below deck organization

Here's a topic i've yet to find a single post on (here or a couple other sites):

How do you organize your gear inside the yak??

I'm still trying to figure this part out.  I've only had my yak on the water once, two rods stored in the rod pod (just in case i decided to pitch a few jigs on the way back to the docks), and I found the two lightweight spinning rods I brought were all tangled.  Fortunately things weren't too difficult to take care of, but i could only imagine how bad things could be if I had a 3rd or 4th rod, put the gear in while at the car, cart the yak to the beach, launch through the surf, and THEN try to fish. God forgive i put anything else in there (not sure what all that would be other than a bag full of fish and ice!) along with a thru-hull transducer too!

So what are your solutions to storage organization?

At this point i'm thing a few rod holder clips on the hull, maybe a few holes drilled inside the lip of the Rod Pod for leashes to other things... i dunno...

Excellent question, Nothing. It's probably the final frontier when it comes to yak organization. I'll be waiting for responses as well.

True

The easy way to do this is to go use your yak and then fix what doesn't work well when you return home.  After a guy gets a half dozen or so trips for a particular fishery under their belt you will know what you need and what you don't, what needs tied down and what can slid around etc. When I first started I had a ton of crap I thought I needed, now I have it paired down to exactly what I need and have worked out ways to store and secure these items so they are accessible and tidy.

Since your T15 is similar to my T13, here is what I have been doing (for salt launches).

Rods go in with the hook or snap swivel as close to the tip of the rod as possible, this keeps any line that is not harnessed by an eyelet from getting all tangled up with the other rod.  Once my two rods are in, next goes a soft sided tackle bag up in the fore section of the rod pod.  BTW - I never use the rod pod tray.  Found it useless for me. 

Just picked up a small dry bag to hold my wallet, cell phone, tire pump, snacks, etc... This goes in over the rod butts in the aft section of the rod pod.  Keys go in my chest waders in a zipped pocket.  If I get seperated from the yak and it blows away in the wind, I still want to be able to drive. 

I clip a water bottle to the right side of my seat and swing it behing me so it stays out of the salt. 

In the first area in the tank well right behind the seat goes the orange marine box.  In this goes my fish bonker, lip grip, floating pliers, ShamWow knockoff towel, extra fish stringer in the event I find a bunch of flounder. 

In the larger area in the tank well, I have been clipping in a game clip in preperation for the big ling that I haven't been able to nail yet.     Then I have a pair of elcheapo soft sided insulated tote style coolers that have a few frozen Gatorade bottles of water in.  Each will hold up to 7 black rock fish.  I tend to spread the load as even as I can between the coolers though.  I do plan to get a better soft catch cooler bag as money and need provide me.

Up front, I am able to put the battery in the battery bag, fold down the Wheeleez kayak beach cart and it lays on one side in the front hatch.   The big 11.8" x 7" wheels will deflate far enough to squish in on the aft area of the front hatch.  Still have plenty of room for bag of clothes, extra water, and other crap. 

As for the fish finder/transducer setup..  I didn't like the idea of plugging my scupper hole with a transducer.  I have found that weeds and other crap can almost plug the open hole on its own, and I like a good drain.  Turns out my Cuda 250 ducer wouldn't mount there anyways.   I gooped a section of closed cell foam right under the sonar body area.  Then I just do the fill with water trick like so many other have been doing. 

I have found that I don't like spinning reels/rods so much in my rod pod area.  The reels are bulky and the rod eyes can get hung up pretty easily too.  The low profile bait casters would be ideal, but I currently only have a pair of Abu Garcias 6500/5500 units.

I have only been in the salt 5 times, the river once, and the lake more than a dozen times and each time I give my stuff a tweak here and there. 

Now that I have the solid rod pod lid, and plan to put that 6" round hatch in the center, I am looking for ways to put my tackle in to smaller containers that will fit through this hole.   

I still have above deck rod storage issues that I am pondering a fix for.  Got a few ideas, but need to finish working them through the back of my brain first. 

Mostly the concept of tweaking till ya get it right is part of the fun.  Did this with my truck camper over a 4 year period.  We have it down to a science now!  Just take what we need and it all has it's place in the camper. 

Goood luck with that new yak bro!

Salt and Sound I think will be OK, since I'll be using my casting gear, but all lighter weight gear is spinning stuff.  I didn't even like the way they sat in the flush mount rod holders.

Thanks for that awesome description of your ride!

Salt and Sound I think will be OK, since I'll be using my casting gear, but all lighter weight gear is spinning stuff.  I didn't even like the way they sat in the flush mount rod holders.

Thanks for that awesome description of your ride!

You may be able to fix this by notching out a length of PVC and dropping it down inside the flush mount rod holders.  The notch is for the reel handle to slide down into.  Maybe attach a bungee to it to hold the PVC rod holder inside the flush rod holder.  Paint it black with Fusion paint, slap a NWKA sticker on it and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. 

Insayn......   Heres a idea for tackle storage that fits better in the rod pod and would/will fit in your smaller hatch that your going to put in your rod pod lid.

this is the one i made for my Salmon gear.

starts out like this



then you close the first flap to secure the small stuff
 

then you close the next flap



then the last flap to secure it



 


thne you can either roll it up or fold it. i attatched 2 straps to mine and will be putting a plastic connector at the end to secure them together


the material i used to make mine was just utility canvas i picked up at a walmart that sells fabric cheap and some medium weight clear vynal i bought at Joann Fabrics.

Believe it or not, I can weld, lay fiberglass, drill, cut and fabricate just about anything custom I need - on top of that, my mom taught me how to sew back when I was younger.  I purchased a couple sewing machines for my wife over the years, and I have put more miles on them than she has. 

Nice lure layout bag.  Looks alot like the shoe organizer that hangs on the back of a door that I made for a girlfriend back in high school.  She had a lot dang shoes!   

another nice getup! I just finished installing an anchor trolley... next up is definitely gear storage.  I used to have a mess of small cheap carabiners and car chargers, but, naturally, i can't seem to find them... At this point my #1 complaint is the tackle box cutout in the rear. Thinking i might have to lay some glass as well to make some custom storage for my tackle trays...

I've started taking a minimalist approach when going out. gone are the dry bags full of extra clothing and flasks of cognac or brandy or whiskey. those are  now in the truck waiting for when i get back.  the crate? it's a truck bed organizer if i really don't need it. i put my rods in the rod pod, and yes I've noticed the difficulty of the spinning reels too. low profile bait casters work fine, as do fly rods, but if you are a heavier guy, you need to put your butt in that seat after stuffing your rods in, and try taking them out. I've also  noticed that the seat area compresses a bit when I'm on it, and that has lead to some frustration in removing things since they are technically now wedged in a place that's a bit hard to reach seated.

the larger rod and reel combo's, such as anything over 8ft 6, tend to be really a pain to unload or remove. I'm going to start breaking them down if they are 2 pc. so i can get them in and out without worrying about messing up guides , getting rigs tangled beyond frustration,or impaling myself with a rod section.

what i have been doing is using one, double sided, plastic storage box with my lures and tackle in it. also leashed inside are a water bottle, a small dry bag with my valuables, my pump, flares, and my vhf. the box might change depending on what i'm after. next time, it could be a similar box loaded with stuff for chinook or rockfish and lings. but, i'm limiting myself to just one as much as i can.

the pod's tray is filled with pliers and binos and thats about it now.

things sliding around? leash 'em to the inside using the scupper tubes as your anchor points as long as the stuff isn't seriously heavy. still sliding too much? i'm going to put strips of closed cell foam across the interior of my rod pod area , probably right behind the rear pod lip and again in front of the forward lip, to act as stops. that should take care of the slides, and also add a small bit of padding for the rods i put in there. hey, it's an idea born of frustration, but it should work just fine.

up in the bow, or closer to the front area of the rod pod, is a smaller than i used to carry dry bag with a rain jacket, some snacks, and drinks, and some other odds and ends that i might need. also leashed.

the tank well is now being used for the drift chute or anchor set, or  if i'm sitting side saddle, then i might use it for outdoor storage of my tackle box. that's about it.

as insayn, craiggamesh or pelagic paddler( can't remember which)  has pointed out, experience is a darn good teacher, and i'm slowly learning what to and not to take with me. this has taken me, what? about a year of on again, off again fishing from my yak to pare down. it works. you just have to work at it to get it that way.
[WR]

another nice getup! I just finished installing an anchor trolley... next up is definitely gear storage.  I used to have a mess of small cheap carabiners and car chargers, but, naturally, i can't seem to find them... At this point my #1 complaint is the tackle box cutout in the rear. Thinking i might have to lay some glass as well to make some custom storage for my tackle trays...

The tackle box cut out is a perfect fit for the Plano/Flambeau orange, white, or gray marine dry boxes.  Get one of those, ditch the tray inside it, and use it for your tackle box instead.  You can even attach rocket launcher rod holders to the backside or Scotty mounts to the top. 

I too am becoming more minimalist.  I only carry a milk crate if I am carrying the anchor system.  On the T13A the anchor sits just behind the seat, the bsteves-style reel sits on top of the anchor, and the float sits just behind the reel.  The bungee pulls up onto the reel holding everything snugly in place.  This is where I stuff the couple plano waterproof boxes I use for on-the-water tackle, so when the anchor is resident I use a milk crate.  If no anchor I've stopped using a milk crate.  I found I didn't use the rod holders on the crate.  I actually like the stock rod holders.  Put the reel on click and troll.  I may or may not bring the Scotty rod holder that goes into the deck mount in front of the rod pod.  Landing net goes in the other stock rod holder.  Water bottle is under my knee in one of the foot wells.  Catch bag gets lashed on top of the front hatch and sonar shield, or lashed on the live well, or left on shore. 

I am going to experiment with a couple of lengths of line strung between the two left side and two right side scupper tubes.  My thought is to put a knot in the lines every 6".  Short leashes with clips or just small bungees can be used to hold stuff in place.   

Any rod you put in the rod pod needs to have the line spiraled over the line between the guides. It will keep the line from tangling with other rods.  Just hold the lure and spin the rod, then hook the lure to the rod. Piece of cake. We also hook the lure in the hookkeeper or onto the reel seat and wrap with a "lure wrap". Shimano, Loomis, Basspro,...everybody sells them.  you can make your own from old neoprene waders and some velcro. I also use rod bags from Cabelas or Bass Pro Shop. ANY rod that is too long to fit underdeck in one piece, gets put into a rod sock. The best are from http://www.danblanton.com/RiggedReadybags.html Dan Blanton's Rigged and ready bags. I have 4 of these and they protect my flyrods from damage and tangles. I fold and store it in the sliding tray.

Manual pump is clipped underdeck bottom of hull with glue on clips. Gaff and Boga grip on port side under deck. They clip to leashes while stored, so if they come loose they won't get away, and separate mounts above deck when fishing,

I use Shimano and Loomis soft tackle bags ( rubber worm binders)for tackle storage, including my saltwater flies.

A Plano water proof box on back, I gave up on the milkcrate, I found I brought too much junk.

A couple of beers and a blueice in the bag on the back of the seat, and some snacks or a sandwich too. Most of the time my sandwich in the box. Camelback for water clips to seat.

I modified my Rod Pod cover, I cut the string leash, turned it around so beer holder is up front, and installed a 5" access plate with screw top and a waterproof bag to keep iPhone, reading glasses for small hook eyes, , spare sunglasses,wallet, gloves, watchcap, small signal flares, ... warm and dry. I keep some dessicant packets in there to prevent condensation. I had to modify the sliding tray to fit, I just sliced it in half on the bandsaw, took out 1 inch, and glued it back together.

I glued a "modified to fit" black plastic kitchen cutting board to the top, and screwed and glued it to the Rod Pod cover top. On the underside is glued a fillet knife in a sheath, and a empty sheath is topside.


Nearly the entire stern is filled with pool noodles, wedged in there tight and trimmed to fit the tapered stern. I removed the stern rod holders, put in pool noodles, then reinstalled rod holders and 3 more. Rod butts of spinning and baitcaster rods slide into holes in pool noodles.

In the bow hatch I cut and fit a piece of plastic for a shelf to keep stuff off the bottom, and allow rod tips to slide under.

VHF is attached to vest.

The only thing I can't get under deck yet is my net, but I'm working on it.

Everything fits, and I can get 10 rods  and gear under deck.

 

Ok heres another question about below storage.... For those of us who have a OK and have a Rod Pod. which way do you put your rods into the rod pod to store them below.. Butt first towards the front or tip first towards the front.

Marilyn

Troutbut! Sounds like some great rigging you have going on!

Marilyn, its easier to get the rods out if you slide them in butt first with the tip facing the front.  When you're pulling it out, you reach down and pull towards the bow.