Tackle Storage and Management for Hoarders

[snake95]

Guys, I have a problem with the bait monkey.  I collect.   I know I am not the only one. 

 

Background: I am a jon boat, kayak, and bank fisherman.  I am not big time.  I have a storage closet, plus a work area where I get ready.

 

Problem: I have a great collection, but often can't put my hands on what I want quickly.  

 

How do other "collectors" manage gear?  

 

One answer: simplify, sell off unused.  I get it.  Not ready yet.  In any case, organizing would help facilitate that.

 

What I am considering:

Keep similar baits in the "reserves" grouped by make/model and also by category together in storage.  

Keep stuff in boxes.

 

Keep those on active duty in the work area, similar grouping.  Rotate back into storage if trying out new stuff.

Since I can't carry tons of gear, I often make up plano "go boxes" to cut down on volume I carry.

 

Have any of you other guys taken a different approach?  Any tips?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[InfantryMP]

To be honest the best tackle organization I have seen was Jacob Wheeler's garage. 

 

He has 3700's full of tackle stacked with what they are. Shallow cranks and deep cranks separate, but on the same shelf labeled. His terminal tackle organization is crazy. He has boxes for each kind of rig. T-rigs, drop shots, trebles etc. They are stacked to the dang ceiling. 

 

For his tournaments, he just grabs boxes of what he thinks he is going to throw. For a go box, I would do the same thing he does, except just grab a couple of each thing you think you may throw. 

[Jig Man]

The other half is in the boat.

 

[snake95]

20 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

The other half is in the boat

That looks awesome and straightforward.  I will try to implement something like this.

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, snake95 said:

That looks awesome and straightforward.  I will try to implement something like this.

This is my winter-storage area in the 'man cave' - everything is in the tackle-bags now ready to go out...I don't have as much as some others do. Rods are upright in the corner to the left of this bookcase.

[snake95]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

everything is in the tackle-bags now ready to go out...I don't have as much as some others do

Thanks, that looks very good.  I won't find time to be that organized in the next decade or so (LOL) but can't say I won't envy your organization.  Regardless, a good example of what to shoot for.

[Crankin4Bass]

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

This is my winter-storage area in the 'man cave' - everything is in the tackle-bags now ready to go out...I don't have as much as some others do. Rods are upright in the corner to the left of this bookcase.

That looks really good. Are your plastics on the top shelf still in bags in open Plano boxes with no dividers?

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, Crankin4Bass said:

That looks really good. Are your plastics on the top shelf still in bags in open Plano boxes with no dividers?

Yep - 3607-10 boxes...leave the plastics in original bags. Can get 6-7 bags in each box.

[Cdn Angler]

I put all my hardbaits on a pegboard, organized by type. 

 

I put all plastics in labelled bins by type. 

 

I put opened terminal tackle in old school fold out tackle boxes. 

 

I then take what I need for a given trip. Like you I sometimes bank fish, kayak or rent a boat.

[gim]

I have been removing lures/plastics/etc from my tackle storage that I haven't used in at least a year or more.  I'll give you an example: I recently took out 3 small spoons that I haven't tied on in at least 3+ seasons.  Why I still had them, I don't know.  That's the sort of thing that is just taking up space and not being useful in my mind.

 

#discarded

[Deephaven]

My tackle box also shrinks over time.  Things that don't work or I don't want to use shouldn't be in the box.  I still carry around more than 20 3700's, but it used to be a lot more.

[Bluebasser86]

I have stackable pull open plastic bins in my garage from Walmart that come in sets of 3 drawers that I keep plastics in. I just keep them in drawers by similar style of bait and grab what I need as I need it. It's especially effective for my kayak fishing. I tried to make bags of my go to baits, but then before I go I'm not positive if I have a couple certain things so I toss them loosely into my kayak box. Then a few weeks later when I clean out my box and find 3 of the exact same thing of a few different baits, I realized I needed a different system. 

[Sam]

Four years ago my wife could not stand the baits and tackle strewn about in the garage and my man cave so we went to Loew's and purchased two 6-foot high Gladiator Garageworks Extra Large Gearbox metal cabinets each having three metal shelves and a bottom floor.

 

We then drove to Joann's Fabrics where I purchased thirty-six (36) 16 by 11 inch plastic storage containers for my plastics and line. I have also added plastic storage bins for the storage of line and miscellaneous items such as paint, scents, etc. since we got the cabinets.

 

I can store 8 of the plastic storage boxes on each of the four shelves for a total of 32 boxes in one of the cabinets for all plastics.  The second cabinet is for my hard baits where I store all of my hard baits and terminal tackle in tackle boxes.

 

All line is stored in one of the six Joann's Fabrics plastic containers and other plastic storage boxes I  have added and placed on the pine cabinet's shelves along the back of the garage.

 

I also have a beautiful wood cabinet with 24 small drawers that I have filled with various plastics, too. I think it is a cabinet makers cabinet and I have had it for so many years I have no idea where it came from.

 

I store the plastics by type and then by color.

 

I store the hard baits by color.

 

When I get ready to go fishing I select among the plastics and hard baits and put them into their own tackle boxes.

 

Maybe one day I need to take a picture of my setup and send it along.

[snake95]

2 hours ago, Sam said:

Maybe one day I need to take a picture of my setup and send it along.

@Samlook forward to seeing it but that’s a pretty good description.  Much appreciated.

[E-rude dude]

Hi my name is Mark and I’m a tackle hoarder. ?
I built shelves  in the garage along side the boat. That way I can swap boxes and baits without climbing in and out. There are from boat height to the ceiling.

I have these mounted on my boat lids and on my garage walls too.

https://easyviewtackle.com/

[snake95]

3 hours ago, E-rude dude said:

I have these mounted on my boat lids and on my garage walls too.

https://easyviewtackle.com/

A-ha!  A hoarder with OCD! ... nice! (and a little over the top ?).

[Sam]

17 hours ago, snake95 said:

@Samlook forward to seeing it but that’s a pretty good description.  Much appreciated.

 

[Sam]

7 minutes ago, Sam said:

I have the pics but do not remember how to reduce them to post. If you messenger your email address to me I can email them to you.  Same for anyone else who wants to view my storage system, too.

 

13 hours ago, snake95 said:

A-ha!  A hoarder with OCD! ... nice! (and a little over the top ?).

Mr. Monk would be happy as is the Bait Monkey.

[Fishes in trees]

As someone who also has tackle storage issues all I can offer is " try harder ".  Buy more plastic storage totes.  Buy more shelves.   Hang more stuff on walls.   Subdivide your gear into more recognizable piles.  I have 30 or 40 totes.  Right now I'm not real sure    One thing that helps me is trying to be accurate in labeling what is in the tubs and don't fill any one tote more than 1/3 full.

This helps when you are going through totes looking for that one thing that you don't remember which tote you put it in.

Back when I was a co-angler fishing tournaments, I tried assembling "kits".    I had a kit full of jigs, jig heads, soft plastics, hard baits, etc, everything that I could think of that I might need for Table Rock.

I had another kit for Lake of the Ozark , another for Truman Lake and for Grand Lake.  Basically one for each lake the tournament trail fished.    There was quite a bit of overlap, but that is ok.   How else are you going to justify buying 15 different Wiggle Warts in 3 different colors.   (There was a time when I threw wiggle warts quite a bit and I tended to lose them.   I think I've got 6 or 7 left from that organization try.   In theory, it worked great - in practice, not all that well, but I tried.

 

 

When I outgrew my garage, i.e. I had to decide if I wanted to store my car & lawn mowers in the garage or fishing stuff in the garage, I was fortunate in that I had the space to build a 40 x 60 fishing shed.   I like that I can pull my truck & boat into the shed and not have to unhook it, I just plug in the on board charger.   It didn't take long though before the fishing shed got nearly as full as my garage was.   There is space for me to pull the truck & boat into the shed and for me to walk around it - kinda.   All the walls have stuff hanging from them, there are lots of shelves, never have enough shelving, and an assortment of stuff is strewn throughout the rest of the space.   Organization is an ongoing battle and the best I can hope for is an occasional draw.   I hope you can completely now and forever solve your organization woes, but in my case, I can't solve my organization woes for more than a few weeks.

[Brett's_daddy]

I'm a tackle hoarder as well and desparately need some organization but...I'm torn. Right now the wife doesn't really have a clue as to what I have for tackle, she knows A LOT but she doesn't have any specifics so if you pinned her down she couldn't really tell you exactly what I have and how many...if I organize it'll make it easier for me to see what I have and select what I will be fishing with that trip but it will also make it easier for the wife to see exactly how much I really do have...lol !!!

[Sam]

20 hours ago, snake95 said:

@Samlook forward to seeing it but that’s a pretty good description.  Much appreciated.

 

[UmairF]

Hey Guys,

 

I’m fortunate enough that my wife lets me use our second closet as my fishing hub (not like there was really an option esp since we don’t have a garage but I’ll give her credit for being supportive! 😂).

 

Don’t have a boat yet either so have to maximize every inch of space I got in there. It’s a decent sized closet though. I bought 2 of these 3-bin drawers from Target and stacked em on top of each other. From the bottom up it goes:

 

- Line: All my spools of mono, fluoro, and braid sectioned off

- Worms: Senkos, Finesse worms, curly tails, dropshot/neko worms

- Jigs:Flipping/casting/finesse/football/swim jigs are all in here with their craw trailers in separate boxes (struggling with this bin I don’t know how to store my jigs that still have trailers on them)

- cranks/jerks/lipless and all my spare treble hooks

- Chatterbaits/spinnerbaits as well as the trailers that pair with them

- The top bin has a bunch of miscellaneous swimbaits/glidebaits, megabass items, and my topwaters.

All of these items, except for the line, are taken out of the original packaging and organized into plano boxes whether its hardbaits or softbaits. I would be okay with the idea of keeping things in the original packaging but I like seeing all my inventory in the boxes so I know if I’m running low on something.

 

On top of all of these bins are 2 stacks of planos full of other soft plastics that are separated by bait type as well as a small bag of reel maintenance items. Next to it, a gigantic bass mafia deep terminal tackle box that holds all my terminal tackle. I could make a separate post on how I organize that but in short, I basically bought these small clear bags off amazon and label them by brand size/weight depending on what it is. The entire box is sectioned into multiple areas starting from finesse all the way to heavy punching. Really like this system keeps all my terminal all in front of my eyes without being overwhelmed lol.

 

Oh yeah and I can’t forget, the gigantic baby blue zman soft plastic bag. The BIG one. That holds all my plastics that are in clamshells (mainly swimbaits) and all zman plastics in general. Sits on the shelf on top in the closet above the bins.

 

Now you’re probably wondering, where do all the rods go? That’s where I’m struggling right now. I installed one of those kast king wall mounts for rods but can really only fit 4 or 5 rods. The rest sit in front of the bins in sleeves. Really need to figure something out about this. Makes accessing the bins really hard sometimes since I don’t always like having to take all my rods out just to grab a couple of senkos lol.

I also try keeping my bank fishing backpack, as well as my co-angler bag in there. With a collection that keeps growing, makes it tough to cram anything else in.

 

PROS:

- Compact

- Organized

 

CONS:

- Rods get in the way of accessing bins (MAJOR ISSUE)

- Can’t fit more bins for all the plano boxes of plastic that are sitting on top

- Can’t easily see everything I have at once. Things are easily forgotten and I don’t end up using it sometimes.

- Jig bin is a complete mess because jigs that still have trailers on them are loose in another plano box vs jigs without trailers.

 

I’ll post a picture for reference later. Maybe it’ll help visualize. Open to any suggestions or critique on my current system. I spend a good portion of winter re-organizing all this stuff and would love to hear any improvements you guys think would help!

 

Thanks,

Umair

[king fisher]

Right now my fishing gear only takes up one corner of our condo, but the Monkey and I have bigger plans.