Lighten The Load

[Mikell]

Im a shore fisherman and my pack is gettin a little heavy my main weight comes from soft plastics binder i have a tendency to take most of my stuff haha any other shore fisherman got an all around general list of what they would carry? I just think i need ro lighten it a bit lol break it down to the essentials ya know lol

right now i have a small box of terminal a small box of cranks and then a small one for spinners jigs n frogs then my soft plastics binder all in one bag lol

[BassinLou]

I bank fish the majority of the time and I am really streamlined. I carry a small/midsize Columbia waist pack with my essential baits and tackle, a bottled water and  pair of sneakers and off I go. I used to carry a fishing box eons ago, but I learned over the year, to really pay attention to what baits work in my area, and just carry that. It has made my life and fishing experience so much easier and enjoyable. Looking at my avatar, you will see what I carry with me. The pack has been shifted to my back so that it does interfere with my fishing. I carry a rag, and some pliers, and I am good. 

[boostr]

It can get heavy, I'm trying to downsize to 3600 and 3500 boxes, and figuring what I don't need with me. Try to just keep it to most commonly used baits and terminal. As a shore fisherman do you really need deep diving cranks. I just keep to square bills and shallow divers like Mann's minus 1s, and maybe anything that doesn't dive more than 5 or 6ft. I also went on here and asked what the most commonly sized hook was used, and the majority of the fellas said 3/0 hooks in all types. Hope this helps.

[boostr]

I learned over the year, to really pay attention to what baits work in my area, and just carry that..

This, and that's what I'm trying to figure out now.

[Mikell]

Thanks for the help! Im realizing it is a mental thing to overcome that urge of, ive gotta have all options! I dont have any deep divin cranks so thats one less thing i have to worry about lol alot of the reason ive been carrying everything lately is ive been tryin to test new ponds that i find and have never been too so now i just gotta figure what works and plan a day or two in advanced what im gonna need for the place im going

[boostr]

There's one lake I go to and I've caught fish on every kind of bait so then I'll bring allot more stuff to that body of water. I'm pretty much in the same boat as you going to new bodies of water and trying to figure out what they want.

[bigbill]

I need to scale down from the 9606 split barn roof tackle boxes. I carry two plus three more different ones for shore fishing.

Next I'm going to make a box that has a rod holder storage, tackle storage a seat on wheels that folds up to fit in the car when empty.

[Mikell]

I the small boxes i use are the small 35-3600s all of it fits great in my backpack but the backpack is gettin heavy lol so i really know that i need to scale down on my softplastic selections lol

[AK-Jax86]

I understand the struggle man lol.

I have a spider wire backpack and it can hold a bunch of stuff. I tend to travel light by visiting my tackle shop in the back of my car/trunk and bring what I feel I need for that particular spot. It gets hard when you want to throw something and you left it behind.

Next few months will be very easy for me travel wise when all I will be throwing are frogs and the occasional crank/ soft plastic

[jhoffman]

i bought the new okuma backpack that holds 3600 series boxes for when i fish with friends or from the bank. getting stuff out of the boat is such a pain, then i gotta put it all back. it will hold 4 boxes, with that, the other area has 7 bags of plastics. If I cant get it done with stuff I know works, nothing is gonna work anyhow. we all wanna think there is a magic bait, there prob is for that day, you dont own it, accept it.

 

BPS has a very similar bag around $40. A backpack that the front opens that you can get boxes out. I hate storing boxes vertical, so this style works for me. Again, this is my travel bag, my boat is absurd how much tackle is in it. I actually just sold three rods and condensed it into 1 because i had ten combos on my deck. When you have a 17' aluminum and have the hatches filled with tackle where do you put rods?

[michang5]

I have a small day/backpack that can hold one tall and one thin Plano box. I usually just bring the tall one that has my hooks, cranks, scissors, pliers, weights, etc. I clip on my hook remover and Boga.

Separately I have two soft-sided lunchbags with my soft plastics and fluoro for leaders.

If I'm hitting the bank for a long stretch of time, I'll grab the backpack and my main lunchbag of plastics.

If I'm just going for an hour or so, I'll pull out 3-6 bags of the plastics that I know will work for the location and conditions. There are times that I'll get to the water (about a 5-10 min walk from where I park) and think, "Dang, I wish I brought that." But usually I'll only use 2 or 3 of the packs I brought anyway.

[WIGuide]

Thanks for the help! Im realizing it is a mental thing to overcome that urge of, ive gotta have all options! I dont have any deep divin cranks so thats one less thing i have to worry about lol alot of the reason ive been carrying everything lately is ive been tryin to test new ponds that i find and have never been too so now i just gotta figure what works and plan a day or two in advanced what im gonna need for the place im going

If you're going to a new body of water, go check out the water first. When you see the clarity of it, you can generally rule out a bunch of colors which you can take out and leave in your car while you fish. 

[Mikell]

True that id jus leave what i dont need in the car i guess

[Cgrinder]

These days I'm just running around with a couple lipless cranks, half a dozen jigs, and an assortment of plastics/trailers. When summer comes I'll trade the cranks out for hollow body frogs and carry a MH rod instead of a M.

[aceman387]

I use one of these when i shore fish.http://www.basspro.com/Berkley-Strapon-Tackle-Box/product/1560/  Its not huge so it forces you to carry the basics when you go out. The only downside is that if you do a lot of fishing like i do you will be buying a new one every year because the plastic hinges are crap. I found a way to replace one half of the hinge with a small metal cabinet hinge and its held up for 3 years so far.

[Pz3]

I usually carry a big box but as of recent I am starting to think of other options as well.

[Scorchx1245]

Three 3600 boxes in a back pack with essentials and took some old 550 cord and made some holders for rods on the sides.

[Mikell]

Three 3600 boxes in a back pack with essentials and took some old 550 cord and made some holders for rods on the sides.

this is basiclally my setup but i also put my soft plastics in there too which is the BULK weight lol i have alot of them in a h2o express mag worm binder haha it holds aloT!

[The Fisher]

I use the Academy magnum worm binder and put some small Plano boxes with tackle and jigs in the storage pockets.

Here is a description:

The H2O XPRESS® Magnum Worm Binder features water-resistant 840D polyester construction for durability and 2 exterior and 4 interior storage pockets to provide plenty of storage. An ergonomic neoprene carry handle offers comfort.

Features and Benefits

- Duraflex buckles attach to H2O XPRESS™ Pro Tackle Bag (sold separately)

- Water-resistant 840D polyester construction for durability

- 2 exterior and 4 interior storage pockets provide plenty of storage

- Ergonomic neoprene carry handle offers comfort

- Includes 15 reinforced, self-sealing PE bags

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-magnum-worm-binder/pid-516652

[Mikell]

Yeah ive got the mag binder too and i was usin it the same way lol