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My boat didnt come wth rod storage on both sides so after debating about it I decided to goahead and purchase the kit from BassCat. I received the kit and immediately installed it. I liked the design but one thing I didnt like was the little rubber mounts that came with it, my rod handles were entirely to big for those little things. Well instead of just pulling the kit out and taking one for the team I decided to think about it for a bit. One of the issues was that the steps were to close to one another in relation to the height so when the rods were stacked the reels would not fit in a manner that kept them neat and off of one another once they were put into place. The other issue was rod handle seating. I started experimenting with heights first and figured I needed about 1.5 inch of additional height. I had a peice of weather treated fence rail in the garage,I never throw anything away,so I cut a peice and laid it on the top step and that gave me almost the perfect clearance between the bottom and top step with a rod laying on the lower step and upper step. Now came time to figure out how to secure the rods in the box. I had some Berkley rod holders that I used for storing rods on the wall,two werent being used so I grabbed them and removed the padding from inside of them and then laid a rod holders on the cut peice of wood and also the bottom step and not only did it give me the extra .5 inch of height I was looking for but also each rod handle I laid in the holder fit perfectly. Now all I had to do was to “hard mount” the step to the boat. I used two supplied screws and washers for the little mounts to do that. Once that was done it was just a matter of setting up the rod holders on the lower and upper steps so that the rods lined up with the tubes that the front and then screwing them in securely. I did find something that one of those rubber mounts was good for,I mounted my pole light on the side of the rod locker. Top part of the light resting on the upper step and one mount screwed into the side of the locker. Worked perfectly. Here are some pictures of the finished job. Hope my idea helps if others had this issue or want to purchase a rod locker kit to be installed.
Where did you pick up that vinyl picket fence rails, went to Home Depot to look and Do It Center and they didnt have anything like that?
HI Z8, These are great pictures, but I wonder about giving up tackle boxes and going to boat box storage for tackle. You have managed to hang a lot of baits, spinners and etc from the locker doors, but I wonder how convenient this is to get to another bait to tie on. I have a space in front of my console that will hold a 4 drawer tackle box and a top compartment for hooks, sinkers and a lot of other odds and ends and also have room for another double opening plastic box that holds a lot of worms and baits too. So with out moving anything, or worry about losing a rod over the side when I open a rod box to get a spinner or fighting hard to turn latches to get to a hanging worm under another lid, I just open one of the tackle boxes and get another one out. Without measuring the space, it is about 18″ of deck space and it is deep to the floor of my Sabre, so I added a shelf and I can store my dip net and a couple other things under there. I have dedicated my front center box for over flow, but mostly operate out of the on deck tackle boxes. I use the starboard rod box for storage too, but like I said, I have to move my rods to get into it and be careful that a rod isnt pushed overboard by the lid. My deck is deeper than the new boats, so the side walls catch the rods better that the more shallow wall depth on new model boats. I also like the fact that my shorter casting deck allows aspace between the rod boxes for me to sit on a rod box with my feet in the open space to do my rigging. So for someone who is use to this older layout, its will take some time getting use to a full deck forward and no place for a tackle box. So I guess it will be plano plastic boxes on edge with another box for hooks down in the bottom of one of the lockers. Since most of the new boats are now made this way, I guess it is better than mine with the space for a tackle box on deck. I am having trouble figuring why this new arrangement is better. You have worked hard to make it work for you and I can see that you believe, “where there is a will, there is a way”. Skipjack
Great pics and nice job. I have the clips you replaced in my rod locker and they work great. The key is to roll the rod handle into the holders. I have two rods that are to thick so I just lay them between two clips on the top shelf and they stay put. Nice job w/ your install.
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