Organizing my tackle

[avidone1]

I've been bass fishing for a loooooooooooooooong time.  Way longer than most of you whippersnappers have been alive.

so it goes without saying that I have tons of tackle.  Most of it hasn't seen water since Noah and the flood.  well, almost anyway.

so I need to make some room and in order to throw out useless wifey crap, I had to demonstrate my own willingness to sacrifice.

Man, what a chore.  It actually was a labor of love, going through the old tackle boxes finding lures that are no longer made, and some

that shouldn't have been made LOL.

I did manage to thin out the herd by about half which is pretty good.  Will donate the still good but no longer useful to me stuff

to the police who sponsor free clinics for kids along with a local club.

It took me three days to go through it all, but it was fun, and oddly satisfying on that deep level no non-fisherman could ever understand.

[Bluebasser86]

I've never met a fisherman that didn't enjoy going through their tackle and thinking back to all the fish each bait had (or hadn't), caught. 

[Fishes in trees]

Fifteen years ago, I went the other way.   Once it became obvious that the next boat I was planning on getting wouldn't fit in my garage, I built a bigger garage/barn/shed - call it what you will, to keep all my fishing stuff in.   At 30 by 40 my boat and fishing truck fit in it  with roughly  6 to 8 inches to spare.   Sliding door is on the east end.   Fishing rods are all racked up on the west end, spare soft plastics are sorted into plastic shoe boxes cover roughly 25 feet of the north side of the shed.    Shelves line most of the south side of the shed and are stacked with totes full of different fishing stuff.

I am charmed by the notion that it is somewhat organized and for the most part I can find what I'm looking for in 15 minutes or so.  There is still room for quite a bit more stuff,  especially if I find another place for my 10' utility trailer and my 4 wheeler.  Whatever, it won't be me, it will be my heirs or the public administrator who will have the job of ultimately going through and inventorying all the stuff.

If I live a long time and have somewhat advance notice, I'll probably give most of it away, but right now I just try to keep it half-assed organized.   I am aware of the fact that should I decide to purchase an incrementally larger boat, that will mean a larger tow vehicle, which will mean an incrementally larger fishing shed.   That isn't beyond the realm of possibility.   I've spent money on dumber stuff.

To echo Bluebasser 86's comment,  a few times per year, I like just sitting out in the shed, consume a few barley pops and go through stuff.

That is one of the reasons that we make sure that we have "enough " stuff.  

[buzzed bait]

i have to do some "spring cleaning" about every quarter or i go crazy.... oddly enough, i enjoy it.  it's the only type of "cleaning" i ever look forward to!

[Raul]

I don´t care about charity or donating or anything like that, I´m a selfish sob and the one with the most stuff wins !!!

[blckshirt98]

I have a tendancy to always need to "collect" something, and right now it's fishing tackle.  However I'll always hit a tipping point where the tradeoff between space/time to keep things in order turns into actual work that takes over the enjoyment of owning it.  I think i've hit that point with my fishing stuff because now when I go through a pack of plastics I feel a sense of relief thinking "whew, one more pack of plastics done with" instead of "one pack of plastics done with, now I need to buy more to replace it".

[Mike L]

The more I have the more confused I get trying to decide what to tie on when...

It's a constant state of confusion that has no chance of changing.

 

Mike 

[roadwarrior]

14 minutes ago, Mike L said:

The more I have the more confused I get trying to decide what to tie on when...

It's a constant state of confusion that has no chance of changing.

 

Mike 

Try putting everything you might fish in 1 day in a Plano 3700. I'm rigged when I start and still carry a complete bag, but it's rare that I fish anything other than what I have separated into the 3700. I may have three of something in one compartment to choose from, but they are pre-chosen and I don't have to consider two dozen others. 

 

[mrmacwvu1]

I made a dummy bag that I carry to the water. I tweak it from time to time based on the water and conditions I am fishing. The sad thing is I am a lure collector. They are like my baseball cards when I was a kid. Just pretty to look at from time to time.

[Mike L]

2 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Try putting everything you might fish in 1 day in a Plano 3700. I'm rigged when I start and still carry a complete bag, but it's rare that I fish anything other than what I have separated into the 3700. I may have three of something in one compartment to choose from, but they are pre-chosen and I don't have to consider two dozen others. 

 

Thanks Kent

Good tip

 

Mike