On a recent trip to fish the offshore waters of the upper Gulf of Mexico, Maclin Smith of HMS Marine Electronics in Orange Beach, Alabama, showed me a trick for securing rods and reels in the rod holders on the aft edge of the hardtop. He uses bungee balls (elastic loops with a plastic ball on one end) to quickly secure the rigs and prevent them from bouncing out of the tubes in rough seas. He loops one end around the bottom of the rod tube and hitches the ball end around the reel handle. On heavier trolling rigs, he uses two bungee balls for extra security. This trick also keeps the rigs from rattling around, making noise, and banging into one another. A 25-pack of bungee balls is about $26 at Home Depot.
