How do you transport fishing gear on your TJ?

My TJ was used for fishing a lot a few years ago. If you have two piece poles, they fit nicely in the back along with a tackle box. I was never doing any extreme fishing, just some beach fishing for bluefish. If you can’t fit your poles in the back, they make pole racks for the front bumper. You can then easily fit a cooler and a tackle box in the back.
 
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I use my Tacoma :LOL:
You do want to watch vertical rod holders if you use them around trees, esp around palm trees (ask me how I know).
They make really strong magnetic rod holders you can put on the hood, don't how you'd put on the windshield frame though.
You could also get a rod vault and make it work when the top is off or you have a hard top.
 
I use my Tacoma :LOL:
You do want to watch vertical rod holders if you use them around trees, esp around palm trees (ask me how I know).
They make really strong magnetic rod holders you can put on the hood, don't how you'd put on the windshield frame though.
You could also get a rod vault and make it work when the top is off or you have a hard top.
I have a Garvin Expedition Rack, was trying to figure out a way to mount a DIY rod tube lile the A.R.E Rod pod with all of thw other things i plan to have attatched to it. (Hi-Lift, 8ft awning, and a Kayak Crossbar mount w/paddles). I'll have to look into the rod vaults!
 
My TJ was used for fishing a lot a few years ago. If you have two piece poles, they fit nicely in the back along with a tackle box. I was never doing any extreme fishing, just some beach fishing for bluefish. If you can’t fit your poles in the back, they make pole racks for the front bumper. You can then easily fit a cooler and a tackle box in the back.
Unfortunately all of my setups are 1 piece rods for Bass fishing. I've seen the pole racks for the front bumpers, but i've never been able to pull the trigger bc of front end collision situations like hitting a deer or something along the lines of that. 4 of my rod and reel combos is easily the cost of some serious paint and body work, and i don't think shimano would take my insurance claims, lol!
 
The easiest way (in my opinion) would be a simple rack for a 2" receiver. Put a 2" receiver on the front and the rear of the Jeep. Then you can move it from front to rear and back in minutes.

Keep it on the rear for highway travel; keep it on the front for frequent access to the back of the car.
 
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For my longer Spey rods, 13’6”, broken in half with the butt down in the passenger area tucked up against the center console tips back. This is standard practice here when we are fishing from vehicles. Aside from that it’s into tubes and setup on site as my rods and reels are an investment. I have played around with some straps inside trying to get them up in the roof but I want them where I can see them. I have used the window/hood mounts, awesome product. But I don’t think they will work with the TJ window being a steep angle.
 
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Rod vaults are a bit pricey unless you have a friend in the business (pro deal). There are some diy ones that work great using pvc and an igloo playmate lunchbox size cooler to hold the reels (google).
I had a rail frame buggy that I built a rod holder for (9' fly rods), but in my Tacoma I just use the Berkley slip in ones w/ a tailgate bar I made.
 
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Rod vaults are a bit pricey unless you have a friend in the business (pro deal). There are some diy ones that work great using pvc and an igloo playmate lunchbox size cooler to hold the reels (google).
I had a rail frame buggy that I built a rod holder for (9' fly rods), but in my Tacoma I just use the Berkley slip in ones w/ a tailgate bar I made.
I just googled the Thule and Denver Outfitter versions, and yeah, they are pretty pricey, lol. I have a Garvin Expedition rack and would love to mount a rod tube on the side of the rack the same way my awning is mounted. (Picture). That way i can fit 2 kayaks on the top. I just haven't figured out exactly how to mount a DIY Conduit Carrier style tube.

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Off the top of my head, why not get PVC tube with a screw on cap on both ends for access, use hose clamps and clamp the PVC tube to the side of the garvin rack. Heck, use bungee cords or paracord if your knowledgeable with knots. Use black pvc tube on the other side and fill it with water from a y at one end with the screw on capand tap a faucet on the other end and make a shower with warm water at the end of the day.
 
I just googled the Thule and Denver Outfitter versions, and yeah, they are pretty pricey, lol. I have a Garvin Expedition rack and would love to mount a rod tube on the side of the rack the same way my awning is mounted. (Picture). That way i can fit 2 kayaks on the top. I just haven't figured out exactly how to mount a DIY Conduit Carrier style tube.

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Do you use additional crossbars for the kayaks, or just drop them straight on the rack? For my canoes and kayak, due to their length (17-18 feet) and width (canoes are 36” wide), I use the Yakima Roundbar and the Garvin crossbar brackets.

You can buy roundbars up to 86” in length, so you can buy them and cut them to any reasonable length. I bought an 86” set (uses thicker metal than the shorter ones) and cut it down to 72” for my application.

If you use the crossbars, they will elevate the kayaks about 1.5” over rack height, and the overhang of the bars off the side of the rack would make it easy to lash a PVC tube underneath (or over) the crossbars against the side of the rack.
 
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Do you use additional crossbars for the kayaks, or just drop them straight on the rack? For my canoes and kayak, due to their length (17-18 feet) and width (canoes are 36” wide), I use the Yakima Roundbar and the Garvin crossbar brackets.

You can buy roundbars up to 86” in length, so you can buy them and cut them to any reasonable length. I bought an 86” set (uses thicker metal than the shorter ones) and cut it down to 72” for my application.

If you use the crossbars, they will elevate the kayaks about 1.5” over rack height, and the overhang of the bars off the side of the rack would make it easy to lash a PVC tube underneath (or over) the crossbars against the side of the rack.
I do plan on buying the crossbar brackets and crossbar to transport the kayaks. The added overhang would be very versatile to mount a pvc tube. I'm definetely liking the idea of doing a 4" pvc tube with a conduit carrier kit underneath an overhanging round bar!
 
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Off the top of my head, why not get PVC tube with a screw on cap on both ends for access, use hose clamps and clamp the PVC tube to the side of the garvin rack. Heck, use bungee cords or paracord if your knowledgeable with knots. Use black pvc tube on the other side and fill it with water from a y at one end with the screw on capand tap a faucet on the other end and make a shower with warm water at the end of the day.
That's a good idea for onboard water, i've been thinking about having a system like that for a while now to make weekends fishing/camping trips more enjoyable!
 
I do plan on buying the crossbar brackets and crossbar to transport the kayaks. The added overhang would be very versatile to mount a pvc tube. I'm definetely liking the idea of doing a 4" pvc tube with a conduit carrier kit underneath an overhanging round bar!
It definitely makes it easier to mount boats, especially long ones, to the rack.

Some random information that may or may not help:

Maximum spacing of the bars on the TJ rack is 65” on center. They can’t go any further due to the curve of the rack in the corners. (You can mount them as close together as you want.)

The Yakima 86” roundbar uses a thicker tube than the shorter bars, and is stiffer. It has the same outer diameter. The end caps between the 86” bars and the shorter versions are not interchangeable. The lighter bars are probably fine unless you’re carrying a lot of weight or aggressively strapping the boats.

The bar is 1.125” OD, and sits 1/4” above the rim of the rack.

The brackets are usually mounted inboard on the rack and stick in about 2”, but can also be flipped to mount outboard.
 
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It definitely makes it easier to mount boats, especially long ones, to the rack.

Some random information that may or may not help:

Maximum spacing of the bars on the TJ rack is 65” on center. They can’t go any further due to the curve of the rack in the corners. (You can mount them as close together as you want.)

The Yakima 86” roundbar uses a thicker tube than the shorter bars, and is stiffer. It has the same outer diameter. The end caps between the 86” bars and the shorter versions are not interchangeable. The lighter bars are probably fine unless you’re carrying a lot of weight or aggressively strapping the boats.

The bar is 1.125” OD, and sits 1/4” above the rim of the rack.

The brackets are usually mounted inboard on the rack and stick in about 2”, but can also be flipped to mount outboard.
Thats all really useful infoemation. On longer hauls i prefer to do a little heavier of a strap. So from my understanding once the 86" bars are cut to desired length, the endcaps can be reused for those, but not for the shorter bars? And i'm glad the bars only stick up over the rack a 1/4", i like to keep things as low profile as possible.
 
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Thats all really useful infoemation. On longer hauls i prefer to do a little heavier of a strap. So from my understanding once the 86" bars are cut to desired length, the endcaps can be reused for those, but not for the shorter bars? And i'm glad the bars only stick up over the rack a 1/4", i like to keep things as low profile as possible.
Correct. The 86” end caps have a smaller inner diameter than the rest of the bars due to the heavier wall tube used in the 86” bars. The caps are usually sold separately from the bars. I ordered the bars and the caps from Amazon
 
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I leave my rear window off 95% of the time so I just zip tied some 1-1/4” PVC pipe to the roll bar. I also use a few bungies to hold them rods in during the drive. Not a perfect solution but it only costs about $5. Works just fine other than the lack of security.

A bit hard to see but heres my 7’ and 7’1” baitcasters out the back of my LJ. Ill post a better picture in the morning.
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That being said, I got sick of the lack of security for rod and placed an order for Bulldawg’s new LJ hardtop mainly so I can mount a Thule Rod Vault ST and carry my kayak vs using a trailer.
 
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Pretty basic and easy. I had planned to improve on this eventually by hanging a board from the hard top loop above the rear view and the roll bar. That would allow me to move the reels closer to the windshield and reduce the eye hazard out the back. But this worked well enough that I never put the time into it. One downside is that the rods tend to twist the roll bar cover and droop over time so I use rod sleeves to protect them when bouncing off the tire. One nice thing about this set up is the reels stay nice and clean when traveling on gravel and dirt roads. Just be careful when turning around on a tight trail.
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