BOAT ACCESSORIES THAT MAKE FISHING EVEN MORE FUN - Mark Romanack

October 31, 2025

My passion for fishing and boats is not blind. When I’m shopping for boat accessories, I’m shopping for items that are going to make the fishing experience better. Better could mean helping me catch more fish, helping organize the boat, assisting with cockpit lighting or helping with the boat’s overall performance.

The author mounted this Fish On Sports tower/arch to his SmokerCraft Phantom to provide more rod storage and fishing rod holder options. It took about two hours to build and install the arch which is shipped right to your door in one box.

The adage, that a fishing boat is a hole in the water in which to throw money couldn’t be more correct. Boats are expensive and everything that mounts to a boat is seemingly solders if it were gold plated. I came to terms with this reality years ago. You see my love of fishing and fishing boats has a unique way of justifying the cost.

My passion for fishing and boats is not blind however. When I’m shopping for boat accessories, I’m shopping for items that are going to make the fishing experience better. Better could mean helping me catch more fish, helping organize the boat, assisting with cockpit lighting or helping with the boat’s overall performance.

Smooth Moves Seats

Everyone and I mean everyone who takes a ride on my Smooth Moves suspension seats immediately falls in love. If you fish big water, you can’t avoid rough water, but you can make the ride as smooth as silk by installing either a Smooth Moves Ultra or Smooth Moves Air suspension seat. The Ultra is a manually adjusted suspension seat that uses a T-handle to easily adjust the tension up or down depending on the passengers’ weight and the wave conditions. The Air uses compressed air to provide the ultimate in suspension seat comfort. Because air can never be fully compressed, these seat suspensions won’t bottom out should you suddenly hit an unexpected boat wake. One button controls the amount of air pressure making for the ideal ride for anglers big and small. Available at marine dealers everywhere or on-line at www. smoothmovesseats.com

Arch/Tower

Recently Jake and I installed a Fish On Sports Jr. River Cross Over Arch on our SmokerCraft Phantom X2 OS. This arch is highly adjustable making it an obvious choice for trailerable fishing boats. We opted to purchase the Captain’s Pack that included an assortment of rocket launcher rod holders and adjustable rod holders, a net holder and a drink cup holder. Fully installed, this arch really sets off the Phantom, providing not only functional rod holders, but rocket launchers to hold rods in a safe and easy to reach position when running. Many other accessories are engineered to fit the Jr. River Cross Over Arch, making this American made product one worth taking a close look at. Check them out at www.fishonsports.com

Cisco Fishing Systems

For many years the boats featured on Fishing 411 TV have featured Cisco Fishing Systems rod holders and accessories. We love track mounted rod holders and accessories because at Fishing 411 we are constantly visiting different fisheries and targeting different species. The ability to set up the boat with a full complement of rod holders for trolling, then strip that stuff off for jig bite is priceless in our opinion.

In addition to offering saddle, tube style and rod holder trees, Cisco also produces a host of other accessories including electric motor brackets, downrigger plates and mounting systems, mounts for Fish Hawk sub-surface probes, tool holders, adjustable electronics brackets and much more. The quality of Cisco products is second to none and you can feel good that every product is made in Ohio with American labor. For details check out www.ciscofishingsystemsltd.com

RyTek Marine makes what the author believes is the most practical in-line planer board holder on the market. Designed to fit in the integrated track systems found on many boat brands, this rack can also be mounted to any flat surface with stainless hardware.

RyTek Marine
Planer Board Caddy

Just about everyone these days is fishing with in-line planer boards. The problem with in-line boards is finding a suitable place to store them in your boat. If they get left on the floor, the flags and tow arm brackets, and Tattle Flag linkage easily get damaged.

Recently Fishing 411 discovered the RyTek Marine Planer Board Caddy made of a nylon mesh material that insures the boards dry quickly. The boards easily slip into sewn pockets and secure in place with a bungie cord. We mounted the caddy into the groves on the integrated track located on the gunwale of our SmokerCraft Phantom X2 OS. The boards are perfectly stored, protected from damage and ready for action in an instant.

When it comes to storing in-line boards like the popular Off Shore Tackle Side-Planer, this caddy is the best we have seen to date. Check them out at www.rytekmarine.ca

Waterproof Tool Kit

If your boat doesn’t have a tool kit, eventually you will regret that decision. Having a few basic tools on board is essential, but keeping them dry and rust free can be challenging. I tried the orange waterproof boxes sold at marine stores, but they are anything but waterproof and they actually encourage condensation. Recently I found a waterproof and clear hard plastic Plano box that has a waterproof seal and latches on three sides. The box is heavy duty enough to hold up to abuse and keeps the tools inside bone dry. Inside I can fit a multi-head screw driver, set of short handle metric and SAE box end wrenches, a spark plug wrench, pair of pliers, pair of needle nose pliers, an adjustable wrench and some electrical tape.

This same box is ideal for storing flares, flare guns and other emergency gear that’s required in every boat.

Hand Held VHF Radio

Since the invention of the cell phone it seems anglers have forgotten about the benefits of having a VHF radio on board. Should you find yourself in a marine emergency and out of cell coverage, that VHF radio could be the difference between life and death.

A base unit with an eight-foot antenna will reach the furthest, but a hand-held unit can also be a life saver. Lowrance Electronics makes a host of hand-held and base units that are bullet proof and reasonable in price.

Vertical Rod Tubes

Near the back of any boat that is used for trolling, I strongly recommend adding vertical rod holders. These can be made of plastic or metal depending on how much you want to spend. The beauty of these handy trolling aids is they provide the ideal place to place rods when running from spot to spot. Without these little accessory gems, you will find yourself laying rods down on the floor and that is never good.

Mounting vertical rod holders at the back of a boat provides a place to store fishing rods while the boat is on plane. When running from fishing spot to fishing spot, these vertical tubes are worth their weight in gold.

TackleWebs

TackleWebs produce a host of mesh style storage solutions that are designed to be mounted to flat surfaces or suspended between posts using bungie cords. We find them handy for holding all kinds of gear that otherwise doesn’t seem to have a home. Gear like a throwable rope bag, drift socks, dock lines, tow lines and other important but hard to store gear find their way into the Tacklewebs. To learn more check out ww.tacklewebs.com.

Fish Fighter Products

The back of a boat seat is the perfect place to store gear that needs to be handy, but stowed. The Fish Fighter Boat Seat Back-pack straps to standard style marine seats and does an excellent job of holding stuff like a life vest, rain gear when the weather turns nice or important tackle you plan to use on any given day. To learn more visit the web page https://fishfighterproducts.com for details.

Storage is always a problem in a fishing boat. These Fish Fighter Products boat seat covers are ideal for storing small items like life jackets that would otherwise end up in “not so dry” storage boxes. The mesh construction insures that the items inside remain organized and they dry quickly to eliminate any issues with mold.

Cockpit Lighting

Fishing for many species involves being on the water before the sun comes up and often after the sun has set. Adding LED strip lighting to the cockpit of any boat is easy, inexpensive and it’s amazing how functional this soft lighting becomes on the water. LED strip lights feature adhesive backing that makes them easy to mount to any smooth and dry surface. These lights operate using very low amperage, so there is no fear of running down a battery or finding yourself stranded. The soft light an LED strip provides is just enough to function tying on baits, selecting lures or unhooking a landed fish, but not so much it blinds you. Most manufacturers of LED strip lights offer them in white, blue or red. I’ve found that blue is ideal when targeting salmon or walleye after dark.

Trim Tabs

Most boats will benefit from the addition of trim tabs. Commonly thought of as an accessory only practical for larger boats, the truth is many anglers have discovered that trim tabs are just as essential for multi-species style boats.

Trim Tabs mount to the transom of the boat and are installed in pairs. Each trim tab can be controlled independently making it possible to raise or lower either side of the boat or to control bow lift. The benefits of trim tabs become obvious when running in a quartering sea. In this situation a trim tab can be used to level the boat making for a smoother ride and also a dryer ride. The more people that end up on a fishing boat, the more useful trim tabs become.

Digital Kicker Motor

Throttle Controls A few manufacturers of gasoline kicker mo-tors are producing factory supplied digital throttle controls. The majority of kicker motors however function using a traditional linkage style throttle control. With a traditional throttle control it’s seems the kicker motor is either running too fast or too slow. Finding and maintaining that perfect trolling speed is often frustrating. This goes double for outboards that do not feature electronic fuel injection.

Adding an after-market digital throttle control is the fast track to enjoying trolling success. Digital throttle controls mount to an outboard manual linkage and use a throttle control dial that allows trolling speeds to be refined down to 1/10th of a MPH.

Most digital throttle controls are simple to install and durable enough to last for many years.

Summing It Up

There is no end to the accessories for a fishing boat. My list of “must have” items will obviously be different than yours. That’s the beauty of owning your own boat. No one can tell you how to rig it, but you!