Building The Ultimate Tackle Box

[BassKing17]

Hey everyone,

 

I live in south texas near Houston.

I fish Lake livingston alot (tournaments) and do alot of small lake fishing around the area.

 

My wife just bought me a new KVD tackle bag. Every angler knows how exciting it is to put organize and sort all of your tackle especially if you have a new tackle box or bag. 

 

Well, I have an assortment of worms and spinner baits and rattle traps all the basic stuff.. I am going to take a trip to the tackle store or look around online to buy all new stuff for my new bag.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on what I should buy to have a COMPLETE bass fishing tackle box? & anything that can set my tackle above all my friends? Any should have accessories

?

Specific Lures, brands, colors would all be helpful.

 

I know the basics and what colors to throw in what conditions and clarity ect. So you dont have to act like your talking to a begginer.

 

Just curious if I can find out some lures or baits that I didnt know about or anything.

 

Thanks guys,

 

Zack

[BassKing17]

Maybe give me an idea of what some of yalls favorite lures are and what lures bag the biggest fish for you!

Thanks!!

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Swimbaits.

 

Sounds funny but buy the most proven one(s) you can. May seem expensive at first but they will save you money and headaches in the long run. Buy whatever size matches the forage in your lakes. Personally, bigger is better because most people are throwing basic sized baits.

[BassKing17]

Swimbaits.

 

Sounds funny but buy the most proven one(s) you can. May seem expensive at first but they will save you money and headaches in the long run. Buy whatever size matches the forage in your lakes. Personally, bigger is better because most people are throwing basic sized baits.

 

One of my favorite baits are actually Money Minnows. Ive caught alot of good fish on them.

Other than money minnows ive never really fished swim baits. My tournament partner swears by flukes.

I just have never used them therefor i really dont know what types of hooks, wieghts ect. to use.

Do you have any particular swimbait in mind that you like most?

[Felix77]

PM me.  I have a spreadsheet I can share which helped me organize my tacklebox.

[Trailer]

I use Flukes and like them but that's because that's what everyone around me had. I'll have to try some other brands to broaden my perspective.

[Teal]

Heres the bottom line basics that WILL help you LAND more fish, ONCE YOU GET ON THEM.

You say you have the basic stuff, so i might be redundant.

Make sure you have plenty of QUALITY HOOKS, (gammy, mustad ect) both heavy and light wire hooks. Make sure to buy some QUALITY TREBLE HOOKS and replace inferior hooks on treble baits. I like using straight shanks hooks on my flipping pitching baits.

QUALITY FISHING LINE -and type of line depends on your comfort level with different line types. I like sunline Sniper fluoro and Spiderwire ultra cast braid.

TUNGSTEN WEIGHTS - they are expensive but i love the sensitivity and compactness you get from them. Tungsten and Braid were absolute game changers for me.

SCENT -i always been lazy when it comes to this and used an inferior product. But about three weeks ago i ordered some MEGASTRIKE and ive used it everytime ive been out since and it is a gamechanger. Ive been fishing footballs jigs deep on ledges and almost everyfish i caught that way CHOKED that jig!! Im a believer now!

Snaps or Speed Clips. I am a huge believer in them for my cranks. I Like the Berkley Duo Locks. It makes changing crank baits so much quicker

Good set of Pliers, braid scissors and some Toe-nail clippers

I know you mentioned that you are not a beginner and I apologize in advance, but when i think about stoucking a tackle box, i think about the little bitty details that help make use successful. Terminal Tackle is a Huge Deal to me!.. as for baitsm load up on some Seibert Outdoors Jig and Rage Tail Craws!!

[SPEEDBEAD.]

One of my favorite baits are actually Money Minnows. Ive caught alot of good fish on them.

Other than money minnows ive never really fished swim baits. My tournament partner swears by flukes.

I just have never used them therefor i really dont know what types of hooks, wieghts ect. to use.

Do you have any particular swimbait in mind that you like most?

 

If I had to pick just one swimbait (trust me, it becomes increasingly difficult) it would be a slow sinking Mattlures Hardgill. If it HAD to be a soft bait, it would be one of his Ultimate Bluegills with a boot tail.

[BassKing17]

Heres the bottom line basics that WILL help you LAND more fish, ONCE YOU GET ON THEM.

You say you have the basic stuff, so i might be redundant.

Make sure you have plenty of QUALITY HOOKS, (gammy, mustad ect) both heavy and light wire hooks. Make sure to buy some QUALITY TREBLE HOOKS and replace inferior hooks on treble baits. I like using straight shanks hooks on my flipping pitching baits.

QUALITY FISHING LINE -and type of line depends on your comfort level with different line types. I like sunline Sniper fluoro and Spiderwire ultra cast braid.

TUNGSTEN WEIGHTS - they are expensive but i love the sensitivity and compactness you get from them. Tungsten and Braid were absolute game changers for me.

SCENT -i always been lazy when it comes to this and used an inferior product. But about three weeks ago i ordered some MEGASTRIKE and ive used it everytime ive been out since and it is a gamechanger. Ive been fishing footballs jigs deep on ledges and almost everyfish i caught that way CHOKED that jig!! Im a believer now!

Snaps or Speed Clips. I am a huge believer in them for my cranks. I Like the Berkley Duo Locks. It makes changing crank baits so much quicker

Good set of Pliers, braid scissors and some Toe-nail clippers

I know you mentioned that you are not a beginner and I apologize in advance, but when i think about stoucking a tackle box, i think about the little bitty details that help make use successful. Terminal Tackle is a Huge Deal to me!.. as for baitsm load up on some Seibert Outdoors Jig and Rage Tail Craws!!

 

Great advice! Thanks!

 

Ive always used Off Set worm hooks for texas rigged worms and plastics. Should I switch?

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Great advice! Thanks!

 

Ive always used Off Set worm hooks for texas rigged worms and plastics. Should I switch?

 

Really, no one can answer that but you.

 

Does it work for you? If "no" then switch, if it does then keep it up.

[BassKing17]

Really, no one can answer that but you.

 

Does it work for you? If "no" then switch, if it does then keep it up.

 

A friend of mine guides down here near galveston (salt water) and he does alot of the big redfish and trout tournys and when he uses live croker for bait he even uses the off set hooks. He swears by them. So years ago after my first trip out on the bay with him I made the switch and I have been happy with them. Just lately Ive been reading alot about people sweating by the straight shank.

[BassKing17]

Swearing**

[Teal]

I like offset worm hooks on thin worms, lizards, and carolina rigs. Straight shanks on flippin baits and big creatures and ewgs on everything else. I just learned the snell knot and i plan to start using straight shanks on alot more ...but thats a work in progress, will report back when i get more of an idea.

[roadwarrior]

Topwater

Zara Spook

Sammy

PopMax

Rage Tail Menace

Rage Shad

MegaStrike Cavitron

 

Frog

Booyah Pad Crasher

Rage Tail Toad

 

Jerkbait

Smithwick Rogue

LC Pointer

 

Spinnerbait

MegaStrike Strike Back

Cosmic Spinnerbait  (Siebert Outdoors)

NorthStar Custom Baits Hidden Weight

 

Shallow

Norman Fat Boy

LC RC 2.5

Lazy Ike

GYCB Kreature

 

4'-8'

KVD Red Eye Shad

Bomber Fat Free Shad

Cotton Cordell G ay Blade

 

8'-16'

Rapala DT

DD22

Sworming Hornet/ LFT Live Magic Shad

 

Jigs

MegaStrike Evolution

Siebert Outdoors Big O & Storm Series

NorthStar Custom Baits Original Swim Jig & Hairy Jig

 

Trailers

Rage Tail Menace

Rage Single Tail Grub

Rage Baby Craw, Craw & Lobster

MegaStrike MegaBug

 

Soft Plastics

Rage Tail: Space Monkey, Smokin' Rooster, Hawg, Eeliminator, Ananconda & Thumper

GYCB: Senko & Fat Ika

MegaStrike MegaBug

 

Soft Swimbaits

MegaStrike Fat Shad

Yum Money Minnow

LFT Live Magic Shad

Shadalicious

Berkley Hollow Belly

[Hyrule Bass]

dont sleep on the color white/pearl, it can be very effective for a variety of bait types.

[SirSnookalot]

A friend of mine guides down here near galveston (salt water) and he does alot of the big redfish and trout tournys and when he uses live croker for bait he even uses the off set hooks. He swears by them. So years ago after my first trip out on the bay with him I made the switch and I have been happy with them. Just lately Ive been reading alot about people sweating by the straight shank.

I like circle hooks for using live croakers,  hook size dependent on size of the bait, 3/0 or 4/0 is usually a good choice.  Toothy fish get a longer shank hook, circles are not as good for them.

[TNBassin']

Get some ZMan chatterbaits or Booyah Boogees too. I love to get a white Zman Chatterbait and put on a zoom fluke. Caught fish nearly every time I used that.

[Hanover_Yakker]

I'm probably in the minority here, but my thoughts are actually contrarian to most on this subject.  I actually leave all of my tackle variety at home.  The first key is dialing into the solunar prime windows and adjusting for pre-fontal or post-frontal conditions.  Once you've done that, then you have a window of opportunity to dial into a specific pattern.  For me, fishing out of a kayak helps me simplify this lure selection process.  I take one tackle tray and 3-4 individual bags of soft plastics plus one small tackle tray for terminal tackle.  That's it.

 

In my opinion, the majority of your fishing lures (minus big swimbaits obviously or unique lures) will fit into a 3600 -3700 tackle tray.  My current tackle tray of choice for a one day outing is a Plano waterproof series with removal long dividers to create a single large area on the right hand side, and the section of the left hand side into smaller compartments using the provided dividers.  The tray contains the following:

 

1. 3 lipless cranks (1 each in shad, gold shiner and red/orange craw) - no need to carry billed cranks that waste space in the tray.

2. 4 skirted jigs - (2 each of black/blue, brown/orange)

3. 3 spinnerbaits (1 each in white/chartreuse, bull bream/bluegill and a sexy shad variant)

4. 3 jerkbaits (1 each in silver, gold and a shad pattern)

5. 2 buzzbaits (1 in black and 1 in white)

6. Inline spinnerbaits - (Rooster Tails in white/silver blade, black/silver blade, chartreuse/chartreuse blade and perch/trout color.

7. Soft plastics (1 bag each: black/blue or okechobee craw, a white tube, a lizard, shad/pearl fluke, senko and a curly tail grub) 

8. Topwater - a couple hollow bodied frogs and a few Ribbits (watermelon pearl, black and brown/orange) and a spook.

 

My small terminal tackle box has 6 slots that I segregate to accommodate: shakey heads, EWGs in 2-3 sizes, wacky hooks, keel weighted swimbait hooks.  The EWG hooks perform double duty as fluke hooks as well as frog hooks.  The keel weighted swimbait hooks do the same only for flukes and lizards or stick baits.  The wacky hooks perform triple duty for flukes, stick baits and tubes. 

 

That's it!  Simple and to the point.  If I can't catch fish on one of those items, then it just isn't my day.  If you take more than that, you might find yourself spending more time second guessing you approach and switching constantly.  When I head out, I have three rods pre-rigged: one topwater, one bottom bouncer and one mid-column.  That usually equates to: a Ribbit, a shakey head and lipless crank or spinnerbait. 

 

8 out of 10 times I head out, I never need to deviate from one of those presentations.  Your area may vary, and your tackle selection may vary as well depending upon which area of the country you are in, but the general concept still applies and should be considered the next time you head out.

 

For the record, if anyone doubts the impact of the solunar tables, just make a mental note next time during deer season of when the prime feeding hours are for deer and then go home and check the solunar tables.  You'll find that their feeding windows adjust daily and coincide with those time frames.  Fish behave in the same manner.

[Avalonjohn44]

Throw everything away and forget everything that you think you know.  Just buy a couple of Scatter Shads.

[roadwarrior]

My suggestion addressed the OP's request: Buiild The Ultimate Tackle Box. 

As far as any particular outing goes, I might not take much more than what

I am rigged with.  When I am pond fishing from the bank, one rod and maybe

1 or 2 extra baits/lures in case I lose the first!

 

Right now three rigs are really working at Pickwick: Jerkbaits, Red Eye Shad and The Rig.

[jhoffman]

For the record, if anyone doubts the impact of the solunar

tables, just make a mental note next time during deer season of when

the prime feeding hours are for deer and then go home and check the

solunar tables.  You'll find that their feeding windows adjust daily and

coincide with those time frames.  Fish behave in the same manner.

 

 

I havent seen so much coorilation with whitetails with the solunar table in general. It just doesnt work out well especially if you add pressure from hunting or humans of any kind into the equation. However, there is a direct corilation there between the moon being directly overhead or underfoot and coinciding with prime feeding times of dusk or daylight. You wont get deer going crazy eating in your front yard while you have a party but what will happen is that buck you havent seen but know where he beds might get up 20 mintues earlier that day or get home 20 mins later. If you can throw the ultimate one two on him and hit him with a moon overhead coinciding with daylight on a post storm front that lasted all night you stand an excellent chance however its not a game of being in the area. If youre on a true mature buck on pressured public and have the cards align you will have to be almost on top of his bed to get the chance. In the event you have that all lined up and he comes back before daylight you are stuck there all day. If you leave and he didnt get up and feed off mid morning youre done. You could sit that spot for the rest of your life and maybe never see a deer.

 

I watched post and prefront conditions with whitetails for a year, recording every sighting in an excel spreadsheet. I can say without a doubt that weather has a much greater influence than the moon.

[tbone1993]

You need to get a boomerang tool. They cost between 10-15 and the will be the best set of cutters you will ever own. Also get the 3601 or 3701 sized boxes. For hooks and sinkers you can use a shorter box like the 3601 , this applies to small crankbaits as well. This allows you to carry more boxes in your tackle bag. As said before get some chatterbaits (bladed jigs). I always have at least one knife in my bag for emergencies.  The biggest suggestion I would say is a headlamp. Setting up the boat before sunrise is a breeze with a headlamp. I suggest the zebralight H51 Headlamp AA 200Lm model ZLH51.  Trust me it will be the best investment you have ever made. 

[Hanover_Yakker]

I havent seen so much coorilation with whitetails with the solunar table in general. It just doesnt work out well especially if you add pressure from hunting or humans of any kind into the equation. However, there is a direct corilation there between the moon being directly overhead or underfoot and coinciding with prime feeding times of dusk or daylight. You wont get deer going crazy eating in your front yard while you have a party but what will happen is that buck you havent seen but know where he beds might get up 20 mintues earlier that day or get home 20 mins later. If you can throw the ultimate one two on him and hit him with a moon overhead coinciding with daylight on a post storm front that lasted all night you stand an excellent chance however its not a game of being in the area. If youre on a true mature buck on pressured public and have the cards align you will have to be almost on top of his bed to get the chance. In the event you have that all lined up and he comes back before daylight you are stuck there all day. If you leave and he didnt get up and feed off mid morning youre done. You could sit that spot for the rest of your life and maybe never see a deer.

 

I watched post and prefront conditions with whitetails for a year, recording every sighting in an excel spreadsheet. I can say without a doubt that weather has a much greater influence than the moon.

 

Sorry - meant feeding tables and moon phases for deer and to apply the concepts to the solunar tables and fish feeding patterns.  Hope fully folks got the drift.

[RoushBasser]

Lots of great info so far, thank you for the input everyone!!! 

[Dusty Lewis]

here in louisiana you gotta have some  crawfish baits. i like the pit boss by berkley and the paca craw by netbait. i use them as a swim type bait in flooded backwater or as a trailer on jigs instead of pork. the paca craw is a semi hollow type plastic so i insert a rattle in it whether using it on a jig or as swim bait to get that Click, click click that defensive crawfish make when they are hauling tail. The action on the paca craw is outrageous. there is a video i think on youtube with an underwater view of the bait. once it reaches the bottom and is sitting it even stands up like a real crawfish. Louisiana bass LOVE crawfish, heck i think they are the ones that boiled crawfish first lol