While fishing on the beautiful 64-foot Bayliss Man-e-War during the recent San Juan International Blue Marlin Tournament, the crew clued me in on a simple solution to the hourly rotation. (The rules in that tournament dictate that anglers must rotate positions every hour.) Since we were all fishing with 50-pound gear, it wasn't really necessary to reel in our lures, move the rods and reset the entire spread.
In order to get around that scenario, the Man-e-War boys gave each angler a different-colored Velcro strap - the kind used by contactors for bundling extension cords. We just wrapped the strap around the rod butt and switched the straps when we needed to rotate.
If you don't have the Velcro straps, you can just write your name on a piece of yellow electrical tape and stick it to the reel. When it's time to rotate, peel it up and move to the next spot.
Charlie Levine
Winter Park, Florida
