Build your own lake rake

[Randy Sharp]

For about $30, you can build a solid lake rake with common materials found at your local home improvement or hardware store. I've pulled hundreds of discs out with mine, sometimes two and three at a time!

I can toss my rake about 40 feet out. Good fishing!

Materials:
1 - 1/4" x 50' rope
2 - 3/4" PVC pipe x 10 ft.
1 - 3/4" PVC Tee
1 - 3/4" PVC Cross
4 - 3/4" PVC 45° Elbow
2 - 3/4" PVC 90° Elbow
1 - Sm. can pipe glue
12 ft. - 3/8" threaded rod (4 pc. at 36")
24 - 3/8 nuts

Use the pictures provided below as an assembly guide.

Measurements:
- Threaded rods are 12" long. Nuts are tight enough to hold the rod in place, but be careful. Over tightening could result in breaking the pipe.
- Length of cross piece holding rods is 51".
- Handle pieces are 26" each.
- Two angle braces are approx. 34" long. THESE ARE THE LAST PIECES CUT TO INSURE PROPER LENGTH.

Notable tips:
- DRILL HOLES SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY TO AVOID BREAKING THE PIPE.
- Drill 3/8" holes for rods 4.5" on center. Drill additional holes between the rods and along the lower angle pieces to allow the rake to fill with water, so it will sink.
- Rope MUST go through both ends of the rake. Tie one end around the Tee. The purpose is to make sure the rake doesn't get lost if a glued joint fails, or the rake hangs on something underwater. You may bend a rod if you get hung up, but the rake will not be lost.

Fishing Tips: Allow the rake to settle to the bottom, then pull at a steady and smooth rate of about 1 foot per second. When combing an area, overlap your throws by half the rake width. Believe me, you'll increase your find!

From experience, the disc will "flip up" on its edge once the rake tine hits it. The water pressure will hold it in place against the tines. In rare cases, the tine will catch the lip of an upside down disc and drag it to the bank.

The best areas to fish are those with open bank areas. I usually work about 75 feet from the pin to about 50 feet past it.

Avoid areas under trees that may have shed large limbs and massive beds of leaves, or have lilly pads and cat tails. These areas are a pain. All you end up doing is raking debris.

 

[A.Mutt]

thanks for sharing that Randy! Its stuff like this that is why I like the internet.

 

[srm_520]

I did the same with a rake and duct tape. Here's my question: what is your success rate, and how many discs do you think slip under the pins. The Golden Retriever for example hooks the discs so it can't slip out and go underneath, so I wonder if something like that is needed on your invention. I used the coat hanger as my hook on the rake.

 

[ERicJ]

Interesting... almost the exact same concept as the dredger I built last year:

Here's one I built myself for trying to dredger discs out of QVCC the LINKS after TX States. Can't really tell the scale from the pictures but the PVC pipe is 5ft wide.

 

[Randy Sharp]

Hi SRM,

It's difficult to know the true success rate of "catches" vs. "misses", but overall the success is well worth the effort. In clear water tests, I've determined that the tines dig 1/2" deep into the bottom of the lake. Of course, depth will be determined by the speed of the retrieval. At this rate, I'm thinking the first pass dislodges any discs that may have been somewhat buried in the silt. The second pass picks them up. Again, they'll flip up on their edge as shown in the last picture above.

One thing I haven't been able to determine: Do you have better results if the disc is laying heads-up or bottom-up? That may have an influence on the success rate.

Good feedback SRM. Thanks.

 

[Dillon_Gourley]

I would think better sucesss if the bottom of the disc is facing up.

EricJ

Does that thing work...?

The golden retriever works the best ouf of anything. I've seen a friend of mine throw 6 times and get 3 disc, now if someone could only build a bigger one...

 

[zenbot]

I would think better sucesss if the bottom of the disc is facing up.

EricJ

Does that thing work...?

The golden retriever works the best ouf of anything. I've seen a friend of mine throw 6 times and get 3 disc, now if someone could only build a bigger one...

But does it only work when you know where a disc is as opposed to these that just blindly find discs?

 

[Randy Sharp]

I would agree with you Dillon. It seems to me the disc would flip up a lot easier because of the angle of the lip. One that is upside down might try to "dig in" to the bottom of the lake. I've thought that because, on occasion, my rake seems to "jump" just enough to notice it in the line. I wondered if I was getting resistance as the disc is flipping over. That may be where the second pass helps out.

Yeah, the Golden Retriever and Disc Diver work best when you can actually see the disc.

 

[ERicJ]

EricJ
Does that thing work...?

The golden retriever works the best ouf of anything. I've seen a friend of mine throw 6 times and get 3 disc, now if someone could only build a bigger one...

But does it only work when you know where a disc is as opposed to these that just blindly find discs?

Yeah, Randy's rake and my dredger were designed to work in muddy water with no visibility. That's pretty much every water hazard on Houston courses. You could spend days tossing a Golden Retriever in our lakes before you got lucky enough to snag your disc.

From the other thread:

In it's present (1st try) design I'd say my dredger just works so-so. I used 5" long 3/8" bolts for the teeth. Turns out that's not really enough weight to sink the device deep enough in the soft mud at the bottom of the ponds. In hindsight I should have gone for at least the 1/2" thick bolts, but at the time I though that'd be too heavy Plus the 3/8" bolts were like $0.80, and the 1/2" ones were almost $2 each. It needs more weight to keep it down as you pull towards you. Total cost was ~$30 in parts and two hours of design and labor.

I've got a tent stake at the end that I pound into the ground to keep all the rope from following in after I toss the dredger. I learned pretty quickly not to pound the stake into a fire ant "hill" and then stand there in sandals dredging. In my defense there was no mound built up, they were all lurking underground, but still got stung...

 

[Dillon_Gourley]

The goldren retriever is more like actually fishing as opposed to the rake as net fishing.

A golden retriever the size of a rake would be the best disc getting invention ever.

 

[Randy Sharp]

Have to disagree with you Dillon...a PLASTIC magnet would be the best disc getting invention ever. haha. Shamelss post on my part, working to become a Bogey member.

 

[zenbot]

The goldren retriever is more like actually fishing as opposed to the rake as net fishing.

A golden retriever the size of a rake would be the best disc getting invention ever.

How about you train a real golden retriever to smell out the discs underwater? That sounds flawless.

 

[Legend KILLer]

im sure as hell glad i dont have to deal with water on a regular basis. i prefer climbing 20 feet in the air than getting wet though i will if i have too

 

[solomon.trenton]

i really like the rake idea, only problem is you cant bring it with you while playing a round. oh well awesome job and thanks for sharing. i cant wait to build one.

 

[srm_520]

Interesting... almost the exact same concept as the dredger I built last year:

Eric, I think the most impressive design aspect of your "rake" is the placement of the eye bolts and rope attachment points. Do you find that lip of bolt helps, or do you think it makes a difference. Plus, I like the fact that yours is more portable.

BTW - I not surprised that someone who has the LINKS as their home course came up with this invention. When there is a need....

 

[solomon.trenton]

Interesting... almost the exact same concept as the dredger I built last year:

what did you use to hold the line together?

 

[ERicJ]

Do you find that lip of bolt helps, or do you think it makes a difference.

I think the head/lip of the bolts helps a lot actually. It gives the bolt the ability to get a better "grip" on the disc when pulling it back to shore.

what did you use to hold the line together?

Rope Clamps. They're simple pieces of metal with a small spike that digs into the nylon rope and you hammer them closed to secure the connection.

 

[eaglechick123]

i built one this morning and went fishing for disc found three in about two hours not to bad. bought the supplies for about $35 at lowes. will post pics later

 

[adoubleudisc]

i built one this morning and went fishing for disc found three in about two hours not to bad. bought the supplies for about $35 at lowes. will post pics later

I am guessing you looked at Winnebago County Park hole #5. If you find a Champion Valkyrie (yellow) could you let me know?

 

[solomon.trenton]

I think the head/lip of the bolts helps a lot actually. It gives the bolt the ability to get a better "grip" on the disc when pulling it back to shore.



Rope Clamps. They're simple pieces of metal with a small spike that digs into the nylon rope and you hammer them closed to secure the connection.

hmmm, sounds super ingenious to me. thanks eric!