What do you bring bank fishing?

[Bassin407]

It's like the old saying, the more lures you bring the less fish you'll catch. 

[Bankbeater]

I usually bring a bc for jigs, a spinning reel for weightless plastics, and a bc for spinnerbaits. I tried carrying a backpack but it can get banged around, and sometimes it got wet. Now I carry a two shelf box.

[soflabasser]

 

 

On 4/27/2016 at 7:56 PM, RyanDR said:

I do a lot of bank fishing as I'm currently in college and don't have access do my little Jon boat about 10 months out of the year. I always want to bring way too much. I know I would be fine with just one tackle box and throw a bunch of stuff in there and one rod. But there's always the "what if" and I'll need all my baits. Recently I've been bringing 2 rods and 2-3 3601 size tackle boxes + whatever random plastics and crap I think I'll need in a backpack. 

I sometimes miss the days where I was first getting into fishing and only had one rod and a few lures.

So what do you all bring bank fishing? 

I tend to bring a bookbag with 2 Plano boxes of artificial lures, terminal tackle,a digital scale,tape measure,water bottles, meal replacement bars, and 2-3 rods at most.

[FishHard247]

I have a coleman crawdad and fish all farm ponds. Last night tho, I had 2 hours and my trolling motor battery was dead. So I hit the closest one from the house. The pond is clear but stained most times and in mid summer, gets so much watermeal on it you cant fish. I take it all. Full backpack and 3 rods. I lean the rods up against the truck and they are ready with the most successful lures from the past at this particular pond. It was slow last night, not even a bluegill bite within the first hour but then! Out of the blue I caught a 4 pounder on a green rage craw at 7:30pm and then after the frogs started croaking I went to a black 3/8 oz buzzbait and landed it in 3 inches of water and caught another 3.6 pounder! From the bank! This pond usually yields one pounders but last night was good. Its post spawn here. Heres some pics.

[Hawkeye21]

I always have my backpack with whatever tackle I need to focus on the fish I want that day.  Sometimes more spinners, sometimes more crank baits and sometimes more top water baits.

Depending on where I'm fishing I will bring 1 to 3 rods.  If I'm trout fishing all I need is one light rod.  If I'm fishing around a pond I'll bring 2 or 3 depending on how many different types of lures I want to fish.  I hate having to switch baits out too often.

[MassYak85]

I usually don't bring a ton. A couple plano boxes stuffed into a small backpack along with whatever I need to deal with a fish once I catch it (pliers, scale etc.). At most I bring 2 rods. The minimum I bring is my hook box and a few bags of worms along with one rod. 

[clh121787]

The best tool I've ever brought bank fishing has been a boat haha

[edfitzvb]

One BC and One Spinning setup

One 3600 type bag with a shoulder strap, rig like a creel. Left side pocket holds pliers, scale, sunglasses, etc

Right side pocket holds critter baits and trailers

Center front holds all worm baits

Three 3600 boxes in the main compartmrnt for hard baits to include:

cranks, jerks, poppers, spinnerbaits, etc.... Whatever I wish to bring for that trip.

When fishing I swing the bag back to the  small of my back. When I move, I just pick up the rod that I don't have in my hand and I'm ready to go

[BaitMonkey1984]

A boat. 

[Master Bait'r]

A kayak.  ?

[hoosierbass07]

I wish I could go back to the way I fished the first spring/summer I started fishing for bass - one tackle bag with one pack of Yum-Dingers, one pack of Power worms and one pack of lizards.  That set up satisfied me all summer long.  

[S. Sass]

On 4/28/2016 at 0:22 PM, the reel ess said:

If I can drive close to the water, I bring the arsenal. That would be private water.

Same here most almost all my bank fishing is private water. I load the Z71 with the big bag and grab 3 to 5 rods usually 2 Spinning 3 Baitcasting and pull less than a 100 feet usually end up backing right up to the water using tailgate for a table. 

 

[Brikon]

3 rods: Medium/Fast Action, Medium-Heavy/Moderate Action, Heavy/Fast Action.

Shakey heads, zoom trick worms,  A couple creature baits, hooks, Chatterbaits, Fish head spin, a couple crankbaits. I fit all this in one backpack. 

[Jeff Bernaeyge]

I have been taking a bc with a chatterbait and a spinning rod with a grub, then my tackle box. looking in the future to do one setup with a hip pack though. keep it light and mobile

[fishwizzard]

As long as I am not going far enough from my car that I need to bring a lot of water, a first aid kit, and other hiking stuff, I just bring a small fly fishing chest pack.  It fits a few loose hardbaits or a pocket Plano in the front fly compartment, and a 5 compartment Plano and maybe two to three small bags of plastics in the "large" pocket.  I keep some leader, a tube of megastrike, nippers, and hemostats in the side pockets.  

I only bring a single rod, a ML spinner that leans more towards the M side.  I find that a weightless fluke, a few Ned rigs or variants, a few spinnerbaits, and some 4" Fat Impacts are all I really need from the bank.  

Now, I only ever seem to catch small bass, so maybe it is best to ignore me.  

[hawgenvy]

Normally my bank fishing is a casual evening outing for an hour or two and I'll bring one rod and a shoulder strap bag with various compartments. It's real easy to reach into even while holding the rod and holds a bunch of tackle as well as pliers, clippers, rag, weighing scale, and hook sharpener.

But sometimes on weekend evenings I'll grab a fishing buddy and go up to my aunt's house an hour away. She lives on a golf course full of ponds with fish. On spring evenings after the golfers are gone, we'll roll her golf cart out of the garage and load the rear deck with a half dozen rods and a ton of tackle and refreshments. It's basically a bass boat on wheels. We'll go hunting for bass at a dozen prime spots, each with well groomed banks and each having the occasional 5+ giant. There are some spots for big snook, too. It's a blast! Thank you, Aunt! 

[burrows]

deleted

[I.rar]

Copied from my post from a other thread :

 

Through all of my buying and selling tackle, I found I really only need 3 nice setups for my fishing. Unless something catches my eye, lol. 

Medium/Light spinning for 1/8-5/16  (I do most of my fishing with this)

Medium casting for 1/4-5/8

Medium/heavy casting for 3/8-1oz

All fast action with braid and leader (6lb, 10lb & 15lb).

I'm not a tackle junkie with a million baits to choose from. Over the years I've narrowed down my selection to the bait styles I have the most confidence in, then manufacturers. What I have is roughly 5 styles of soft plastics and a hand full of hard baits for each rod power. I even did the spreadsheet thing other members suggested to help keep track of what you use and need to reorder so I'm not shopping for new-to-me baits when I can see what works for me. 

This helped me limit my gear, selection and stress carrying what I need when I'm bank beating. Also makes restocking easier and cheaper. 

 

 

Small bag for when I bring just the ML spinning

 

Slightly larger bag for when I bring more than 1 rod or any plastics longer than 4-5" 

 

Just add water. 

[Heron]

Here's a better idea, if you just get your mind to stop haunting you by thinking, "what-if," then you won't need anyone else's input on what you should take.

[dday07]

I never have more than like 20 choices...all some way match the main forage that will be near the bank during each period..either shad,bluegill,craws,baby bass..and frogs in the Summer

 

[Outdoor Zack]

On ‎5‎/‎6‎/‎2016 at 11:25 AM, Heron said:

Here's a better idea, if you just get your mind to stop haunting you by thinking, "what-if," then you won't need anyone else's input on what you should take.

That's easier said than done

[Heron]

4 hours ago, Outdoor Zack said:

That's easier said than done

Actually, no it isn't. 

[Heron]

In my bank fishing experience, regardless of whether Im fishing for numbers, or fishing for bigguns.  Ive always had more success by changing my shoreline locations more often, than changing my baits.  

So my tackle selection is almost always limited to about 1-4 different baits, total.

(Note: this is for waters that Im fairly acquainted with.)

 

[snake95]

On 4/27/2016 at 7:56 PM, RyanDR said:

But there's always the "what if" and I'll need all my baits. Recently I've been bringing 2 rods and 2-3 3601 size tackle boxes + whatever random plastics and crap I think I'll need in a backpack. 

I sometimes miss the days where I was first getting into fishing and only had one rod and a few lures.

So what do you all bring bank fishing?

I take both approaches: both the KISS principle, and the "be prepared" approach.  For me, both have their merits - neither one is wrong.  For some people, obviously it is one or the other.  

On "simple" days, I have one rod, one hook remover, and either a plastics binder or a plano 3600 or 3700 box.  

On the not-as simple days, I use an over-the-shoulder tackle bag and two rods.  

Honestly, some days I get by with only a single 3600 box but still feel the need for two rods - say a shorter one with mono for topwater hardbaits and another longer heavier one with braid for frogs.  

My shoulder bag always has a basic stock of various hooks, weights, and jigs.  I also have a scale and tape.  I add or subtract 3600 boxes and/or plastics bags in a ziplock in the main compartment based on the day.  I might throw in a floro spool for leaders if needed.  The baitbinder has a subset of the shoulder bag hooks and weights.

I am a bit of an organization freak and the key to staying flexible for me is to have everything modular and ready to go.  So, I have an assortment of "go" boxes, usually stocked with a variety of baits based on the season rather than by lure type.  With 2-3 go boxes plus a few bags of soft plastics, I have never ever felt like I ran out of options or missed a key bait.  

At home I have clear boxes with "on deck" lures and plastics, to try out or put back into rotation in the 3600 boxes (based on a suggestion from another BR reader).  I use old style tackle boxes only for storage at home, unless I'm going on a serious road trip.

I go with "simple" if I am going for a quick trip, want to dedicate my time to a particular type of lure or method, or just want to travel light.  

I go with the bag if I have a longer time to fish, and especially if I want to try some lures I haven't used in a while.  For me, half the fun is experimenting with a variety of lures when I have several hours to do that.

Alright, I'll admit it, on really long trips, I sometimes I'll toss in a bunch of spare 3600 boxes and yet another rod in the car.  I love to try different things, when I have the time to justify changing around.

[greentrout]

(1) medium casting 6 6" rod & (1) 5 6" medium spinning rod. Casting 12 lb. mono. Spinning 8 or 10 lb. mono. Good shoes, loose cool clothing, some snacks and a winning attitude. Lucky to have the opportunity to catch the LMB.

Good Fishing.