Little Things That Work For Me
May 23, 2008
I’ve been an avid angler, and self-admitted gadget freak for over 40 years. While I subscribe to the general philosophy of “Keep It Simple Stupid”, I have also come to believe that there are lots of specialty item type products that are available to anglers today that will make their day on the water easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable. This article is an attempt to share those items that I use and have found effective. I hope some of them make your fishing better, as well.
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Stealth One Charging Systems. Danny Roberts at Stealth has developed a combination AC/DC battery management system that taps the outboard’s charging system to first charge the boat’s cranking battery, and then to direct charging energy to the trolling motor batteries. The Stealth DC system will handle multiple trolling battery configurations, from 1 to 3, or more. It works exceptionally well with the 2 or 3 battery systems common to tournament bass boats. The AC unit
puts out 20 amps, and effectively charges all batteries from an AC connection. The incredibly neat thing about this system is that because it charges all batteries every time you run, you almost never need to plug up the AC system. As an example, I recently fished a tournament where I practiced for two days, fished the event, and then fun fished the next day. For the full four days, I never plugged in a battery charger! When I got home, I plugged up the AC unit and in less than 45 minutes, all three of my Series 31 Trojan batteries were fully charged. The unit is smaller and lighter than any other unit I’ve used or seen, and is extremely simple to install. Customer support and response is excellent. The website is www.stealthcharging.com (bad link – confirm w/ Mike)
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Stors-It Rod Protectors. I carry a lot of rods. So sue me! They are tools, and there are two large rod boxes on a BassCat Puma, so why not bring my toys? The obvious problem is that the more rods you carry, the more they get tangled. I used
to use golf club tubes to cover rods and stack them in the bottom of the rod box. Those days are gone since I talked to Dave at Stors-It. I had seen the product in a catalog, but had never actually used one. Bad mistake. Stors-It are light, porous vinyl sleeves that come in several lengths to match any rod. They are easy to slip over a rod, and are held in place with an elastic/slide lock strap at the reel. I use a magic marker to write the rod model/action on the sleeve so that I can quickly find the rod that I want, and easily retrieve it from the rod box, since the guides and line are fully covered and protected. This is one of those products that is so effective and so simple you find yourself wondering why you didn’t think of it yourself. Website is www.storsit.com
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Rod Balancers. Several years ago, I found myself suffering from a serious, long-lived bout with “tennis elbow”, brought on by hours of pitching jigs and soft plastics on long, tip heavy rods. Then, in a stroke of luck, I found a little rubber boot with some lead disks, called a “Rod Balancer.” Nothing complicated here—put a couple of lead disks into the boot, add a quarter or two to fine-tune the balance, add a little talcum powder and slip the boot on your rod butt. The change was AMAZING. Rods that used to feel heavy and put strain on wrists and elbows now had a tip that felt like a 6 weight fly rod. Tip speed on pitches suddenly increased, lure trajectory
was low and fast, hooksets improved, and my elbow pain went away. I tried them on 7’ crank bait rods and 7’6” Carolina rig flipping sticks and had very positive results. Casting distance increased, tip sensitivity was heightened and the rod just felt more responsive in my hands. All my rods of 7’ or more now proudly wear these little additions. I have several discussions with fans of custom rods who tell me that you shouldn’t have to balance a properly built rod—and that may be true. But, I’m not into $300-500 rods. These $5 items make my rods feel as good to me as I could ever ask for.
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Rod Wraps. I live in the South. I’m a fat boy, and I sweat—a lot. I don’t glow, I don’t perspire, I SWEAT. Sweat runs down my arms and my hands stay wet. I’ve actually thrown cork grip rods in the lake when they slipped through my hands. That little issue improved dramatically about four years ago when I discovered a little gem of a product called Rod Wraps. These are multi-colored strips of a tacky fabric that are easily applied over a rod’s cork grip and held in place with a small trip of tape. I use the colors to identify rods by type and use, which makes finding the right rod even easier. An added benefit for me is that I don’t have to grip the rod nearly as tightly, so my hands and wrists don’t tire during the fishing day, and I really believe that the ligher grip makes for a better “feel” on what the rod is transmitting. You can find them at www.Rodwraps.com (bad link – confirm with Mike).
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Frogg Toggs “Chilly Pad”. Everyone knows the Frogg Toggs brand of raingear, and many anglers swear by it. This same company also offers a small sports towel
that is sold under the name “Chilly Pad”. It is similar to sports towels offered by other companies, but this little square of fabric is a hot weather life saver. It is designed to cool by evaporation, and can be dipped into water and then draped across your head or neck to cool down during hot weather fishing trips. I use mine by stuffing it into a corner of the boat’s cooler, and letting it absorb some ice water. I wring it out, and then put it under my hat and drape it down my neck. I get double duty of the cooling effect, plus the protective shade of the fabric on my neck. I was amazed at how much this improved angler comfort level on a hot summer day. Check them out at www.FroggToggs.com
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Cat Eyes Cap Bill Light. When I fish, I like to go early, and stay late. This means low light/no light situations. I keep a high intensity, combat type flashlight in the boat, but that means tying up my hands, or holding a light in my mouth. The pre-takeoff time before tournaments is especially on point here. I always find myself wanting to change a lure, check a knot, or find something buried in a storage box, in the dark. Then my sweet wife stuck one of these little lights in a Christmas stocking, and my world became brighter. I keep two of these in the glove box on my Puma, and slip one on my cap when we get to the ramp before daylight. The light is white, soft and easily directed by tilting your head. They are even more useful on a night fishing trip, when you need to re-tie or change lures. I don’t have a website for these, but I get mine from Bass Pro Shops.
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Numbing Chemical Spray. There are several versions of this product available. I got mine from my dentist. It is an aerosol spray can of chemicals that produce an intense cold, numbing effect on skin surfaces. I keep a can of this spray, along with a sharp pair of side cutter pliers and some 65 # braided line as an emergency hook removal kit. A few seconds of this numbing spray applied to the hook entry point makes the removal of an imbedded hook a much easier and less painful affair. Your family doctor or dentist can help with this.
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“Pocket Rock” Lure Retriever. There is no website, no brand name for this one. Roger Stegall, a close friend and premier guide on Pickwick showed me this one. Take a size 1 snap, the kind you use for crankbaits, but much larger. Clip the small end into the eye of a 2 or 3 ounce bass casting sinker. You have just created a “Pocket Rock”—one of the most effective lure retrievers available today. When you hang up a lure, simply clip the large side of the snap to your line, get vertical over the snagged lure, and allow the Rock to slide down your line to contact the lure. Pop the rod tip, almost like fishing a jigging spoon. The lead weight will more often than not dislodge the lure and you will reel up the lure and the Rock, and be ready to fish again. This tool also works great with jigs and tube lures fished in rocky environments. For less than $10 invested, you can have a dozen Pocket Rocks that will save you several hundred dollars of lures in a single season. I keep a couple snapped to my rod straps on my fishing deck. Handy, and always ready to go.
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Yellow Rocket Fuel Oil. This reel lubricant originated in England, where “long-casting” contests demanded lubricants that enhanced reel performance. There is actually three formulations of this remarkable product, but for serious anglers,
Yellow is the product of choice. I change out the bearings in my reels and upgrade them to either ABEC 7 stainless steel or ceramic, and then use nothing but YRF to lube them. One drop on each of the two shaft bearings, and two drops on the levelwind is all you need. I see a noticeable increase in casting distance and overall reel performance. You have to add oil a little more frequently, but the performance gains that I’ve seen are worth it. Really makes it fun when your fishing partner wants to try and outcast you with a big crankbait or jig!
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BassCat Battery Trays. BassCat Boats, as evidenced by their 3 consecutive J.D. Power Awards, is known for the production of quality bass boats. Part of this quality initiative is a constant search for innovative and effective accessory items that are offered in their boats. One of my favorites is an all-aluminum, two piece battery tray. Normally only seen in offshore or saltwater boats, these trays are an absolute guarantee that batteries will not be moving or shifting in your bilge area. I’ve see several boats badly damaged by batteries that came loose from lesser strapping systems. These metal, two-part trays are not inexpensive, but are worth
every penny. The base screws to the sump deck and four stainless steel rods lock a lid frame down on the top of the battery. Stainless steel nylock nuts lock the tops on the battery, and provide a rigid storage system that alleviates any concerns with battery movement. Trays are available for single or dual battery mounts, and will fit any size battery from 24 to 31 series. These trays can be ordered directly from BassCat Boats at www.basscat.com
There you have it: My personal list of accessories, gadgets and practical items that go fishing with me every time I float a boat. Some of them I use every time, some come under the heading of, “when you need it, you really need it”, but they are all there. Give them a try. I hope they improve your fishing as they have mine.