If you’re a tried-and-true pontoon boater, along with being a country music star, what would you do at the nation’s largest music festival? Well, you’d put on a special floating concert for a few thousand of our closest friends. And that’s exactly what Rodney Atkins did during Milwaukee’s famous Summerfest event this past June. Rodney is a big fan of Milwaukee. Maybe because it’s at Summerfest where, years ago, he met the lovely lady who would eventually become his wife.

“I love Milwaukee, the folks, the places,” said Rodney. “I love Wisconsin.”

Rodney is a longtime boater. His dad’s bass boat served as his introduction to fishing and boating on middle Tennessee lakes. He bought his own jon boat with “hay hauling money” during his Tennessee Tech college days that got him out on the water and even in fishing tournaments. He’d sneak a couple kitchen chairs out to the jon boat to “outfit” it for the tournaments.

There is a certain charm to Lake Wawasee in Syracuse, Ind., that feels like home whenever I visit. Adding to the aura of Kosciusko County is Wawasee Boat Co., a marine dealership and full-service marina located on the shores of the lake that has proudly been a staple in this tight-knit community since 1929. I found myself in the area this summer and as I headed to the marina I was immediately drawn to the new whiteout edition of the SportToon 26 TT from JC TriToon Marine tied up at the docks.

It was like a mini reunion as I was greeted by the management team from JC and had a chance to talk with President Kim Cripe and discuss some of the new changes they have planned for 2023 and also see first-hand some innovative creations Joe Sparks from JC has implemented for the upcoming model year.

I was once asked what my favorite room in the house was and I got a surprised look in return when I boldly stated it was the garage. Of course the garage is my favorite room. After all, it’s where I spend a lot of my free time and no offense to my wife, but it’s really the only place where I feel I have a hundred percent control (don’t even get me started on the drapes in our living room).

I live a clean and orderly life, so having a portable and cordless vacuum is a must for both my garage and my pontoon. The vacuum of choice for me is the WORX Nitro 20V 2.1 Gal. Wet/Dry Vacuum because it provides a quick and convenient way to clean the storage compartments under the seats of the boat and it doesn’t take up a lot of space so I can leave it on board. Simply put, it’s surprisingly small and compact, yet performs like a full-size giant shop vac. Plus it’s also handy for other quick pick-ups around the shop or when cleaning up wet spills left on the boat.

This Sand Spike is a must-have if you frequent sandbars or beaches and are always looking for something to tie off to. We tried it out this summer after watching our watermat drift off with inattentive teenagers on board when the “big rock” didn’t do the trick. The simple design that is approximately 12 inches wide with handles dipped in rubber and a 24-inch spike going down keeps watermats, tubes and anything else we want to stay put firmly in place. It has a powder-coated finish with a loop at the top and at just $24.99 it’s hard to beat. Plus it comes from Cat River Anchors, an anchor manufacturer who knows a thing or two about keeping boats secure. At this price it’s a low-risk solution to securing your toys while at the sandbar or on the shore.

With 9-inch loops on each end of a Bungee Dock Line, securing our pontoon to the dock has never been easier. Available in seven different colors and in 30- and 36-inch lengths, Bungee Dock Lines give a nice and reasonable stretch that you don’t find with traditional docking ropes.

Made to last (and made in the USA) the flexible docking line is made from high-quality materials with a 3/8-inch heavy-duty inner bungee cord with double-stitched loop ends and a 1-inch marine grade tubular nylon webbing. The UV protective cover keeps the dock tie shielded from sun damage.

A set of two starts at $39.95 and makes a great gift for the boater in your life.

I can’t smell black licorice – let alone the anise that gives it that particular aroma – without immediately being taken back to my early fishing years when a wedge of Van-Do carp bait had a permanent home in the bottom of my metal Old Pal tackle box. The 5 ounces of cream-colored dough was impregnated with so much anise that the distinctive scent dominated the immediate vicinity whenever I opened the box, whether grabbing for another pinch of dough or seeking some other tackle for whatever species was being targeted.

And boy, when the bull’s-eye was on carp, that Van-Do rarely let me down and the scent of licorice would linger on my fingers for days. As such, I was an early believer in the role scent can play in attracting and catching fish. What I wasn’t as aware of is the equally important role scent plays in repelling fish. I now realize that those Off days (pun intended) when Van-Do didn’t fool the carp might have been because I had used my hands to spread insect repellent onto my exposed skin before rolling those doughballs. Recent studies have shown DEET to be especially repulsive to the olfactory systems of most fish.