[oldschool]

I was reading about someone's new idea of wrapping line around the rod to help prevent tangles in the rod locker and thought "new idea" that has been around as long as rods and reels. Fastening the hook or lure near the reel, snugging up the line, then pulling the line about 3 inches or so away from the rod and spinning the about 3 times to let the middle guide hold the wrapped line, isn't new.
Where I work we manufacture aerospace products thatsome times require expando braid that we make from various nylon type materails. I have been using expando braid for rod covers for years and never gave it a thought as to possible commercial value. Makes a great breathable rod cover that is easy to install and remove.
Well expando sleeve rod covers are now on the market, see Here

While on the subject, please remove your hooks and lure at the end of the day and don't leave them pre rigged. Knots that are over 24 hours old tend to cold flow and weaken on both mono and fluorocarbon line. You should remove about 15 feet of line whenever you retie and you should retie more often. Run the line between your index finger and thumb to detect any nicks that you can't see every 15 minutes or so. Hook tend to nick the line when traveling around the lake and rocks or whatever are always abrading your line when fishing.
Tom

 

[Ouachita]

That's an interesting innovation. If I were on the road and having to haul rods into a motel room each night I'd get those just to protect rods from slapping each other from truck to the room.

There's no telling how many spinnerbaits I sent into orbit on first cast of the day because of an old knot. Zing.... :cussin:

Lesson learned...eventually. One habit I formed to stop that problem was to make sure I didn't leave rods with baits tied on for another day simply because it's best to look at the lake situation and make a fresh decision about what lure to start with. That stopped tangling of rods due to tangled lures, lures tangling the line of another rod, and hooks damaging the rod finish. At the end of the day I clip the lure off, remove some used line, wrap the line a few times around the rod then tie the line to a guide. Then I take the drag off to preserve drag plates.

On my way out of the launch ramp I often let some empty line out to see if it is coiled. If it is I'll let it mostly out and drag it a mile while studying the sonar. I might have 3-4 rods let out untangling line. That puts the line back to straight like new. That improves casting efficiency a lot, saving a lot of time messing with kinks and backlashes. I spend that time or more likely a lot less time on the front end preventing such problems.

Jim

 

[oldschool]

There are several good reel covers that wrap around the rigged rod & reel that Velcro onto the rod. These covers have closed cell foam rubber internal padding and breathable canvas outer covers.
http://www.shimanodealer.com/ see low profile reel cover

There are covers on the market and I have used this type of cover for my big game salt water reels for years and they now make smaller versions for bass size reels.
Tom