Some anglers have adapted their sleds and ATVs so that they will allow for even more mobility on the ice. I found myself fishing last winter with a more "run and gun" approach with my ATV and it really enhanced my success on the ice. Rarely did I fish inside of my ice shack last winter, but I had it readily available on the back of my ATV if needed.
With speed and efficiency in mind, this fall I decided to retrofit my ATV with a system which allowed me to keep my ice fishing rods close at hand and ready to fish once I arrived at my destination. One complaint I had last winter was the time it took to take my rods in and out of my Clam rod locker inside my shack. The Clam rod locker did an excellent job of protecting my rods and the one time I did not put a rod in the Clam rod locker between spots, I bent an eyelet on that rod. So in my quest for more efficiency, I opted to incorporate another system on my ATV this fall. I also wanted a system which would secure the rods and not just have them thrown into the bucket. It would limit the amount of tangled rods and the rods would be more secure during transit.
So, I grabbed a spare five gallon bucket I had lying around and took off the handle. I bought some metal tool clamps and secured them on the inside of the bucket with stainless steel hardware. I glued some open cell foam, with a notch for my rod blank to rest in, above the tool clamp inside the bucket. I then attached my bucket holder to the back rack of my ATV with the Moose Utilities quick release mount and Moose Utilities QR bucket holder. I opted to place the bucket holder on the side of my rear rack as I already have my Clam one man shack mounted off the back of my ATV.
I look forward to testing out this design on the ice this winter and see if there are any improvements I can make or just scrap the whole idea if it is not going to work. One thing I have found is that if you are using spinning reels, the most you would be able to fit in this configuration is four reels. There is just not enough room in the bucket for any more than that. As you see in the picture below, I was able to fit five fly reels in the bucket, but it was pretty tight.
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| View of the inside of the rod caddy |
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| Bucket Holder Mounted toATV |
