Fly Rod and Reel Storage Shelf

I wanted a nice-looking way to store and display my fly-fishing rods, reels and accessories. I did a lot of searching and didn't see any one solution that did everything I wanted so I merged a few of the better ones together.

Step 1: Materials

For this build I bought a pine board that was 11.25 inches wide by 1 inch thick by 10 feet long. I think it was about $40 at Lowes. This board will make up the tops and sides and should have been enough to make the two shelves as well but some last minute changes on the dimensions meant I needed another board.

The Second pine board was 6 inches wide by 1 inch thick by 6 foot long. This board will be used for the two shelves and 3 of the reel hangers. I think I paid $15 at Lowes for it.

The last board is the backing. It was a piece I had bought a long time ago so I don't remember the price for this piece. It was a 4 foot by 4 foot by 1/4 inch thick piece which I believe is usually used for flooring.

For the reel holder pegs I got (3) 1/4 inch dowel that were 36 inches long. I got them at Lowes for about a $1.50 each. I got the dowel in oak because I wanted something a little tougher than pine for putting reels on and off again.

Screws: PowerPro 8 x 1 3/4 inch screws for all of the shelves and Powerpro 9 x 2 1/2 inch screws for the top and bottom.

MinWax Early American, Minwax Puritan Pine, MinWax Polyurethane.

Step 2: Tools

Circular Saw

Table Saw

Chop Saw

Measuring Tape

Router

Square

Screw gun\Drill\Driver

Drill bits

Jig Saw

Straight Edge

Step 3: Measurements

Total : 21 7/8 inches wide by 32 inches high by 11 1/4 inches deep.

Sides: (2) 11 1/4 inches deep by 1 inch wide by 32 inches high

Top: (1) 10 1/4 inches deep by 1 inch wide by 20 3/8 inches high.

Bottom: (1) 10 1/4 inches wide by 1 inch deep by 20 3/8 inches high.

Backwall: 21 1/16 inches by 31 1/16 inches tall by 1/4 inch deep.

Shelves: (2) 4 1/2 inches wide by 1 inch deep by 20 3/8 inches high.

Peg holders: (3) 2 1/2 inches wide by 1 inch deep by 20 3/8 inches high.

Pegs: 1/4 round dowel 3 inches long.

Holes for rods: 9

Step 4: Layout

The basic layout will be a small shelving area in the front with pegs to hang the reels on. In the back will be the rod case storage area.

I took a 3 inch piece of PVC pipe and cut 10 1/2 inch slices. I used these to layout the hole placement for the rod holders.

Since I have a double rod case I needed one hole large enough to hold it. As you can see in the picture with the PVC slices laid out on it. I measured 1 inch up from the bottom for this placement. Then I measured 4 1/2 inches in from the front of the shelf for where the wall would start. That has the squiggly line though the area I will use the Dado blade to remove the wood. Next line is 1/4 inch back from the wall. This was to give me enough space from the back wall to the hole.

Now the center of the 3 inch holes on the very back starting from the bottom are:

2 1/4 UP 2 1/8 IN

7 1/4 UP 2 1/8 IN

13 1/4 UP 2 1/8 IN

19 1/4 UP 2 1/8 IN

25 1/4 UP 2 1/8 IN

Second Row of Holes

4 1/2 UP 4 5/8 IN

10 7/16 UP 4 5/8 IN

16 7/16 UP 4 5/8 IN

22 7/16 UP 4 5/8 IN

28 7/16 UP 4 5/8 IN

Step 5: Holes

Once you have the spacing for the holes figured out it's just a matter of getting the measurements to make the spacing look good. I used a 3 inch hole drill to make the holes. For the large hole at the bottom I drilled the two outer portions of the holes then drilled the center section out. I then cleaned up what was left with a jig saw and sandpaper.

Step 6: Dado Cut

For the grove to hold wall in place I used a dado blade on the table saw. You could use a regular blade and do multiple passes if you don't have the dado blade.

I set the fence of the saw at 4 1/2 inches and cut the grooves in the top, bottom and both side pieces. My dado blade with just the two outer blades and no inserts does a nice 1/4 inch groove which is what I needed.

Step 7: Router Edges

We used a router with 1/4 inch round over with a bearing bit to make the front edges of the shelves and the holes smooth.

Step 8: Reel Holder Bars

The reel holder bar is 2 inches by 1 inch by 20 5/8 inches. There are 30 pegs that are 1/4 inch oak dowel cut to 3 inches long.

The holes are drilled with 1/4 inch bit and the placement is from the end:

15/16

2 11/16

4 15 /16

6 11/16

8 15/16

10 11/16

12 15/16

14 11/16

16 15/16

18 11/16

and the holes are 3/4 inch up from the bottom of the board.

Step 9: Staining, Assembly, Top Coat

We stained the back, sides, top, and bottom of the shelves and pegs with MinWax Puritan's Pine which is a light honey shade on the pine.

For the reel holders pieces we wanted a 2 tone look and went with MinWax Early American.

Once we had all of the pieces stained and they dried, we assembled it with PowerPro 8 x 1 3/4 inch screws for all of the shelves and Powerpro 9 x 2 1/2 inch screws for the top and bottom.

Comments

[Sublime Tarpon]

Made another one, used barrel staves for the reel holders as well.

[tschmitzcpa]

Can you make more like this? love the design, and i'm looking for something to put in my office to hold my fly rod tubes.
thanks,
Tom

[Byoung4now]

Love the color of this one. The darker stain works really nice with the hooks and bottle opener. Think I might give away the one I made in a TU giveaway and make myself one more like yours.

[Sublime Tarpon]

used Poplar planks from a big box store and a 1/4 maple plywood sheet for the back. Chestnut stain on the poplar and just Tung oil finish on the figured maple. Tung oil on top of the stained wood as well for a final finish.
I like the LED idea too.
I was thinking of moving the maple panel to the back of the case so the rod tubes are exposed. The shelves would be the same depth and the reel holders would be attached to the underside of the shelf. Yes stuff could and will fall off the back but it will not go far, maybe a small stop lip might help there. Might appear too busy though. What do you think?

[Byoung4now]

Hmm that would be an interesting idea. I don't think I had rod tubes that would be interesting enough to show them off. But if you did that yeah a lip would almost be required I would think. Although with the Reel bar plus the lip I don't know if there would be enough space left to view the tubes where it would be worth it. But an interesting idea. What if you used an acrylic or plexiglass sheet there. So see through but nothing would fall in there. And you could even get a trout or other logo engraved on it. Would look cool with colored LED lighting.

[Sublime Tarpon]

ya I think your right, tubes are dull. Plexi with a laser etched trout might look cool though. But I'll stick to maple, Plexi is not one of the things I look forward to working with.

[Byoung4now]

A few more nice reels in there like those and you will need some LED lights in there to show them off better.

[shoottx]

Byoung4now Thanks for posting these plans. I started building the project for a friend and found a couple of incorrect dimensions. The 1/4 in plywood dimensions listed are 22 3/4 inches by 30 1/4 inches tall by 1/4 inch which won't fit in a cabinet that is 21 7/8 inches wide by 32 inches high. New back dimensions with a 3/8 dado should be 21 1/16 by 31 1/16 or there about.

I'll try and post pictures when it is done.

[Byoung4now]

Nice catch. I will have to go back and re-measure it and fix my numbers.

[rmac2020]

Love this, but I'm wondering how you attached the Reel Holder to your cabinet, did you use glue only or were there screws involved. I don't see any screws on the side. So just curious. Thanks

[Byoung4now]

I will have to go double check,. I re-read the instructible and I don't say. I normally am a glue and screw person. I assume I glued to back panel and screwed down from shelf. I'll check later today and see what I actually did.

[Sublime Tarpon]

Had some wine barrel staves around which made the shelves deeper and made for a roll off stop on the top so more tubes can be put up there later. Also the bottom has coat hooks to hang nets and other gear and a bottle opener too. I installed a niobium magnet under one of the shelves to hold forcipes and things. I used two keyhole slots on 16 inch centers on the top back stretcher to mount it, plus a cleat system to hang it as well so it has two mounting options.. This one was a donation for a fly fishing club fundraiser and it brought a good price too. Making another soon.
Thanks for the instructables info it really helped me out.
><)))))">
Jim

[Byoung4now]

WOW, Love the shape of this one and the ideas for design changes. I thought about building more to give as a donation to my local Trout Unlimited for fund raisers.

[Sublime Tarpon]

ya a TU person bought it. It was a hit, way back when we could all be in the same room.

[awakenings1]

I had to modify it a little to fit my space, but it turned out terrific! Thanks for posting this and for the follow up - I really appreciate it!

[Byoung4now]

Wow that looks really good thanks for posting it. Glad I could help.

[awakenings1]

This looks awesome! How did you adhere it to the wall??

[Byoung4now]

Just a simple french cleat.

[awakenings1]

Top and bottom?

[Byoung4now]

Great question. I actually couldn't remember and pulled it back off the wall to check. :-) Turns out top only.
As you hopefully can see from these picks. the part on the unfinished wall actually goes between the sides of the back of the shelves so it hides how it's mounted.