I'm building an every day tackle box - one that I can carry that can have a good majority of the lures I use. Looking for input!

[JFlynn97]

So far I have:

 

• Topwater frog (spro bronzeye in black)
• Spook Jr. in bone
• 2 strike king football jigs (black/blue and black/brown/amber, 3/8 oz)
• 1 strike king swim jig (green pumpkin, 3/8 oz)
• 2 chatterbaits (black/blue and green pumpkin, 3/8 oz)
• 2 square bills (red/black and sexy shad, shallow/moderate diving)
• 25 pack gamakatsu 3/0 EWG hooks for senkos
• I was also thinking of putting in a couple spinnerbaits, maybe one in white and one in black?

 

Any other tips? How does it look? Thanks!

[Fun4Me]

It would be hard for me not to add some stick baits, flukes, and some ned rig supplies to that mix, even if i had to remove something else. JMO 

[jr231]

Jerkbait for sure. 

[Rollincoal420]

I'm finding myself more often it's easier leaving the tackle box in the car and just stuffing a bag of an assortment of soft plastics in my pocket.  It seems there is a lot that can be covered with one hook.  I do my fishing from the bank so I just take 2 rods with me when I leave the house.   Lately they have been one Texas rigged and one weightless 3/0  hooks,  and a cargo pocket of soft baits.  Im no expert at it, but it seems very easy and effective way to be ready on the go and be able to travel light.

[jr231]

You're exactly right. Just know if you visit the same "haunts" they'll learn about that structure bug or brush hog or whatever your go-to`s are. If you don't have access to many areas , variety will lead to fruitful trips. 

[Nscheele]

I never leave home without at least one spinnerbait.

[Outdoor Zack]

Trick worms, brush hogs, lizards, craws, grubs, etc. would be essentials for me.  

 

And a popper and a few more squarebills.  Also a few spinnerbaits with different blade setups 

[NYWayfarer]

10 hours ago, Rollincoal420 said:

I'm finding myself more often it's easier leaving the tackle box in the car and just stuffing a bag of an assortment of soft plastics in my pocket.  It seems there is a lot that can be covered with one hook.  I do my fishing from the bank so I just take 2 rods with me when I leave the house.   Lately they have been one Texas rigged and one weightless 3/0  hooks,  and a cargo pocket of soft baits.  Im no expert at it, but it seems very easy and effective way to be ready on the go and be able to travel light.

 

I  agree with this. I have learned the fine art of downsizing and I am happier for it.

 

After many trips where my tackle box was, for the most part, untouched I have learned to take less.

 

 

[scaleface]

We  all  fish differently  and in different areas . I could get by on worms ,hooks , weights , crankbaits , buzzbaits and spinnerbaits .

[James Janousek]

I would recommend an assortment of different hook sizes.  3/0, 4/0, 5/0 EWG, a couple of finesse/drop shot hooks too.  Hooks take up no space and weigh nothing.  I'd also throw some weights in there, bullet, drop shot, split shot, etc.  Just like 2-3 of 1/16, 1/8, 1/4.  Again, they take up no space.

 

The bigger issue is your plastics.  Flukes, Senkos, worms, creatures, toads, ned rig.  Those all take up a large amount of storage space.  What I do is have a box full of terminal tackle/hard baits, then I keep a zip lock freezer bag for a plastic assortment with 6-12 bags in it depending on the time of year and body of water I'm going to fish.

[StrikePrince]

What a fisherman takes on limited space should vary by angler.  I would say include baits that you like and have confidence in, that cover all parts of the water column and are fishable in whatever cover you will be fishing that day.

 

My standard tackle box includes spinnerbaits, texas rigs, a popr, bullet weights and hooks for texas rigging and weightless plastics and jigs.

 

[WRB]

On 8/7/2017 at 10:17 AM, JFlynn97 said:

So far I have:

 

• Topwater frog (spro bronzeye in black)
• Spook Jr. in bone
• 2 strike king football jigs (black/blue and black/brown/amber, 3/8 oz)
• 1 strike king swim jig (green pumpkin, 3/8 oz)
• 2 chatterbaits (black/blue and green pumpkin, 3/8 oz)
• 2 square bills (red/black and sexy shad, shallow/moderate diving)
• 25 pack gamakatsu 3/0 EWG hooks for senkos
• I was also thinking of putting in a couple spinnerbaits, maybe one in white and one in black?

 

Any other tips? How does it look? Thanks!

What rod(s) and reel(s) do you have and bank or boat angler??

Tom

[boostr]

I just put together a bank fishing kit so I don't have to keep on getting in my boat to get bait and tackle. I got a Spiderwire backpack with  1 Flambau 3700 series box with 1/2 oz Strike King Danny Baur structure jigs  4 in Blue craw, 4 in Bk/Bl , VMC 3/0 and 5/0 round bend worm hooks, and wide gap worm hooks, VMC 4/0 flippn hooks, VMC weedless and regular wacky hooks, VMC 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz shakey heads, VMC 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 oz tungsten bullet weights, some red fasceted glass beads, 2 Mann's Shallow divers, and 2 2.5 Strike King Square bills, 3 Strike King Red Eye Shads. Then have one of those small double sided Plano boxes with 2 Kermit hollow bodied frogs, 2 GY poppers, and my weedles Z-Man Mushroomz jigs. Finally a plano 3500 series spinnerbait box with  3 spinner baits and 3 swim jigs. All my plastics are in a Ziploc bag. Don't forget your flouro leader, wacky tool, shears/pliers, and most importantly a scale, these I carry in different pouches in the bag or on my belt.

  I actually think my Ziploc bag of plastics weigh more than all my tackle put together.

[fishwizzard]

On 08/08/2017 at 4:13 PM, WRB said:

What rod(s) and reel(s) do you have and bank or boat angler??

Tom

 

This would be my first question as well.  

 

I have a medium travel rod and reel that I keep in my car at all times and take with me on all my work trips.  My tackle is very minimal, a bag or two of watermelon w/ red flake senkos, a pair of 3/8 lipless cranks,a whopper plopper 90, and a white/chart spinnerbait. 

 

 If I'm traveling somewhere specific for work I might throw in an other lure that seems appropriate, but for the most part I felt those four seem to cover a huge percent of the situations I might encounter. 

[thinkingredneck]

Trick worms.  GP, Junebug.  Spoons

[Sam]

May I suggest you include a special compartment where you can store those baits you plan to throw until you change your mind?

 

In other words, have a specific compartment for your buzzbait, popper, Chatterbait, spinnerbait, crankbaits, frogs, toads, etc. that you are going to throw first.  Include room for some of your favorite plastics, too.

 

Then use the rest of the box for storage.

 

Don't forget a place for your needle nose pliers, too.

[SummertimeCarl]

Sounds like a great do-it-all box to me.  I love fishing with minimal tackle.  I'd add:

 

• pliers 
• assorted weights
• ziploc bag with assorted soft plastics 
  
  (In my truck I keep a bag with 2 of all my favorite soft plastics, an extra just in case one gets lost or damaged).

[Choporoz]

I've been known to take a 45 pound duffle bag stuffed with plano boxes on the boat...along with a backpack of plastics....in the kayak, I fill a milk crate with four 3700 boxes and a tackle bag....

 

But, to be perfectly honest, I'd bet that if I took every single thing that I've used this entire year...it could fit into one 3700 and a Bassmaster bag.

[Fishes in trees]

Why build a tackle box?  Tackle boxes can be bought and they come in different sizes and levels of quality, from pretty cheap and not worth your time and easy to tear up, to how much do you want to spend.  What is the level of quality that you and your wallet are comfortable with?

 

I sense somehow that you aren't referring to that, but more to building up a kit of reliable lures.

Questions - . . . .

A - What are your local waters like?

B - How do you like to fish?

C - What works most of the time for others in your area?

D - Bank fish or boat fish?

E - Bank fishing - How far are you walking?

F - Boat fishing - How big is the boat you're fishing out of?

G - Boat fishing - Do you fish out of other guys boats more often - co-angler?

H - Tournament stuff or day to day recreational fishing?  ( Two considerably different games )

I - Prefer spinning gear or bait casting gear?

J - Bank fishing - Do you stay on the bank or do you mind getting a little wet?

                        (If you don't mind getting a little wet, the best tool you can buy for bank fishing is a pair 

                          of hip waders.   Gets you off the bank a little bit and makes it much easier to fish

                          parallel to the bank, which is often important in covering water while bank fishing )

K - How concerned about budget are you?

L - Local resources - Are there decent tackle shops in your region or are you more focused on internet 

                              purchases?

M - Bank fishing - If you're hiking in, how far?  ( Back in the day, when I was a meat fishing bush hippie, 

                           about half a mile was my limit.  DON'T try hiking in hip waders.)

N - What kind of fishing do you like to do the best?  (For instance, I'd carry more Ned rig stuff if I LIKED

      Ned rigging.   However, I see that kind of as a last resort so I carry a minimal quantity of Ned rig stuff)

      * Minimal for me - your definition of minimal might differ.

O - How old are you and what is your budget?  This makes a difference.   What do you need to accumulate

     now?   What can you wait to accumulate over time.  (16 years ago, I had to build a fishing shed to 

                accommodate the stuff I'd accumulated up to that point.   And it gave me room to accumulate

                much more stuff.  Needless to say, I didn't buy very many new bait casters the year I paid for

                having the shed built. )

 

Hope this gives you some stuff to think about.   There isn't any easy answer to your question, but confronting these questions MIGHT give you some notion of what you need and what you don't.    (Except the one about building a tackle box - buying one that suits you is MUCH simpler than trying to build one)

Questions B and N are similar - they are important questions.

 

[1234567]

May have been mentioned already but make some space for some finesse baits. 1/8 or less ball head jigs. 3 Inch flukes or worms. Micro cranks such as the rapala floating balsa baits. Sometimes it saves the day.