tipsrod&reel

Rod & Reel security

Fish steal rods, and reels

I have seen many rods, and reels hit the water to be forever lost, they estimate this occurs thousands of times a year, to fishermen, who just for an instant, lay their rods down. Even when fishing for small fish like Blue Gills, you never know when that giant cat fish, or carp, will try to steal your gear. NEVER lay a rod down unless it is secured, when fishing with natural baits, and even with some lures, remove the bait from the water, or secure the rod and reel.

Rod Holders

Rod holders have been around since there was fishing poles, the simplest, and the first ever invented, is the forked stick. Many fishermen use this rod holder today, but also many of them loose their rods and reels, because they don't use it properly. A forked stick can be used to save your gear, if you set your drag so loose that the line feeds out before the rod is flipped over the forked stick, or you tie off the rod to something else while using the forked stick. A simple way to do this is with one of the nylon stringers, with a spike on one end, and ring on the other. Pass the stringer through the ring, then around your rod, in front of the reel, then stick the spike into the ground. This gives you an added security, but still lighten up on your drag some. Another way to use a forked stick,( or any thing that works like one) is to make a "U" shaped heavy wire, stick the two legs of the "U" into the ground so the but of your rod goes under the "U", this way when a fish hits the bait, the "U" will keep the rod from flipping up at the back. Always test this arrangement, by pulling on the line to see how secure your set up is.

There are many good rod holders sold in stores, I believe the best are the heavy wire ones, that look like you stick your rod handle in the giant spring at the top of them. Make sure these are secured into the ground well when using them, and always back off the drag a bit.

There are other good rod holders you can make from things around the house, a concrete block is a great rod holder, a piece of PVC pipe cut at one end on an angle is the best for soft soils, or on sandy beaches. 1 1/2 inch dia. PVC about 24 inches long is the correct size.

Children

More rods and reels are lost to children either laying them down, and letting a fish get them, or the smaller children just dropping the R&R into the water from a boat or a pier. A simple solution to this is securing a plastic drink bottle to a line then attaching it to the R&R around the base of the reel. Usually a 12 to 16 OZ. bottle works well. When the R&R goes in the drink, you just fish out the floating bottle, with the R&R attached under it.. The line length to the bottle, can be any length that works best for the child, from a few inches, to a couple of feet. This rig also works well for adults fishing from canoes, if the canoe goes over, you have saved your R&R's.

Piers

From what I have seen, piers are the number one place where rods and reels are stolen by the fish,. on public piers and bridges where they allow fishing you rarely have any rod holders, or you have very few of them, most people just lay their R&R against the railings while fishing, although this can work, if you have backed your drag all the way off, or opened your spool, or pushed the button, most people don't do this, and many, many Rods, and Reels get flipped over the railing. One way of keeping this from happening to some existent, is to lay the rod down as far back of the rail as possible, with just a couple of inches or rod tip extending beyond the railing, this way it takes a much bigger fish to flip the R&R over the rail, test this with your drag setting, so your drag will slip, before the rod flips over.

Another popular way to secure your R&R's on a pier is with a bungee cord, hooked from a lower rung, or railing post, to a spot below the reel on the rod, I use a heavy cord, and tie a quick release knot, where I can just pull the end of the line to untie the line quickly when a fish strikes.

Now for your own pier, I have come up with the best rod holders, I use the heavy wire rod holder designed for the bank, these are made of 1/4 inch wire that sticks into the ground. I simply drill 1/4 inch holes into the deck of the pier, and drop these rod holders into the holes, they can be just as quickly removed, when you don't want them there, just lift them out.

Drag settings

Nothing works better for saving your rod and reel from fish thief's, than your drag setting, even when your in a good rod holder, back off that drag , if you must lay your R&R down, open your bail, or push the release button (not recommended of bait casters, unless they have a bait clicker, because a fish hitting, can backlash your reel). BACK OFF THE DRAG ALL THE WAY ! Don't forget to tighten the drag before setting the hook though :-)

Recovering an over board rod, and reel

hook and another rod and reel, but bottom snags can easily hang this rig up, before recovering your R&R. There is a device sold today for another purpose that is the greatest way to recover a rod and reel. Buy one of those metal stringers with the big wire snaps on themOk you've screwed up, and a fish has taken your rod and reel, or you, or your kid has dropped the thing over board, now you need to get it back. Unless your a diver, and you want to go diving, it's time to figure out a way to get your rod and reel back. Sometimes it can be snagged from the bottom with a weighted treble, and keep it in you tackle box, not for stinging fish but for recovering rods and reels. Tie some heavy line to the end of the stringer, open all the snaps, and throw it out where the rod went, slowly drag it back, if the snaps hang up on bottom snags they will bend and release from them, yet they will hold the rod when they grab it. These stringers make the very best rod recover, not very good for keeping fish alive though.