Those foam rubber mats that people stand on because they are easy on the feet. I have two in my boat. They are at the back of the boat to protect the carpet when the big fish are hoisted into the boat. Saturday morning I laid my 4 Madkatz rods in the boat and headed to the boat ramp. Get there and start to prep the boat and notice that not only did one of those foam mats fly out, but it took two rods with it.

At least the version I use (Bolt 2.0) were on sale at $67 each. And the Piscifun reels I use, I got a 15% discount because of the number of reels I have bought from them in the past. Still a $300 boo boo.

The new item on my checklist is to stack the two mats together and then put the cooler on top.

It's amazing what will fly out of the boat while driving 80 mph down the freeway.
Dad and I had bought a 30 gallon live bait well. Put about 3 gallons of water in it thinking it was good enough to weight it down and went to the lake one Saturday morning and once we got to the Ray Roberts bait shop, we noticed it was gone. Turned back around and drove all the way back to Fort Worth looking for it but it was gone.

I've lost tackle bags, rods, pliers you name it, luckily one time I caught a glimpse of something flying out of my boat, turned around and it was a soft pack tackle totes full of soft plastics that weighed at least 20 lbs.

How about a 250.00 landing net on top of the bimini and take off

I haven't done that (yet). My boat partner had to buy the largest net Monster Rod Holders sold at the Catfish Conference. On top of the bimini is the best place to keep it when anchored or drifting. Since he bought it, it is his job not mine to grab it before I take off.

Fishing with a friend and he put his tackle bag between us right before takeoff. I told him to put the strap around the seat post between the live wells but he said it would be fine. When I hit about 62 MPH I saw the strap pass my head and it was in the lake. We circled back around and recovered the bag and about 75% of his stuff that was in the external pockets. Wind is way stronger than people think.

I gave a buddy around 1000 dollars worth of rods one evening. The next morning he loaded them up in his center comsole rod holders and headed towards the lake. He decided to go through the drive thru at Whataburger on the way. Broke every rod I gave him. He almost made it a whole day!

Man, I think we all have a story....

Price of admission and all that.

I lost a big landing net, thankfully not a real expensive one, when it bounced out of a rod rest while motoring across my local lake. Of course I didn't know it was MIA until I hooked a big blue...

Before I started boating I had a pedal kayak. I loved that thing but I cant count the number of rods (and reels) I dropped over the side of it.

If you fish, then stuff will happen. It is always harder for me when I look back on a loss of equipment when I could have done something different to prevent it. You seem to have a positive attitude about the loss and the is great. There are times I have to work on that attitude.

I'm in this group for sure. I lost a $1K Garmin the day after I bought it. I spent two hours mounting everything perfectly and headed to the lake the next morning. When it flew off, my wife said "Something just flew out of the boat". She was watching in the side view mirror, I guess because she was a little suspect of my mechanical abilities. I told her I was sure it was the protective cover and we didn't need it anyway. Got to the lake to find out she was right. I didn't realize that I hadn't snapped the unit all the way in to the holder. Because of insurance, I was only out about a hundred bucks. Pretty expensive lesson. Now, I always pull it while I'm driving.

We drove back to where it flew off and couldn't find it. I doubt anyone picked it up. I'm sure it was smashed into a thousand pieces but I couldn't even find any glass or plastic.

Hearing all these stories makes you understand the need to keep a safe distance from anyone hauling stuff on the road!

I had a tackle box fly out of my boat while towing 70 mph on the highway. Landed on the hood of the guy behind me. To say he was pizzed would be an understatement.

The more you are on the water the more you are going to lose. I'm a full time guide, so my list is long between trips back and forth to lake and on the water.
Wallet with cash that blew off the seat
Biggest igloo they make I had for 2 days
3 pairs of rayban sunglasses I forgot and left in the boat over the years that ended up on highway
Brand new 50 gallon baitwell that flew out on highway but never found.
New splasher trolling motor that bounce loose and went over in rough water
Multiple rods and reels from rocket launchers and rod holders over the years from rough water
Flood light after night fishing bounced out on highway.
2 dozen duck decoys out of boat onto highway. Went back looking for them and ran them over with my truck as I rounded a sharp turn in the road while speeding back to find them at night.
Multiple boat deck lids I forgot to latch over the years
I'm sure there is more, but I have to stop before I have a stroke thinking about all the stuff I lost simpl6 by not being more careful to double check after a long day on the water.