Crankbait Organization

[Rbunton87]

Do you organize lipless and Square bills by color or brand in you boxes? Just curious!

[RoLo]

 

My tackle box is sorted in top-down hierarchy based on 'Running Depth' (topwater to bottom-bumping)

 

Roger

[A-Jay]

 By Type, Size & Depth ~

 

A-Jay

[plawren53202]

I have a lipless box, a squarebill box and a deep diver box. Most of my fishing is bank fishing so I only need the deep diver box when I'm out in a boat. 

 

Squarebills and lipless are generally organized by color, each in a 3700 box. Red craw patterns together, chrome together, bluegill patterns together, etc. Most of them tend to be SK (KVD 1.5 or Red Eye Shad) but I have different brands mixed together. Because of my bank fishing frequency, all of my squarebills are 1.5 size. Not sure how I would organize them if I had some 2.5s or other sizes mixed in.

[Dens228]

Mine are sorted by running depth.  I fish out of a kayak so I only have one box with me at any given time. 

 

[Fishes in trees]

I can't carry all my cranks, so decisions have to be made.  I've found that I stay much more organized with more, smaller boxes with 1 or maybe 2 baits per compartment.  

Lipless cranks - I carry 2 Plano lipless crank boxes that hold 18 baits each, in individual slots.  (Not sure on the exact #, but that is in the ballpark).  One box has my favorite half ounce lipless cranks.  The other box has 3/4 ounce lipless cranks.  I have a thin 3600 size box with 8 or 9 Red Eye Shads ( half ounce ) but it has been a while since those have gotten wet.

 

Bass Pro Shops used to marked double sided, V slotted crank bait boxes.  They were roughly the 3700 size footprint. 

Two of those boxes hold my working supply of Timber Tigers (DC1, DC4, DC5, DC8, DC13 & DC16) in various colors.  I have more Timber Tigers in reserve in the fishing shed.  Another double sided box holds a selection of Wiggle Warts on one side and various Medium Divers on the other.   There is a thick 3600 size box that holds 8 of the big, ounce and a half Academy Square Bills.   Couple of other boxes hold a modest selection finesse cranks that need to be thrown on spinning gear - Shad Raps, old discontinued Bandit flat sides, stuff like that.

 

In the past few years, I've cut down the number of cranks that I carry by alot.  If I'm going to a place where I'm likely to try throwing deep diving cranks,  like the Ozark Lakes, I have a few boxes of those baits, but I don't generally carry them or the rig to throw them on week to week.

[Bankbeater]

My crankbaits are organized by depth and kept in 3700 boxes in the basement.  I'll go through the boxes and pull out the baits that I want to take with me depending on where I'll be fishing and the conditions.

[MN Fisher]

I have one 3700 crankbait box, each compartment is labeled with what it is, weight and running depth. Since I only have 2-4 of each, one compartment for each type...ergo, all my DT-4s are in one compartment, all my Shad Rap 07s in another, etc. I use Owner Treble Safety Caps to avoid hook-tangle.

[Spankey]

I sort of have mine stowed by manufacturer and size. Ex. Bandit 200 would not be mixed with Bombers. Rapala DT’s would not be mixed with SK 1.5’s. I label my boxes real well and some of my crankbaits I mark the bills for running depth. Jerkbaits and topwater are separated also. I fish a lot of hard baits. Admittedly I probably take too many out with me when I’m out. 

[swhit140]

I use Flambeau 4007 boxes in my tackle bag. I use 3 of them for my crankbaits. I just have my 3 boxes setup for different depth, shallow, medium, lipless/deep diving. I use a label printer to label each box. I just buy the plastic hook bonnets from Ebay, I always stay tangle free no messing around with tangled hooks. 

[scaleface]

by brand and usually use the first color that comes untangled 

[Chonch12]

On 7/11/2020 at 3:08 PM, A-Jay said:

 By Type, Size & Depth ~

 

A-Jay

I need to show this to my wide. She thinks I have tok much stuff and I haven't even gotten into cranks yet ??? impressive man. You think of going to the new crankbait boxes from edge? I'm dying to get the jig box after switching to the regular 3700. They are so great 

 

Just terminal, ton different soft plastics, and jigs haha 

 

Also seems like you have a nice system for the hooks but check out earring backers. Can get 1000 on amazon for like $5. I use them on all sorts of hooks they are clutch 

45 minutes ago, swhit140 said:

I use Flambeau 4007 boxes in my tackle bag. I use 3 of them for my crankbaits. I just have my 3 boxes setup for different depth, shallow, medium, lipless/deep diving. I use a label printer to label each box. I just buy the plastic hook bonnets from Ebay, I always stay tangle free no messing around with tangled hooks. 

If you wanna replace those hook keeps check out earring backers. Small rubber plugs. Can get 1000 on amazon for $5. They are awesome 

[Columbia Craw]

On 7/11/2020 at 12:08 PM, A-Jay said:

 By Type, Size & Depth ~

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

I spotted the Hot Lips I sent you.  " Very pretty Colonel, very pretty.....but can they fight?'

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, Columbia Craw said:

 

 

 

I spotted the Hot Lips I sent you.  " Very pretty Colonel, very pretty.....but can they fight?'

Only the best make it to game day.

A-Jay 

[Cgolf]

I fish out of a small boat, so all my cranks, jerkbaits, lipless, and musky baits go in a deep 3700 and a standard 3700 with the hooks rubberbanded together. I know A-Jay and others have tons of storage room in their boats, all my stuff needs to fit in my magnum cabela's bag that sits on deck. I essentially pack like a coangler in my own boat.

[Columbia Craw]

Type and depth with a pinch of confusion.

[schplurg]

I have one 3600 box for deep divers (don't have many yet), and the rest are stuffed into another box. All of those are squarebills of same depth.

 

I'm gonna force myself to stick to a simple color scheme - light (shad, white), dark (black, red), and medium (chartreuse, bluegill and whatever else).

 

I just don't think the fish notice the intricate patterns as they attack these baits. We shall see. I'm going to ignore the ol' monkey and stick to basics and see how it goes. 

 

I see an alternative treble hook bonnet on Amazon, wondering if anyone has tried them.

 

 

In case the picture doesn't show for you, these look like foam discs that slip onto the hook shank, then you press it down onto the hook points.

 

I could probably make some. Actually I think I will do just that.

 

Seems like they may be more difficult to put on and take off than the slip-on type bonnets. I've never used either type. I have an Amazon order ready to go but realized, thanks to this thread, that I need to try hook bonnets.

 

Edit:

I just ordered the traditional type bonnets instead of these.