tackle storage in tournament boats

[naturalnbama]

I went to a tournament and was walking around looking at some of the boats.  I noticed that underneath the lids on the storage areas most of the tournament guys had something rigged up where they had pack after pack of baits hanging under there.  I didnt go up and look close enough to see how they did it.  I have now bought a boat and would love to be able to use the storage areas like that.  can anyone give some tips or better yet maybe photos of this.

Chris

[TopDog]

They have 2,

This one:

http://www.cookstacklesystems.com/

and this:

http://www.easyviewtackle.com/

Good luck with whatever you choose!

[flechero]

If you are a plastics guy, I like and use the easyview.  I fish plastic more than anything, so I set mine up to basically hold the 3-5 most common colors of each bait I use.  

Unless it's a tough day, I don't even get into a soft sided plastics bag.  

[Cajun1977]

i use the cooks go to system for some of my spinnerbaits and jigs that i usealot, its a great system and ive never had any issues with it at all

[The Next KVD]

cooks are AWESOME!!!!

[Hot Rod]

You can save a bunch of money by making them yourself.    and they will be custom sized to your particular compartment lid.

Go to the hardware store and buy yourself a section of 1" aluminum 90 degree angle.  An 8ft section is about $20 and will be enough to run the length of both rod boxes and the main compartment in a typical boat.

Cut the aluminum to length for each compartment lid.  Mark one inch increments along the center of one side of the angle.  Then drill a 1/8" hole at each mark.  (this is easier with a drill press but a hand drill works fine).

Drill two or three holes in the other side of the angle.  Then screw it in place into the underside of the compartment lid with stainless steel screws.

You can hang hard baits right in the holes by the hooks.  Or if you want to hang plastics, buy the wire clip shower curtain hooks (the kind they use to clip golf towels to a golf bag) to hang bags or other items.

One work of caution.  If you get too much weight in lures/bags attached to the lid it makes them heavy and may counter act the pneumatic lid lift assists that some boats are equiped with.   So I pretty much only use them to keep my "go to" baits in or two dry baits out after I've fished them before putting them back into their storage box.  It saves a lot of rusty hooks.

[jdw174]

i use the cooks go to system for some of my spinnerbaits and jigs that i usealot, its a great system and ive never had any issues with it at all

+1 for the Cooks system.

[bassdocktor]

Thank's Hot Rod I think that idea is going into the boat this year.

[Hot Rod]

No problem.

One thing I forgot to mention.  Is to use some fine grit sandpaper and/or a fine file to smooth off any burs of the aluminum after you are finshed cutting/drilling.  This will keep you from snagging or scratching items going in an out of the compartment.  Make sure you round the exposed corners of the angle too for the same reason (you can leave the side that is attached to the lid compartment square).

Also tin snips work great for doing the cutting portion of the fabrication.

[bassdocktor]

Thanks again. I'd have figured out the sanding but rounding the edges might have escaped me. That's definitley a key piece of advice. Can't wait till it warms up to add this to atleast one rod locker. Already made sure ot print off what you said and save it.