While ICAST chatter may have leaned heavily on brushless trolling motors, the product that caught my attention during the last week actually involved a brush — the DD26 Fishing “Mean Clean Kick Brush.”

I’m not a Charlie Hartley level boat cleanliness freak, but I do my best to consistently combat my slovenly habits and take care of my gear. That means I wipe down the boat with some sort of spray cleaner after most outings and take other measures in between trips. That lessens the chance that I’ll do some unnecessary damage and increases the ease with which the boat will sell when it’s time for the new one. I don’t panic if a hooked fish spills a little blood on the carpet, but I do get aggravated if a fishing partner continues to hold a bass over the carpet as it gushes blood.

Other than fish blood, cracker crumbs and inadvertently spilled beverages (and the occasional Spike-It mishap), once you’re actually in the boat, you’re not likely to dirty the carpet much. You don’t want to grind things into it, but that’s more likely to happen when you’re standing on the ramp, or when your partner pulls your rig into a muddy field for weigh-in. That’s when the mud, muck and gravel invariably finds its way into your boat. It’s also when you’re most likely to be tired, aggravated and anxious to get home, so you’re less likely to be careful.

The Kick Brush is one of those “Why didn’t I think of it?” inventions. When you’re stepping back into the boat it stares you in the face, tempting you to pass it by with dirty soles. You don’t have to take your shoes off, you just need to swipe ‘em a couple of times. Making it even easier, even a lawyer can install one in about the time it took to read this column. There’s really no reason not to have one if you care about keeping things clean but you’re also slightly lazy. My wife, who is consistently amazed by my ability to rip pants, drip soup on clean shirts, and spill my beverages (she hasn’t yet forced me to use a sippy cup, but I’m sure it’s coming), fully supported this acquisition.