Fishing Rod Holder (Plans Available)

I have a coworker who I go fishing with on a regular basis.  He told me that he was interested in buying a fishing rod holder so that he had a place to store his rods when they are not in use.  The only requirements that he needed was a place to hold six fishing poles, a net, his cooler, and a small storage area for miscellaneous items.  He searched high and low for something that would fit his requirements, but was unable to find anything that was to his liking.  I told him that I would design one with Sketchup (Plans available here) and see how he liked it.  So I spent a few hours making this prototype.  Needless to say, he was thrilled with my design and asked me to make it for him.  I agreed and told him that since he was a coworker, I would do my best to keep costs down.  I normally don’t try to make large items from pallet wood, but I made an exception this time because I found some extra long pallets that would allow me to avoid the dreaded nail holes typically found in items made out of pallet wood.

I used this opportunity to brush up on some woodworking skills that I have not practiced before.  The drawer on this fishing rod holder features dovetail joints on the front.  I have never tried to make a dovetail before.  I know they did not turn out perfect, but I do think they are fairly good for a first attempt.  I also felt like the nature of this project would let me practice my smoothing with a hand plane.  Since the sides and shelves were glued together, there were many uneven edges.  I used my kanna (Japanese hand plane) as much as possible but the lack of a workbench made this task extremely difficult.  All in all, I believe that the project turned out very well and I think that my coworker will be pleasantly surprised with the fishing rod holder.

Here is a video of me making the fishing rod holder:

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