DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming soon

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btl10
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DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming soon

Post by btl10 »

So I finally broke down and made myself a little DIY milk crate for the yak. I've seen millions of these things, made in all different ways; took a couple ideas from a few places, made up a few of my own. First, I got the crate from an undisclosed location in an undisclosed manner (fishunter).

Then got me a 5 foot piece of 2" PVC from HD, and cut it into 3 equal pieces. My crate's black, and I'm an FSU student, so figured I'd spend an extra $4 on a can of garnet spray paint to add a lil flare.
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Threw a trash bag down to keep from turning the green/brown grass garnet red... then spiked three metal pieces into the ground in order to hold the PVC (soon to be rod holders) straight up so I could spray them all evenly.

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I let them dry for like 20 minutes. Didn't take long at all.

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As you can see, I attached one in the back, facing straight up. Just to hold an extra rod.
The other on the back is slanted to my left-hand side. I installed it this way in order to allow myself "trolling" opportunities. Whether letting a lil poppin cork drag behind me with a gulp, or trolling a kingfish rig in Navarre, it won't be riding my wake directly behind me.
The third is on the side of the crate, on my right hand side (in the seated position btw). I installed this one slanting backwards. A) it is out of my way for I am right-handed, and B) I only use it for my net.

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As you can see in this photo, I attached all of my rod holders using toggle bolts. 3/16", 3 inch long to be exact. I haven't seen these used for this yet, but they work perfect. Drilled a hole through each PVC where it aligned with the "solid" parts of the crate at both the top and bottom (2 toggle bolts per rod holder). Stuck the bolt through, held the "toggle" nut where I wanted it to hold, then used the drill to get a firm hold.

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I wanted an easy-to-grab place for my fish grippers so I decided to run a zip tie through the crate where you see it located in this pic. However, it pretty much sucked. Then I remembered I had some tubing left in the truck from when I had to replace a tank valve (flow master) in a toilet the week before. I actually remembered hanging on to it; like I had been doing with lots of little knick knacks; when I started thinking of how I'd wanna make a crate. Only thing is I had no idear what it could be used for. Well, I ended up just running the zip tie through the tubing, and it holds my grippers super snug, while still allowing me to pull them out with enough ease not to tick me off.

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In this pic you can see where I've attached my board. This was one of the major reasons I wanted to make a crate. I had been thinking about using the bungies with the lil plastic balls on them for a couple weeks.. and it turned out awesome. Used 2 of them, as you can see... and just used one zip tie on each, only strapping down ONE side of the bungie. This keeps it from falling off the crate, but allows the bungie to do its thing. And yes, it is very easy to operate in the seated position while in your kayak.


One other lil thing I added was something that I kind of stole from Donny, but he originally stole it from me (literally and figuratively). Either way, it's another great addition to the crate I've yet to see. You can somewhat see it in the pic above. I had purchased one of those fish stringers with the individual clips on them that you pop through the fish's mouth (where you removed your hook from) that lock closed. I used to have one that I used while taking CPR photos for the KBF online tourneys, but somewhere along the way it remained in the possession of sir Donald (I think I just told him to put it to some good use while I was "out of fishin commission" during my LSAT study months.) Anyhow, what I did was cut 2 of the clips off. Attached each to the ends of a piece of utility rope (cut to about 3 to 3.5ft). Keep them clipped to the side of your crate, then when you have a fish you want to get a good CPR photo with WITHOUT it jumping out of you lap, clip one to the fish and leave the other one clipped to your crate. Perfection. And if you decide to keep the fish, just throw him off the side of the boat (he ain't going nowhere).

Besides that, I just use a normal bungie ran through my crate to help keep the lure boxes separated from the soft plastic baggies and leader line and whatnot. As simple as that sounds, it works pretty well. If you decide to take more boxes, just slide the bungie over with your fingers. And vice versa.

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I planned on telling you guys how I rigged up my "No-need-to-drill" Anchor Trolley system... pictured above... but I suddenly just got tired :lol:

Hope the crate ideas helped somebody thinking about doing one themselves... or at the very least, entertained a few of yal. For the guys who've yet to make one: do it! It's fun (if you like building/drilling things). And once you have a crate, you feel dumb for not getting one sooner (I am guilty of this myself). And the options are endless. And every time you realize something could be tweaked this way or that way.. just to make it that much more efficient; or you come up with some clever idea using 2 twigs and your gf's hair tie (it's in the development process) it's just cool.


**5' PVC - about $5 at Home Depot
**Toggle bolts (12pk) - about $5 at Walmart
**Zip ties (20pk: 14") - $2 and some change at HD
**Optional spray paint - $3-$5 at HD
**Bungies with the plastic balls (12pk) - about $3 at Walmart [freaking great price]
**Utility rope (50ft camo) - $5 at Walmart
**Fish stringer (with like 20 clips on it) - $6 at Walmart
**Milk Crate - PRICELESS

and the majority of these things I had stuff left over for my anchor trolley... which I'll give a lil walkthrough at a later date.


Fish on!!!
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kikstand454
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by kikstand454 »

Nice!
Some cool ideas there....I'm gonna give my crate/yak a tune up soon, and I may use a few! Thanks!





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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by Shorewalker »

Great looking crate. You'll get some great use out of it.

I used those toggle bungies for my no drill anchor trolley. They work great but the sun gets them in about six months. No big deal just be aware if you plan to leave them in the sun. Once the red turns to a frosted / whitish red the bands are probably toast and won't last more than two or three trips. just give them a stretch by hand to test at that point. I save the toggles just in case to use later.
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by jsuber »

I keep my fish grips at the ready and tied off to my kayak. When I bring a fish in I grip him so if he dances around I don't lose him and then remove my hooks before a grip and grin photo op
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by BackCast »

Nice planning. If you're anything like me you'll be tweaking little things after each trip.

Mechanical Engineering major?
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by jsuber »

EE
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by bk »

fish can see red!!!!!
just kidding. looks good.
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by btl10 »

bk wrote:fish can see red!!!!!
just kidding. looks good.


Hope they can!! They could use the advantage :lol:
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by btl10 »

BackCast wrote:Nice planning. If you're anything like me you'll be tweaking little things after each trip.

Mechanical Engineering major?

Close........


Poly Sci. Starting Law in the fall. :D

Thanks for the compliment
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by BigIrish »

I just installed my anchor trolley last Sunday night along with some s/s U Bolts (as big eyelets).

I completed my crate last night. I will have apicture after the weekend.

Tip on the fish grips - clip them to the hoop of your landing net. If they do unclip, they fall into the net, otherwise they are right where you need them as soon as the fish is in the net.

I am changing over to the turbo fins tonight.

Thanks for sharing.
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by GoodCall »

Be careful when trolling something in a rodholder that's attached to a crate. A big strike/pull and your crate will try to cartwheel into the water....luckily i didn't lose 2 combos (and other gear down in the crate), but 2 reels did take a brief swim in the salt :x

Looks like a great setup...i'd just put the rod in a flush mount that's attached to the yak when trolling so you don't lose your rod/reel(s) and whatever else may be in your crate
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by kikstand454 »

Eh....Idk.... I don't trust the angle of my flush mount. I only use it to hold my net. I have not found a satisfactory way of trolling in my WS tarpon. Wish I had the gear trax the new ones had.....* shrug*

My yak is getting ANOTHER overhaul and redesign soon. Ill try and document and see if I have any useful ideas.

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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by GoodCall »

I, too have a WS Tarpon and I almost always have something dragging behind me (tourist rig, live bait, free-lined Gulp, etc).

I always use the flush mounts to troll...well, ever since i almost lost $500+ worth of rods/reels/tackle when a huge somethin-or-other nearly took my homemade crate home with him :lol:

never had a problem with the angle, just set the rod in there and make sure the drag is extremely loose so i'll hear it and be able to react rather than risking it being pulled out.
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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by kikstand454 »

^^^^^^ that's probably my biggest problem....I don't use spinning tackle very often. Only for my popping cork which I rarely throw. Baitcasters aren't known for their silky smooth drags....lol.

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Re: DIY Yak Crate... No-need-to-drill anchor trolley coming

Post by GoodCall »

ahhh, i see
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