Product Spotlight: Gorilla Locking Rod Rack

By Mike Zuloaga, staff writer

It's 2:00 a.m, do you know where your fishing rods are?

Okay, it may not be the stuff of a good horror flick, but a real concern many boaters face is the security of their fishing rods. Whether you are berthed overnight for a quiet island getaway, tied up at a waterway eatery for a bite to eat, or even waiting at a traffic light while trailering your boat home after a day of fishing, the sad truth is that a potential thief may be just steps away. And he or she could be on and off your boat with your rods in hand in the time it has taken you to read this paragraph.

An innovative company in Delray Beach, FL has come up with a solution: the Gorilla Locking Rod Rack. Developed and manufactured by Bowline Products, the Gorilla Locking Rod Rack deters theft of both a rod and reel by preventing removal of the fishing reel from the rod and locking the rod/reel combo in the rack body. "We studied more than 300 fishing reels to come up with the dimensions for the locking rod rack. Our goal was to accommodate at least 98% of the rods and reels out there. The challenge was to do that while still cradling each reel snugly enough to prevent disassembly," said John Kujawa, who designed the product. The rack will securely lock everything from small casting reels to large trolling reels such as the Penn International 50-wide.

There were several other challenges in developing the product. "We also needed to ensure that the rack itself, with the rods all locked in, could not be removed from the vessel. And since space is always limited on a boat we wanted to make the unit as small as possible and provide very flexible mounting options," Kujawa said. The unit can be mounted under a t-top, on a console or transom, or on a gunwale. Once installed and locked, mounting hardware cannot be accessed.

While the rack's main body and locking bar are made of cast aluminum and stainless steel, respectively, all metal components are coated in a thick, durable plastic to prevent chafing and dings on rods and reels, and minimize noise while underway. Mounting hardware is included, as is the rod support, which supports the rod tips or rod butts depending on the installation location.

The current product holds 4 trolling or conventional reels. A rack to hold 2 trolling rods, as well as one to lock spinning gear will be on store shelves shortly, says Kujawa. Bowline is also in discussion with several boat manufacturers to make the product standard on some 2005 models.

For product information and a list of retailers near you, visit www.gorillarodrack.com