Tackle Organization

[Sherlock 60]

It's that time of year to re-think and reorganize my tackle.

What, if any, types of bags, boxes, buckets, systems, etc do you use for tackle organization?

[Goose52]

Baits that are in-use in Plano boxes. Extra baits hanging from pegboard, in drawers in the workbench, and overflowing into cardboard boxes under the workbench.  I don't use tackle bags or tackle boxes any longer. For the boat, I take the plano boxes I want for that day and put them in a Cabela's tote bag that goes in the boat. When fishing from the bank, I travel light and might have some plano boxes in the trunk of the car and select baits from there that I put in a belt pack I wear when working a shoreline.

 

 

[tomustang]

I use plano 3701's for boat and bank

[Senko lover]

For steeper banks and woody areas I'll bring a backpack, just easier to work with. For more open ponds I use a bag. I have plano boxes with hard baits/terminal tackle/wire baits/jigs, a plano box with my go-to plastics, and three large ziploc bags with soft plastic bags stuffed in them: one for worms, one for craws/creature baits, and one for flukes/swimbaits. 

[Weld's Largemouth]

I always bring all my tackle with me, because I will never know what the bass want.... If I bring certain lures what I think the bass may want, i'll end up regretting not bringing some certain lure (im a bank fisherman btw)

 

I store all my hard/soft body lures in a plano two level satchel tackle box (http://www.amazon.com/Plano-Two-Level-Satchel-Tackle/dp/B000E3C3JY)

 

 

And then for my countless bags of soft plastics... a back pack...

Soft plastic bags are separated into large plastic bags..

One bag is labelled stick worms, one is frogs, one is craws, etc.

 

 

 

I'm a bit crazy 

[thunderballs]

I carry all of my hard stuff in a large tackle bag, organized by type (terminal, squarebill cranks, spinnerbaits etc) in 3701 boxes.  That goes in the boat or I carry it if Im bank fishing.  Soft plastics are in plastic totes I bought, they are organized by type.  They stay in the boat, unless I'm bank fishing, then I take what I think I might need for the day.  

 

Works pretty decent, but the bag is starting to get pretty heavy (40lbs). So I'm going to have to think of something else for bank fishing. 

[yakingfisherman]

I use plano boxes for my lures. Usually I carry five boxes when I kayak fish and also bring a backpack with all my plastics. Like stated above,I bring everything I have when I fish. Never know what the bass want. As far as organizing, I categorize my lures by the types. For example swimbaits, lipless cranks, billed cranks, jigs, topwater, spinnerbaits etc.

[RSM789]

I just bought 2 BPS worm binders and spent a few hours transferring all my soft plastics into them.  So far so good, I like the way they allow you quick access to the worms without taking up too much room.

 

I kind of wish the bags were a bit thicker so that I could put more bags of plastics in each binder page, but that might make the bags a bit too heavy to be manageable.  It probably is best to keep them the way they are and then just buy another bag if you need more room.

[papajoe222]

Except for soft plastics, all my tackle is stored/carried in 3700 or 3600 boxes. Plastics are separated by type in one of three Flambeau super half satchels.  I prefer hard sided containers to bags or soft sides.  The remainder of my extra tackle is on a peg board system.

[matuka]

I use MANY Plano boxes, labeled on two edges for easy ID. One gallon zip lock freezer bags for area specific, or type specific soft plastics, also labeled. Favorite soft plastics like senkos in various colors are held together with HD paper clamps. Hooks are also sorted by size and style, in labeled planos with dessicant pouches thrown in to inhibit rust. One compartment has swimbaits: hard body types packaged and arranged vertically, and soft plastic ones laid horizontally. Well I think you get the picture. Yet after two days fishing the words "tackle" and "organization" are humbly mutually exclusive.......

[flipin4bass]

Sits behind the seat of my yak.

[flipin4bass]

Baits that are in-use in Plano boxes. Extra baits hanging from pegboard, in drawers in the workbench, and overflowing into cardboard boxes under the workbench.  I don't use tackle bags or tackle boxes any longer. For the boat, I take the plano boxes I want for that day and put them in a Cabela's tote bag that goes in the boat. When fishing from the bank, I travel light and might have some plano boxes in the trunk of the car and select baits from there that I put in a belt pack I wear when working a shoreline.

 

 

Oh Oh...we might want to refer Goose to the BMVSG. (Bait Monkey Victim Support Group)

[Bankbeater]

I have a BPS 370 bag with 5 boxes in it.  I use that when I am fishing from a boat.  When I am off the bank I use a Plano 1150 tackle box.

[Goose52]

Oh Oh...we might want to refer Goose to the BMVSG. (Bait Monkey Victim Support Group)

 

I am actually pretty good at not buying too many baits.  However, for reels, I am very weak to the influences of the bait monkey..................................

[troutbum1]

I am actually pretty good at not buying too many baits.  However, for reels, I am very weak to the influences of the bait monkey..................................

I agree, I to am addicted to reels. Ooooh reels, I love them.

[Master Bait'r]

Baits that are in-use in Plano boxes. Extra baits hanging from pegboard, in drawers in the workbench, and overflowing into cardboard boxes under the workbench. I don't use tackle bags or tackle boxes any longer. For the boat, I take the plano boxes I want for that day and put them in a Cabela's tote bag that goes in the boat. When fishing from the bank, I travel light and might have some plano boxes in the trunk of the car and select baits from there that I put in a belt pack I wear when working a shoreline.

You have a better selection than half the tackle shops in the area haha

[Bruce424]

Rod carrier box is better quality than mine. Mine was made out of cardboard box. Had to do somthin. I got tired of rods shifting and being in my face while I was driving. At the time I used a semi deep box so I could also put some plano boxes in the bottom of it or a worm binder. Just saying nice setup.

[Goose52]

Rod carrier box is better quality than mine. Mine was made out of cardboard box. Had to do somthin. I got tired of rods shifting and being in my face while I was driving. At the time I used a semi deep box so I could also put some plano boxes in the bottom of it or a worm binder. Just saying nice setup.

 

Thanks. I used a cardboard box for quite a while before building that one out of wood.  It is divided to hold bags of plastics and can also hold 3500 size Plano boxes.  Interior photo of the box is below.  A thread about this box, including more photos, is here:  Rod Box For Organization / Transport Of Rods In Cars & Small SUVs

 

 

[primetime]

I have so much tackle I buy with intent to sell, but half of it ends up going into storage. I used to carry a dozen boxes, 2 gym bags full of plastics and lures, my organization is terrible, I will reach for a crank and it will be tangled with 20 other's and it drove me insane one day.

 

Know I buy a small binder and brind only 3 boxes with me and strap the plastics to my belt since I only use 10% of what I have. I find I do better if I bring less, I am not temped to try something new and shiny all the time.

 

Less = more fishing time for me...But I am ready for the day when fishing tackle is hard to find. I used to bring 3 boxes of just topwaters but that is overkill for me.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

I have 8 or 9 big bags filled with stuff and that many rubbermaids filled .but i did find one bag thats perfect for everyday stuff it fits my way of fishing in the yak and the bank saltwter and fresh its a flambue quick draw

[rippin-lips]

I hit up the surplus store tonight on the way home from work. 2x6 sheet of pegboard and 10 hooks ran me $12. Cut it to size and screwed it to the side of my shelves. Got some plastics out of a milk crate on the floor. I needed to crate to make a lid for the crate I made for my kayak. Looks a little better this way too.

[TacticalBassin]

Oh man I only been fishing for 2 years and already bought so much stuff I can see some of these setups in my future. Just bought one of them plano tray totes that hold 7 trays planing on using that as a tackle bag and having another small bag for plactics and tools looking to try it out once New England thaws out 

[Fishes in trees]

What kind of storage do you mean?  In boat?  In truck for transport?  In your fishing room/garage/ man cave/ what have you?

 

For me, prior to upgrading to a bigger boat,  (circa 2001), I built a bigger garage so that I could keep my fishing truck and boat hooked up, most of the time.   For years after that, every time I saw shelving get down to $10-12 bucks, I would buy another shelf.   A couple of times, the heavy duty plastic shelving got down to around $30, so I've picked up a few of those shelving units.

 

If you have an unheated garage, anything you can do to avoid storing stuff on the gravel floor, you do.  That is mouse proofing 101.  Soft plastics need to be sorted.  Every time plastic shoe boxes got on sale at Walmart for around a buck, I bought a dozen of them.   My guess would be that I have more than a hundred of them right now, probably less than 200, which seems like a lot, but over time isn't that much.

 

Storage extends down both the 40' length of the north & south wall of the fishing barn now.   I have a number of the larger plastic totes, to store stuff like extra fishing bags and other stuff that won't fit into plastic shoe boxes.

 

The most important think for any storage system is labeling.  You can waste a lot of time going through different boxes and totes, looking for something, time that could have been saved through proper labeling.

 

I've tired numerous labeling system.  Sharpies and colored duct tape make the best, least prone to fading and falling off labels that I've found.   Stick on paper labels are not very dust resistant, if you keep all your stuff inside, that isn't an issue.   Keep all your stuff in an unheated garage and it is an issue.

 

I think that it is important to realize that how you store and organize your gear is an ongoing issue that is only solved, if it is ever solved, on a temporary basis.   There is no way that I could ever be as neat as some of the storage pictures posted demonstrate.  Just not wired that way.  

 

One more thing, as you are making attempts to organize your storage area, make sure that it is easy to get to your ghetto blaster and cooler.  I find that storage issues are easier to deal with when I've got the tunes blasting at a decent volume and I have easy access to a cold one.   Have a few cold ones, and your serious storage issues don't seem so pressing, at least for a while.

[whitwolf]

I don't have much but what I do have is fairly well organized. When I fish I only take what I feel gives me the best shot at catching fish. a few times a year I put everything back on pegs, take an Inventory, and buy as needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I keep my spinnerbaits In a seperate box but most everything else Is on pegs. This closet Is much smaller than at the house I had before I got married but you learn to maximize space and to rid yourself of tackle that you haven't used in years. I did something in this closet that I didn't In the other In that I hung some pictures and some items like the first baitcaster I bought back In '80. It's a work In progress with (of course) more tackle to be added.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

That a lews hanging ill give ya 20$