In the Romanack household, buying Christmas gifts is a pretty serious business. My pet peeve has always been spending money on useless things. I’ve got a zero tolerance for trinkets and other meaningless gifts that others seem to think are cute or something.
I’ve always said if you want to impress someone with a thoughtful gift, make that gift something the person would love to have, but has been reluctant to buy for themselves. The problem with us “avid sportsmen” is that we are typically not shy about buying anything we might covet. The challenge is digging a little deeper to come up with gift ideas that are not only useful, but timeless treasures that will keep on giving pleasure for years to come.
Suspension Boat Seats
Anyone who fishes the Great Lakes or other big bodies of water will most certainly appreciate a suspension boat seat. Suspension seats are designed to tame rough water by providing a cushion of air or spring tension that literally takes the torture out of running in rough water. For many years now I’ve rigged Smooth Moves seats in all my boats.
Smooth Moves produces two different seats including the Ultra Boat Seat which features a spring assisted hydraulic system which softens impacts and the Air Boat Seat which uses compressed air to cushion the ride. Both seats are a great gift idea for anyone who spends lots of time on the water.
The Ultra Boat Seat retails for about $600 and is adjustable for passengers ranging in weight from 100 to 300 pounds. The Air Boat Seat retails for about $700 and can be adjusted to suit any size passenger. For more details visit www.smoothmoveseats.com.
Custom Floor Coverings
Boat owners love to customize their fishing boats in a host of ways. One of the most unique products on the market are the custom floor coverings produced by Marine Mat. Marine Mat is more durable than carpet and can be laser cut to fit virtually any marine surface like a glove. Designs, logos and other personal touches can also be laser cut into Marine Mat to provide the ultimate in personal touches to any fishing boat.
Marine Mat is a multi-layered, low nap and anti-slip floor covering that is super durable, easy to clean and it can be applied with snaps or permanently glued in place. Available for virtually any boat or kayak, Marine Mat is not only highly functional, it allows a boat owner to create the ultimate in custom rigging.
To learn more about Marine Mat visit the site www.marinemat.net to get started using this unique marine decking material.
Track Mounted Accessories
Left-Right: Smooth Moves produces two suspension seats including the Ultra and Air which can be mounted in any fishing boat using the boat’s OEM standard seat on the Smooth Moves compression bellows. The Garmin inReach is a two way communicator that uses satellite technology that allows texting to a cell phone anywhere in the world. The Precision Trolling Data phone app is available for both Android and iPhone users. Marine Mat is a unique floor covering that is more durable than carpet, easy to clean and it can be mounted with snaps or permanently glued to any flat surface.
Every fishing boat needs fishing accessories like rod holders, tool holders, net holders, downriggers, rod holder trees, electric motor stabilizer brackets, electronics brackets and the list goes on and on. The most practical way to mount all these accessories on a fishing boat is to use a milled aluminum track such as produced by Cisco Fishing Systems out of Cleveland, Ohio. Cisco produces machined track in several lengths including 6, 12, 18, 24 and 48 inches or custom lengths can also be ordered. Track can be mounted to any flat surface in a boat or it can also be mounted to rails using adapters also produced by Cisco.
Once mounted, track allows an angler to quickly mount a host of fishing accessories important for specific fishing presentations. Even better, track allows the angler to remove and stow those accessories just as quickly when they are not needed.
All Cisco Fishing System track and accessories are made from solid bar aluminum that is CNC machined to exacting standards. No plastic parts that could fail or rubber caps that can be lost are incorporated into any CFS products. Widely considered the “benchmark” of quality among track mounted fishing accessories, anyone who wants the best on their boat is looking for Cisco Fishing Systems.
For more details on the track and track mounted accessories produced by CFS visit the web page www.ciscofishingsystemsltd.com.
Precision Trolling App
The “Troller’s Bible” is a wildly popular guide to the trolling depths of hundreds of fishing lures, diving planers and other trolling gear. Once produced as a flip chart, this data is now available in a handy phone app for both Android and iPhone users. This one of a kind product uses line diameter, lead length and trolling speed to collectively indicate how deep lures and trolling gear are fishing.
Over 800 different “Dive Curves” are available on the Precision Trolling Data app. Fishermen can purchase this data by investing in individual lure data that sells for $1.99 to $2.99 per lure or they can purchase the “lifetime version” which retails for $109.99. The “lifetime version” provides anglers all the data that is currently available and when updates occur, that information is also provided at no additional cost.
Uploading the PTD app requires an internet connection, but once the data is uploaded to the hard drive of a phone, tablet or other device, the user can access the data without a cell signal. Once purchased, the PTD app can also be transferred to a different phone or device within the same phone platform by simply using the same personal ID used when purchasing the app.
For more information about the Precision Trolling Data apps, visit the web page www.precisiontrollingdata.com or to purchase the app visit the Google Play or Apple App stores respectively.
Satellite Communications
In this day and age one would think a cell phone would work anywhere. You might think that, but it simply isn’t true. The reality is that phone cell coverage involves huge areas of “dead space” where a cell phone is literally useless.
A new wave of satellite based communicators have hit the market that allow anglers, hunters, adventure seekers and others to communicate via text messages from literally anywhere in the world. The Garmin inReach is a two way communicator that uses dependable satellite technology. Available in several versions retailing for $350 to $450, these communicators are easy to use, durable, waterproof and the required monthly communication package is affordable.
Satellite communicators are the ideal tool for fishermen to stay in touch on the water or for hunters who often visit wilderness areas to visit with the home front, office or other hunters. For more information on the inReach visit the web page www.explore.garmin.com.
Summing It Up
None of the items outlined in this Christmas gift guide are exactly cheap, but all of them are items sportsmen will appreciate now and for many years to come. Have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
