Ice Fishing Rod Rack With a Shelf for Tip Ups

I gathered my supplies from the barn: a combination of wood that ranged anywhere from 10-40 years old in varying states of awesome. (What some people would call nasty I just call character.) What they all had in common was that they were 1″x2″-5″ and they were all at least four feet long. I also happened on a closet door my grandpa had stashed that was exactly 12″ deep: Perfect for the shelf. Besides that I planned to build my main frame out of brand new 2x2s I already had in my workshop leftover from building closet doors.

Step 1: Assembly

So, I started by cutting three 2x2s at 48 inches long, one in the center and one to create each side of the rack. Then I had the horizontal boards to put in place. (I cut these at 51″ so the 2x2s on either end wouldn’t be cutting in to the 4 feet of storage space I wanted because I had already lost another 1 1/2″ to the 2×2 sitting right smack dab in the middle of the whole thing.)

From there I needed to create the “trough” the poles would sit in. With a board across the front and the back it seemed like a no brainer to me to cut a 2×2 to slip in to the bottom and secure with screws on either side. At that point Joe text me back on how deep he was going to need the trough to be so I ended up adding another board to the back and the front to give him a depth of 6″.

From there I ran to town to buy some heavy duty 12″ L brackets. I wanted the shelf to be strong enough without having to put extra support beneath it. I also purchased a pile of wing nuts, bolts and washers knowing full well that that closet door I chose for the bottom shelf would be hollow and thus, wouldn’t hold a screw even if I asked real nice. All in the trip cost me around $30 – the only thing I spent for the entire project. Because I had extra bolts etc. leftover I went a head and also drilled through the 2x2s and secured the L brackets to them in the same way. Twelve holes drilled later and the same amount of bolts put in place I had a rather tough shelf.

Step 2: Completion and Use

YES, that 2×2 in the middle is warped and I just worked with it, it doesn’t bother me. Anyway, I am excited to report that the rack works great!