Pics didn’t show up in 1st post.
I might try just sliding a large split ring over the rod for 2nd stake situations. Then I wouldn’t have to carry the U stakes and lock can still slide off.

I weld a washer or chain link about 9” up from terminal end. It stops the lock and also gives a place to clip on a sand bag or block if bottom is too hard or deep.

Mine are all 8 footers; some fiberglas, some metal.

Looks like that would work well also.

Just curious about the really long rods how many times have you ran into them and gouged yourself or others that would be worse than the trail hitch to the shin? 10-12 ft that must put them at eye level in a truck or do you have a overhead rack? and assemble them on location? My setups are assembled just grab and go... IDK 1000 ways to skin a cat well not really the Nevada stretch is really the only good way...

8ft truck beds....

never, and if i'm in town I hang the red and chartreuse flag so others don't

I attach my CDR's with a quick snap in about 1 second

I use quick snaps on body grips. I would be worried in the heavy current with the critter rolling and twirling all night in the river debris the snap may fail, in my situation. I also get the odd Coon that won’t go down the rod and I know they can make short work of opening quick snaps.

That's why I use to the sleep ez hooks

Not sure what sleep ez hooks are. Do they have some kind of lock?

They have a quicklinks nut added so you can "lock" the snap hook.

Nice, thanks.

They're stainless to boot. Won't rust shut.

Yeah, the 8ft bed helps but I have a "L" Bracket just forward the tailgate so the rods rest on L bracket and not the tailgate itself. So you can lower the tailgate and the rods stay up where they need to be. Angled corner to corner and I can still mostly close the topper on my truck. I Also bend my rods in in a bit of an arc (Goldy's trick). This helps with those shelf banks and just makes it easier to get the other end into the bottom it seems. This arc also helps the part of the rod that's sticking out past your tailgate to angle upwards...keeping it above head level. BUT I'm short and have a truck with airbags so the back end is sky high (for my short butt). But yeah...still have to pay attention. Kind of like crossing the road. Bad stuff can happen.

I have both 1/2" rebar and 1/2" Fiberglass rods in varied lengths. The Fiberglass rods are nice and light but they are harder to get into a harder bottom with the flex that comes out of a fiberglass rod. Rebar is cheap.

I do the same... But I had a big male pull the bottom end on one. I had a stop on the bottom for so he didn'tget the trap off the end... But he bent that 1/2" rebar into a horseshoe and was waiting for me on the bank.

I'd like to know how he bent it... I had to put that rod in the fork of a tree to bend it back "straight."

Stout critters.

Mike

That’s crazy! Did he have the current to help him Mike?

I have a rack on my topper and I built a 10ft wooden box 8 inches wide with 2x4s on the sides and ends, can put 30 rods in it at a time. I have to stand on the trailer hitch to get them out but it works slick and they are out of the way.

I got a nuisance beaver call yesterday so I started welding up an 8' rod today.
I bent a 20d nail into a U and welded on the shore end for staking.
Now I need to make a lock in fairly short order. Can I just use a piece of schedule 80 conduit cut on an angle and drilled at the point for trap?
Not sure I have tools to fan something out of angle.

No. The direction he traveled when he bent that rod and climbed up on the bank was against the flow of the stream... Not that the stream had much of a current, but he went against it.

Mike