Rigging A Pickup For Bass Fishing.

[basscatcher8]

Not sure where I should post this but I just bought my dream truck last week as well as my first full sized truck. I am working on how I am going to rig it out for my fishing. Primarily I am worried about storing my stuff while traveling to lakes that are further away. My boat right now is a 16' sylvan Super Snapper so there is not much storage at all and absolutely no dry storage. I have been looking at the fiberglass tonneau covers and am thinking about going with that and putting an organizer system for hauling my tackle down with maybe a rack for my rods or something. I was just curious if any of you guys had setup your trucks any special way for traveling and fishing. I do have the standard bed so I know my longer rods are going to have to sit diagonal in the bed. It will have to be easily removable because I also haul a stock car to the race track for my buddy some times and need to be able to switch everything out to haul race parts and tools rather easy. Any ideas you guys have or pictures of trucks you had done up would be awesome.

[Bassn Blvd]

I never, ever, ever, ever travel with my rods in the bed of my truck. Open bed trcks are made for hauling dirt, dogs, wood and other junk, NOT my rods.

I put my rods in the cabin with me. I have a F-150 crew cab (full door plus half door) and the rods fit nicely between thee seats, even with a passenger. My rods are from 7' up to 8'.

You should be mostly concerned about reliability, gas consumption and price more so than looks and souped up trucks with 15k in add ons that never go off road.

[00 mod]

I never, ever, ever, ever travel with my rods in the bed of my truck. Open bed trcks are made for hauling dirt, dogs, wood and other junk, NOT my rods.

I agree...except dogs should go in the cab with you as well. mine jumped out of a buddy's truck bed while out in the woods and compound fractured his leg to the tune of $6000.

[SAC2]

a crate would help with the dog jumping out problem! i keep my rods the bed of my truck and have never had a problem. you cant have anything else in there with them though cause if that stuff shifts weight its goin to take out one of your rods. just be aware that they are back there and don't be taking turns at 50 and you should be fine.

[tipptruck1]

I never had a problem with putting my rods in the back of my buddys trucks. Since most of them have the useless 6ft beds Here is what I do. Put the tips over the tail gate. I then grab a small piece of mono or rope and tie then together. I do that at about 6 inches from the top. Then in the middle. I also tie them to the bed at the anchor point at the bed rail. They don't go any were. I then take my big heavy tackle bag use it to brace the butt ends and reels against the inside of the bed. I did that also in high school when I had a full size normal cab truck also.

But now with a little car. I stick my rods on the passenger seat. I guess you could even do that with a extend or crew cab truck. I do agree with sac2 also. As long as you are careful you will be fine. I use to have a full size 35in tire and rim. A few log chains and a few other things back in my bed. I never snapped a rod.

[0119]

I'll always have a truck and to me a truck never has more than 2 doors. More than that its a SUV. I mainly shore fish and made a pvc rod rack that holds 6 rods evenly spaced allowing the reels to hang safely. I never transport reels without their being covered even on the deck of friends boats. I dont normally haul dirt etc but if I do I simply hose the bed out immediately after. I never let debris accumulate in the bed.

[OHIO]

I wouldn't get a fiberglass tonneau cover if you would be constantly removing it. That would be a pain.

They have cloth ones that roll up to the back window that work pretty well.

Also, if you don't have a bed liner, I would get one or a bed mat so that the rods don't get scratched up.

Or you could always just put them in the cab.

I have an extended cab Ranger and the rods fit in the cab just fine, but sometimes I open up the back window if the rod is too long.

[A-Jay]

I have rigged my last two pick-ups with and A.R.E Cap and a Bedrug bed liner. The liner is Really nice.

I wouldn't get the begrug without a cap or a tonneau but the two together are a great way to transport your tackle safely and securely.

A-Jay

http://www.bedrug.co...ucts/bedrug.php

http://www.4are.com/product/walkin/

[JIGFISHERMAN.]

Pretty basic IMO. A hitch, and some dry lockable storage is all you need. Anything after that is because you can't leave things alone and have to modify them in some way (not saying that is a negative-I'm the same way )

[basscatcher8]

Thanks guys you gave me some options to start looking at. This is going to be my hunting vehicle as well. It came with the heavier off road tires on it already so that's saving some time right there. Ill have to see if my rods will fit in the cab with me I haven't tried that out yet.

[Hi Salenity]

Your dream truck should have had a long bed.

[KCL655321]

For you rods, you might want to see if you can get one of these to hold your rods up off the bed of the truck.

http://www.cabelas.c...53Bcat104812380

I use one for my Explorer & it's great for keeping rods running along the ceiling and out of the way. I'd figure you could rig it for the bed of a truck, but if you have one of those super short boxes, it'd be pretty pointless if your rods are longer than your box. Probably work best if you have some sort of cover too.

[basscatcher8]

For you rods, you might want to see if you can get one of these to hold your rods up off the bed of the truck.

http://www.cabelas.c...53Bcat104812380

I use one for my Explorer & it's great for keeping rods running along the ceiling and out of the way. I'd figure you could rig it for the bed of a truck, but if you have one of those super short boxes, it'd be pretty pointless if your rods are longer than your box. Probably work best if you have some sort of cover too.

I was looking at those earlier. I dont have the super short bed like on the crew cab trucks it has the Standard 6 foot 6 bed. I think I can rig something up like this to sit diagonally in the bed. I know I can fit at least a 7' 6' if I do it that way. And if I get them up off the bed I can store everything else under them when traveling.

[Fishing Rhino]

There is no "one size fits all" regarding pickup trucks. Some guys don't like four doors or extended cabs, some don't like two doors. Having had several two doors, one extended cab and one four door, it will always be a four door for me.

The downside is the short bed, less than six feet. However, I can and do carry rods up to eight feet long in the back of the truck. I have a cap which allows me to put them diagonally in the back of the truck.

You do have to pay attention to how you load the bed. You want the rods supported in the center as well as at the ends. I have stick jackets on all my rods which eliminate the problem of them clanking together. A couple of towels to separate the reels takes care of everything nicely.

I have an ARE cap. All the windows are dark tinted, making it impossible to see what is or is not in the bed.

Sure, someone can break in and steal the contents in the bed, but, and this is a significant but, it's better they break into the bed than into the cab, which they will do if they want to steal fishing gear or whatever.

With a cap, you can, if desired, put a shelf on the inner rails that sit on the bed of the truck, with bungees to hold rods in place and heavier gear that might shift beneath the shelf.

[MuffinMan]

I took the console out of my 99 Tacoma I just got so my rods fit sticking out the back window only by a few inches

[tholmes]

Rigging A Pickup For Bass Fishing.

The first thing I thought of when I read this title was...Kinda hard to make that sucker float.

I'll go away now.

Tom

[hookingem]

I don't even leave my rods in the boat on the way back from the water. Thats some expensive equipment that to just sling around.

[J Francho]

The only fishing mod I did to my truck was attach a boat to the hitch. The rest all fell into place after that.