made to find an ideal utility rod
holder. Im including a few pictures here, but I tried and discarded many others without ever
taking a picture for posterity. Sorry about that.
Now we are getting into utility rod holders,
like the one at the far right of this picture. It is
designed to hold the rod you are actively using
while you handle fish, re-bait or rig tackle.
These extra hands increase your overall
efficiency and also help reduce the loss of rods
and reels over the side by laying them down.
A similar installation
on the right front of a
Fat Cat.
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MULTI-TUBE RACKS:
I have already shown pics of some of the early 3 and 4 tube rod racks I installed on my
tubes. Here are some moreboth of my own creation and a few that other tubers and tooners
have devised by themselvesusually based upon my earlier designs.
We will start with a couple of 2-tube models. These were both crafted by other tubers. I
made and used 2-tube racks only briefly in my early tubing careeraccelerating quickly through
3 tubes and on to 4 tubes. Although it is possible to create a rack to carry as many rods as you
want, it begins to approach overkill after about 4 or 5 rods per trip.
This 2-tube rod rack was fashioned
by a fellow tuber who did not have a
large arsenal of rods. He did not
need more than a couple of holders.
An interesting combo
contrivance. It combines rod
holders with bait rigger and
transducer mount. Not my
design, by the way.
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Another tubers
simple but effective
3 tube rod rack.
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MODULAR RACKS:
I chose the term modular to apply to any rod rack more than just a simple multi-tube
setup. In some cases the system will include connections for sonar display and/or transducer
mount. Most modular systems have permanent attachment components or are large one-piece
assemblies that fit down over the tube and are then secured in place. No real definitive terms.
My earliest modular rod rack was the aforementioned wood frame setup on one of my old
round tubes. Since then I have tried several others. I currently fish with a modular system that
features an exterior PVC anchor screwed into a wooden frame inside the tube pockets. I will be
showing more descriptive pictures of that toward the end of this write-up. Lets start with some
pics of what a few other tubers have come up with.
This combo modular rack is nicely
designed and well built. Good
engineering incorporating the sonar
mount and including easy snap
attachment system.
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FLYROD HOLDERS:
Float tubes were originally developed largely for the fly fishing contingent. Since the
early days of tubing and tooning there have been a lot more accessories designed and sold for
this group than for those who prefer spinning or bait casting. This is especially true of rod
holders. Many float tube models include fabric fly rod holders or Velcro strips placed to hold fly
rods across the tube. And at least a couple of aftermarket manufacturers sell add-on fly rod
holders that snap or strap onto tubes or toons.
A lot of tubers who fish mainly with spinning gear also enjoy taking one or more fly rods
on their tube. If they make their own PVC rod racks they can easily adapt a spinning rod tube to
hold a fly rodby cutting a long groove down one side. This allows you to push the end of the
fly rodand reeldown far enough inside the rod tube so that it rides safely and securely.
The Scotty fly rod holders are popular
with the fairy wand contingent. They
are compact but very secureand easy
to get rods in and out of. This one was
mounted on a piece of carpeted wood
and snapped to D rings.
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BAIT RIGGERS:
Once it became legal to fish with two rods, I began looking for a way to drag bait around
on one rod while casting lures with the other. On some occasions I wanted to fish two baits at a
timewithout having to hold both rods in my hands. Having been exposed to the concept of
using outriggerson boatsit was a short leap of imagination to create something similar for a
float tube. Simple conceptbut it took a lot of trial and error to get it at least almost right.
Some of my earliest bait rigger designs were plain tubes. They held the rods up and out
from the tube but I had to constantly be alert for bitesboth to set the hook and to insure that a
big fish did not either break the line or steal a rod. Now I set up all of my bait riggers with a line
clip. I leave the bail on my spinning reels openand the spool release on my bait casters. Then
when a fish hits, it pulls the line out of the clip and can swim off with the bait while I put up my
other rod and get ready to do battle.
Actually, I still use bait riggers with the bail closed sometimes. If I am dragging jigs or
flies behind my tube, I leave the bail closed so that when a fish hits there is enough resistance to
help start the hook set. In many cases the fish hits hard enough to hook themselves.
The majority of the time I use them for slowly dragging a dead minnow or a piece of cut
bait out behind my tube while I actively cast some kind of lures with my second rod setup. I
always buy a second rod permit and it really adds to my success and enjoyment on most trips.
There is a special kind of thrill when a big catfish, wiper or walleye picks up the bait, pops the
line free of the clip and begins pulling line off the reel. You never know what is going to be on
the other end when you close the bail and set the hook.
Setting up and adjusting the bait riggers properly is a big part of the enjoyment and
effectiveness. They should be at an angle outward from the tube and elevated a bit above
horizontal. This helps increase the friction of the rod handle inside the rod tubereducing the
potential for a fish stealing your rod. Having the rods elevated too high makes it more difficult
to watch the tips. And having them too low and close together increases tangles.
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Heres a picture of TubeBabe using both bait riggers at one time. We often drag two
different baits while prospecting for fish when they are not active and fishing with
lures is not effective. The bait riggers allow hands-free and relaxed fishing.
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PONTOON MOUNTS:
Most of the pictures and rhetoric up to this point have been related to float tubes. But, I
have owned pontoons and have also helped quite a few other tooners get their rides properly
pimpedwith rod holders, tool racks, sonar, etc. So I thought it might be appropriate to devote
some paragraphs and pictures to the pontoon side of PVC construction.
The first and most obvious difference between float tubes and pontoons is that toons have
metal frames. However, the frames are vastly different in shapes, sizes and quality. Some
frames are heavy steel tubing. Others are aluminum. And some are of much better quality both
in terms of metal thickness and in the welds and connections.
When you decide to decorate your toon with PVC goodies, you have a few factors to
consider. First are the oars. Whatever you add to your toon must be positioned so that it does
not interfere with rowingor set up so that it can be folded down or removed when necessary.
Second is the method of attachment. If you are hesitant to drill holes in your frame, you
will need to use clamps, zip ties, straps or something else to mount the add-ons to your frame.
But, drilling and screwing rod tubes and tool racks to your frame will usually not weaken the
frame to any extenteven though it may compromise your warranty. And if you drill into a
steel frame you should always seal the connections with silicone or some other agent to keep out
moisture and prevent rusting.
Another big difference between tubes and toons is the greater difference in reach
necessary to access your add-ons from a pontoon. While fishing from a float tube, everything is
usually up close and convenient. The larger size and higher seating of a pontoon require more
reaching and stretching to get to some of the goodies you mount on it.
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Another rear-mounted
pontoon rod rack.
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