Loading Fly Rods Into The SUV With Rodmounts RodLoft PRO™ Rod Holder

Packing up the SUV for fishing trips I notice that the fly rods take up a lot of the precious floor space.  Keeping all the camping gear, cooler and other supplies from falling on top of the rods is an issue.  Also fitting two piece rods in the SUV when the tent, cots, portable table and camping chairs are taking up the space right behind the front seats is difficult.  It would be nice to have rods on a holder near the ceiling so I can stack everything else in the back without worrying about the rods getting damaged or only being able to use half the back for equipment because the rods are taking up the rest of the floor space.  Searching on the internet I found a few options.   

The RodLoft Pro by RODMOUNTS seemed the best option with the best reviews.   

When Tackle Direct sent me a coupon for 20% off during the month of my birthday I decided to order one and to give it to my wife to give me for my birthday.   

They also sell them on line at Cabela’s, however they don’t carry them in the store and they are more expensive than Tackle Direct.

The RodLoft comes with six options for attachment.  

I ended up using the Grab Bar mounting option for the front set of holders and using the Topper Bracket option for the rear set.   

The other mounting options are Suction Couplers, Garment Hook, Oversize Garment Hook, and Molding Bracket.   

Telescopic rods snap into swiveling holders which is best to put together before attaching the attachments to the inside of the SUV to avoid getting pinched. 

The package comes with two rod holder sets which hold three rods each.  

There is an option to purchase more sets.   

Using the Grab Bar mount in the front I was only able to make the front holders fit in the down position.  

For the rear rod holders, I tried the holders in the up position and in the down position.  It worked both ways but I could see out the back better with them in the up position.   

Extra rod holders are available for purchase.  Adding a third set would allow you to carry nine rods.  Adding extra holders for the top and bottom positions, I could configure enough to carry 18 rods in my SUV, allowing me to only leave a few of my extra rods at home.

For this last trip I took to the Wind River, the RodLoft worked like a charm.  I took six rods all assembled and ready to fish.  I took no rod cases and rods took up no space on the floor.  When I got to the river I just pulled whichever rod out I wanted to use without having to take time to string the fly line through the guides because the rod had already been assembled at home.  Switching from rod to rod was easy and made it so I was willing to switch from one style to another because I knew I didn’t have to take the time to rig up with another rod and presentation.

 

More Twenty-inchers on the Wind River

Part 2: I continued to fish from the same pool and caught another rainbow. 

This one was a little smaller, 18 inches, yet a harder fighter; a perfect specimen from which to extract a throat sample.

It had been eating mostly size 16 to 18 green caddis larvae.  I swapped the prince nymph for a size 18 green caddis nymph.  

Working my way upstream into another set of riffles I caught a 20 inch brown.   

Guess what fly he took.  No, surprisingly it still took the half-back.  

Hiking back to the truck a couple of fishermen approached me and said they had seen me catch the brown from the road across the river.  They wondered if I could hear their cheering.  They said they were visiting from Florida and wondered what I was using.  The also said they had just spent $30 on a tribal permit.  I explained to them that the tribal permit allowed them to fish the canyon stretch of the river which was probably even better fishing.  They thought this was that stretch and didn’t realize it started at the tunnels.  I let them know they could fish this stretch between the dam and the tunnels on the days for which they didn’t have the tribal permit.  They quickly headed to their SUV to fish downstream inside the reservation.

I also fished the stretch of river further upstream, right below the dam.  Across the river a guide rowed upstream to the dam and had his clients fish right where the water came out of the chute.  I thought maybe the guide new this as some hard to reach, secret fishing spot.  I never saw them catch a single fish but finally one of the dam workers told them they couldn’t be that close to the dam.  How would you like to be referred to as “a dam worker”?   

I ended up only catch two fish along this stretch; however they were good size; a 22 inch brown and a 20 inch cutthroat. 

After dinner I tried the stretches of river by the campgrounds again but didn’t catch a single fish.

The next morning, before taking down the tent, I headed back to the other side of the river.  Starting again at the lower-most section I wanted to fish, I fished upstream through the entire section I had fished the day before.  I didn’t catch a thing, even on the half-back.  Hiking back to the truck, I decided I would try my spinning rod before leaving.  With it I can hit the water on the other side of the river I couldn’t reach with a fly. I tied on a floating, brown trout Rapala.  On the first cast a large fish snatched it right as it landed.  Boy was I glad I tried this last-ditch effort.  I could tell the fish was a big one.  Each time I would get it close enough to see, it would take out more line.  Finally I brought it to the net.  

It was a thick rainbow measuring 24 inches long and had a clipped fin.   

I checked a throat sample and it had been eating midges, size 22 or 24.  Since I was heading out this morning and it was a hatchery fish, I decided this would be one fish I would keep.   

Cleaning the fish I discovered it was full of eggs.  I had never seen a fall spawning rainbow before. The meat was dark red.  I washed the cleaned fish off at the campground and put it in the ice cooler.  At home, the fish was the best trout I had tasted, feeding the whole family plus my son’s family and grandparents. 

Lower Wind River Campground Fly Fishing

This fishing trip to the Wind River below Boysen Reservoir I dedicated to my daughter Karen who was killed this past summer in a motercycle accident.  She was my one child who really liked going fishing with me.  Often we would go for my birthday.  This year for my birthday I went on my own.  I’m sure Karen was with me in spirit.

Last summer when I went with Nick to the Wind River the water was so high it was hard to wade and difficult to fish.  I was hoping for a chance to check out the river in the fall when the water would be at normal flows.  Last July it was at 3700cfs.  In September it was 1300cfs.

This trip I camped at the Lower Wind River Campground near the first tunnel.  It is a nice campground with plenty of space, picnic tables and shade.  

It has running water and an outhouse.  Camping runs $17 a night and the facility is kept up well.  Cell reception is poor although I was able to text from moment to moment.  One thing I thought was interesting was that there were more people camping in the middle of September than on the first of July.  The Sherriff did pay me a visit to make sure I had paid for the two nights I camped.  Weather-wise it was a perfect trip.  Not too hot during the day and still pleasant at night.  The elevation is only about 4400 feet above sea level which keeps the weather somewhat mild.  Whereas on the Green River below Fontenelle, the elevation is about 6500 feet and it gets real cold at night. 

I tried fishing with streamers along the river below the campground but didn’t have any luck.  I tried brown and black wooly buggers, and larger Home Invaders.  I then tried nymphing with Prince nymphs and Halfback nymphs (a larger attracter peacock herl nymph) and still didn’t catch anything.

The next day I drove across the dam and down the dirt road that ran along the other side of the river.  Driving past the bridge almost directly across from the upper campground I found a stretch that had more structure than most of the river below the dam, riffles, pools and islands, etc.   

Here I hiked down to the river to the lowermost part of the riffles so I could fish upstream.  Where the riffles entered the deep section of the river I began casting.  I would cast the nymphs to the shallow riffles and allow them to be carried into the drop off.  After a couple of casts I hooked a nice rainbow.   

It took the size 12 Halfback.  

I measured the fish at twenty inches and released it.  After I released it, I realized I should have taken a throat sample.  I would on my next fish, I promised myself.