Hook Keepers

Post by **Apalach** » February 16th, 2005, 12:51 am

Don't know about you folks, but it always bugs me to buy what I consider to be a fairly nice rod only to find there is no hook keeper loop near the butt to keep my plug or hook from flying about my vehicle, boat, or yak while underway. However, there is a simple (and cheap!) solution to this problem. Cable ties! But these are no ordinary cable ties. These are the ones used by electricians to run wires in various types of installations, and come with a loop in one end, but attach just like all the others you are familiar with. These things come in either black or white, and you can find them in the electrical section at either Lowe's or HD.

You can secure these ties wherever you see fit, but one good location is around the butt in the vicinity of the reel seat.

As you all know, these cable ties are pretty tough and it take a lot of force to break one of these things. They are supposed to be UV resistant, but if by chance one should break over time, it is probably the simplest (and least expensive) DIY project going to replace them.

Littoral · Post by **Littoral** » February 16th, 2005, 12:50 pm

Nice idea!
A colleague of mine remarked that your reel looks a â€œbit cleanâ€

Post by **Atticus** » February 16th, 2005, 1:07 pm

http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpbb/vie ... php?t=3567

I learned it from someone who I fish with over on the Atlantic side. He goes after kings mostly and he loves these things.

Funny thing is that he has a business relationship with Cape Fear rods so he has a bunch of them (cross section looks like a stop sign) he has to put these zip ties on his $500 rods.

Post by **mjsigns** » February 16th, 2005, 1:08 pm

Been there, done that, and bought the Tee shirt......

http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpbb/vie ... php?t=3567

Post by **Apalach** » February 16th, 2005, 1:10 pm

Hey lit,
Right on both counts! But tell WH that my reel looks so good because of excellent maintenance!

.

As to your second point, the Kayak Forum seemed to be a little slow lately, so I thought I would stick this post there to see if it got any bites--and sure enough it did

...

Post by **Apalach** » February 16th, 2005, 1:13 pm

mj,
Darn--I missed out on the T-shirt! But thanks for the headsup--I figured someone else must have come up with this somewhere...

Post by **Atticus** » February 16th, 2005, 1:18 pm

Watch the tag end where you cut the tie off. They can get sharp.

Post by **Chalk** » February 16th, 2005, 2:09 pm

Thanks for the post apalach...Are you going to come to the Social?

Post by **mjsigns** » February 16th, 2005, 2:20 pm

Apalach-

Great pictures and an excellent job using them.

You have zipped the zippytie where your hand comfortably fits around the rod & Reel. Personally, I place mine high enough on the handle where it dosent interfere with my grip on the pole. (jsut a suggestion)

Sorry if I cam across snotty in my earlier post

Post by **Apalach** » February 16th, 2005, 2:22 pm

Sure hope to make the Social--got a conflict with a Boy Scout leader campout that weekend. Once a year a bunch of the former (and current) Troop 44 scoutmasters and any of the guys still in the area get together for a reunion at Three Rivers. I think it must be about 10-11 years now that our kids have been out of the troop, but the dads are still going strong! May try to do both...

Post by **Nathan** » February 16th, 2005, 2:24 pm

If you look around some you can probably still find some of the Fuji removable hookkeepers also. They are the ones that use heavy rubber 0-rings to hold a plastic hookkeeper on the blank. They work pretty well. Or if you want, you can just bring the rods by my place and I'll show you how to put on a hookkeeper in a few minutes.

Nathan

Post by **Apalach** » February 16th, 2005, 2:31 pm

"You have zipped the zippytie where your hand comfortably fits around the rod & Reel. Personally, I place mine high enough on the handle where it dosent interfere with my grip on the pole. (jsut a suggestion)"

Good Point mj--I cut those suckers off as close to their base as possible using end-cutter pliers to try to get around that, and to avoid any annoying tag ends. However, they are easy enough to rotate around out of the way (or just re-do) should it become a problem.