DIY Bucket mounted adjustable rod holder

[OhioSwampRat]

made this with things i had in the garage, if memory serves me right, it should only cost about $7 to make!

1. shows type of rod holder needed and how to bend the spike to prevent  ripping through the pouch on the bucket

2. probably not necessary but i did it anyways, push a piece of contractor hose over the spike and cut it about 1/2 inch longer then the bent tip

3. as you can see this piece of PVC fits nicely into the pouch at the bottom, the PVC pipe is about 1/2 inch longer then the spike (measured  from bottom edge of the rod cradle to the end of the hose you pushed on in the last step

4. two holes are drilled in the bucket about 1 inch apart, making sure they are aligned vertically with the pouch at the bottom. a piece of galvanized electric fence wire was used to fix the PVC, and twisted tight on the inside of the bucket, a dab of melted nylon rope ensures you wont cut your hand on the sharp end of the wire while going through your bucket, (perhaps a piece of shrink wrap would work better on the wire, but i didn't have any on hand)

thats the first four pics, ill post the rest in a minute

[OhioSwampRat]

5. insert spike into PVC. i do not know the inside diameter of the PVC but notice the round part at the top of the spike just above the top of the PVC this should press fit tight into the PVC

6. this image shows how the spike looks once you press it into the PVC sleeve

7. at this point you can loosen the wing nut and adjust the angle of the cradle, it may be necessary to bend and tweak the cradle to get your rod to sit at the angle you prefer

8. as you can see it holds the rod securely while a heavy load is added to it, i don't foresee a rod being pulled out by a fish if you keep your drag a little on the light side so it just pulls line, but you could possibly make a little strap to put over the rod if your worried about it.

as with most of the things i create, they usually get lots of updates and modifications as they are tested, ill be sure to post any i make to the design.

hope you guys like it

~Josh

[davidhoheisel]

That looks great. Great job and thanks for taking the time to post it on the site. I am sure others will benefit from your post!

[steelneyes]

very nice, I use a crate to hold my sonar and DIY rod case, may mod a sandspike holder to fit on it as well.

[OhioSwampRat]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys, been using it and it works great