Interested in hearing how everyone transports rods in their trucks:

 

I know you can always keep them in the back cab, but that's not ideal for the passengers back there.

 

I've gone fishing with guys that lay them out on the bed and then let them bounce around back there.

Can't imagine ever doing that.

 

Would be interested to hear about straightforward but protective ways to haul them, preferably in the bed.

 

I don't have a bass boat with a rod locker.

 

 

I put them on the passenger side in the cab. Rarely have anyone riding with me in my truck so I don't have to worry about having someone in the passenger seat. 

I keep a couple travel rods under the back seat.  I can put a couple two piece setups under there too but rarely do.

 

I use rod socks & reel covers and lay them in the bed next to my kayak when day tripping.

 

If travelling long distances I have a Plano hard sided rod case.

Rod and reel covers are a must. Also, make sure everything is well secured in the bed. I once had a tool box that I thought was secure come loose when I swerved to avoid a turtle and it absolutely destroyed a spinning combo. 

 

Now adays i drive an SUV though, I hear way to many stories of folks having stuff stolen from pickups. I know a guy who had a cooler taken not long ago while he was grabbing beef jerky at a gas station, in broad daylight. 

How it’s done depends a lot on specifically which truck and bed you have. Crew cab, extended cab, bed length, cap or no cap. 

This is my truck, it has a short bed and a tonneau cover on it.  My rods when I am fishing with someone else rest in the bed of the truck but they have to go corner to corner.  I use my softsided tackle storage to set the reels on (on the tailgate side of the bed) and lay the tips of the rods to the front cab corner of the bed.  Then I use a small towel that I keep in the bed and wrap the tips.  I have never broken a tip or a guide.  

 

 

I just lay them in the cab (4 door truck), with the handles resting in passenger floor board and tips laying over the back of the seat.  can still carry 4 people in reasonable comfort (more or less)

I am fortunate to have a 6' bed on my ranger and boat is stored in the state park secured yard, so everything has to back and forth in the truck. I have always kept the rods and reels with individual covers and they lay in the bed like this X.

A friend of mine had a short bed truck and use a 10" SonoTube (concrete pier form) with rods slid down butt first. 

My rods don't fit in the back of my truck and I was tired of moving them from the passenger seat when my wife and I would take our dogs to the park. So, I built this tube for about $80. Can fit 8 baitcasters with some strategy involved.

Mine ride in the truck bed, diagonally, reels at the front of the bed. Rods are in rod socks. I have a full rubber bedliner, and ARE tonneau cover. They do not shift around, and are protected.

Check out Cal Coast Rod Mule

That paired with rod socks and reel covers have never let me down.
I fish as a coangler at the state, FLW BFL and BASS Open level so I am always moving rods from my boat to truck for long trips.
Best setup I have found