Tackle Box?

[stelmon]

I have been going through my tackle and have relized I practically fish for every kind of fish out there in fresh water and do every kind of fishing, like river fish, lake fish, drift fishing, peir fishing, ect. my question is how do you set up your tackle box. I have one gigantic tackle box, but really don't feel like logging that around everywhere I go. Any help here would be appreciated.

[Mike]

I really like the soft sided deals with the plastic storage boxes. I set up the boxes with certain types/brands of lures. Take what I need for that days trip. A lot of tackle will fit into one of these. I emptied two large tackle boxes into mine, and still had room for more. Of course, I still have some species specific tackle boxes set up too! Ya' just can't have enough tackle...

Mike

[The Whale]

Stelmon, for me I use a Plano "master" box, do not recall the exact model, that accepts several specialized "compartmental" style organizers in it. I take the organizers I need for the type of fishing I will be doing. Typically, I carry more than i need, just can't stand the thought of wanting a bait for use and not having it with me. Lots to choose from out there - Good Shopping !!!

Whale :D

[stelmon]

whale, that is what I have. Maybe I will do that. Thanks

[Inlander]

I also seperate my boxes (plano clear containers) by fish. Got an ammo can for my ice fishing stuff.

[Fury09]

Tackle Boxes...I have several of those...

I'm kinda species specific...My box full of Jerkbaits kind of doubles as my early season Browns and Coho's box too...

Crankbaits have their own box...

Jerkbaits their own box...

Spinner baits...

Soft Plastics...yaddi...yaddi...yaddi...

haha...good thing the lund has lots of open floor space...

[GOTCHA]

Also use the Plano boxs, from my walleye cranks, to my 100s of muskie baits,works great putting them in there own carry bags also.... Have Gotcha Muskie baits 4-sale.....

[TheFlyfisher]

Man I just went thru this same problem that was driving me nuts.
So what I did is I made one for each species I fish for. I have a walleye box with just walleye fishing, bass box for just bass, then I have the plastic boxes, 1 for just sinkers, 1 for just jigs, 1 for just hooks, 1 for lures for walleye. Thoes go in the boat. Then I got one box in case I go shore fishing for perch like now.
I might be crazy but Got to try something. I think the plastic boxes work best cause you can have them arranged and put them in a carrry case. I just couldn,t deal with having the large tackle boxes weighing a ton and carring them. I,ll see if this works this year. At least I no where everything is for once.
Mike:)

[Spinner]

FlyFisher thats a great idea I really need to have the soft tackle bag with the plano boxs also. Carrying that 60 pound plastic tackle box wears on my arm when I have to walk all the way down the pier or across a parking lot. The is only problem is, i'm 16 years old and for some reason I'm always broke :D . I've checked out that style of tackle boxes and I would have spend a good amount of money to get that :rolleyes: Maybe I should start a fundraiser for myself :)


SPINNER

[jnpcook]

Stelmon:

I would tend to agree with everyone about the plastic boxes and making them species specific or at least lure type specific. The only thing I will add is, depending on how you fish, I would look into a bag type that you could throw over your shoulder. I am either in the float tube where I will throw a couple plastic plano boxes into the pockets on the float tube, or I will be on shore. When I shore fish I don't stay in one place. I will cover a lot of ground and I would rather have a type I could throw over my shoulder and stay mobile, than one I have to carry around. With the bag on my shoulder I can still cast immediately without having to set the box down.

Just my 2 cents.

John

[outsider]

I use two soft side bags , a four box and a six box .Both have shoulder straps,I take which ever is needed, with what ever plastic boxs that I think I mite need . The six box bag is the one I take in the boat,and sometimes the four box too .But the four boxer is best when on foot, and still it always seems like I forgot something. I label the ends of the plastic boxs with a felt marker

[stelmon]

Thanks guys for th idea's.

Hey spinner, I just notice were in the same city, check your PM box

[tubejig]

I am as confused as you guys are. I was trying to divide
my tackle by species but find it nearly impossible.
I first started with walleye, being that i am going to
start handlining this summer. But I have a problem,
there is nothing out there that will hold my long-a's,
hot-n-tots, pencil plugs, and harnesses. If I can find
such an animal, why should I haul harnesses, bottom
boucers, and hot-n-tots when I want salmon on long-a's
in the spring. So what I did was make one box that has
hot-n-tots and harnesses and one box that has body
baits, this way I can cover both. That sounds reasonable
correct. I have never caught a salmon on a pencil plug,
and why would I need a 1.5 lb weight to catch a trout
in 10 ft of water, and an extra steel coated lead for
handlining. Then theres the dodger squid, forget that.
To continue on, I have the Tackle Tamer and a half
for my salmon spoons. So, what if I decide to troll for
walleye in one of my hidden spots and start marking
bigger fish on my graph which are salmon, what do I do?
I guess I need a trailer for my boat. Then there are rods.
Downrigger, dipsy, flippin, jiggin, and jerkin. You get my
point.




tubejig



p.s. everyone should have a bucket for j-poles, ultra lites,
and tip-ups.

[stelmon]

Been going through my self and came up with a solution. Since I do alot of different species I put stuff togater. let's say I am out on the peir head's of oscoda chasing walleye with rapala's and I notice the wallleye's are smacking spoons. I have some spoon's in my walleye box just in case. This is just an example. I guess I can say, I have a little bit of everything in different tackle boxes. Thanks guys

[Ruler]

I've gone through I don't know how many boxes. I started out with one box, a small Flambeau, a long time ago. I outgrew that one fairly quickly. I then got a Plano that was pretty big and had 3 trays that opened up. That lasted me for several years. I started getting more and more jigs, so I got a Tackle Logic single sided box. This one has a green bottom, clear top, and only cost $7. :) This now holds all my jigs, twister tails, stinger hooks, etc. I accumulated more stuff rapidly and realized I needed a new box. I bought the double sided Tackle Logic box, that has a blue base and clear top; only $12 for this one. (These TL boxes have a double layer for each side. There are black clips that hold the bottom layer shut and plastic latches that hold the top shut.) I was amazed- I fit more stuff in that little box than I had in the big Plano box! :eek: :) The Plano box I used had one of the hinges (plastic) broken, so I just threw it downstairs.

Well, it turned out that, after I got into fishing for the 'eyes, I needed a box for plugs. Out comes the old Plano, on goes a strip of bent metal and epoxy, in go the plugs. However, I went kinda overboard (NOT ME! ;) ) and got more plugs than this one could hold. I got another Plano box this past winter for my shallow diving plugs. This one is the largest they made that opened up; there are trays on both sides. This now has all my shallow diving plugs in, the old Plano box has my deep divers in, the blue TL box has my general fishing stuff, the green TL box has all my jigs, and the old Flambeau is relegated to holding the duplicate lures I don't need right now. I have a set of the small plastic boxes with a nylon bag I take ice fishing with me; I don't count that as a box though, since all the stuff in there goes back in the others when the ice leaves. I also have a plastic box with basic stuff for when I wade the rivers and several that go in the bottom of the big Plano with plugs and spoons in them.

Just the system I use; it seems to work very well. It's easy to haul each box, they're a reasonable size (with the possible exception of the last Plano I got, which is a bit large), each has a specific purpose, and it's easy enough to toss em in the trunk and go back for a different box if you find you need something different when you get out fishing. I used to take only the commonly used stuff with me, but invariably, I'd get out fishing and the fish would be hitting on something I had at home. :( :mad: Now, I have the best of both worlds. :)

[CreekChub]

Yup, I devide my tacklke by the type of fish I am after....but this DOES NOT IN ANY WAY MAKE THINGS EASIER!!!!!!! We all go out for one type of fish on any given day, most days you think before you head out hhhhhmmmmmmm what if I run into,,,,,,,,salmon while walleye fishin'......or jumbo perch while bottom bouncin' for walleye.......it is a never ending strugle....it strains the mind, the only true answer is LARGER BOATS AND A HOIST TO LOAD YER TACKLE..... yeah thats the plan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:-{ )

[Cangl]

Those soft sided tackle boxes arenot for me, I have never hooked one but all to often the guy's I fish with hook theirs and in the dark!??!
Dividers are the best thing going, with the ability to swap switch and go. I use (2) Plano Guide's with the top see through storage covers the "firemen" needs, like hook sharpener,trailer hook, pre rigged jigs, split shot, bell sinkers, hook or two, swivels, snaps, sticky weight etc...The smaller interior boxes hold technique specific terminal tackle and lures. The larger interior (3600) hold crankbaits plugs and bagged plasatics. This way you can switch from pike/musky to night time bass and walleye and back just by switching dividers. As for forgeting a plug, it happens no matter what you do. For that I use one 3600 the "confidence" divider which has 60+ patterned to catch "most" species. With the spinner bait dividers stocked with home brewed custom spinner baits and buzz's. Stream fishing and panfish a small pocket divider and one float divider works fine. Do own a peir/surf/bank box with seethrough top dividers also. Trolling box....Lunch box tackle box, 6 beers, one tray and 1/2 box storage. Several anglers have offered to buy that one?

[Bullsey398]

I've used the clear plastic boxes, separated by species for several years. I've been using the softsided cases, but have never been happy with them (Zippers take time/get stuck; Hooks get caught; Bags get wet). This year I found the answer... simple, fast, and it's cheap!

Walmart now sells a hard plastic case/ holder for the medium size clear boxes. It looks a little like a green plastic milk crate, but about half the size. It comes with 4 boxes for $9-$10. The boxes slide in from the open top and "lightly lock" in place. You can easily and quickly remove a box with one hand, yet they won't fall out if the case tips over. No messing with zippers, stuck hooks or wet bags! Just load the case with which ever boxes you need for the day and go!

These cases also have screw slots on the bottom so that they can be stored on a wall to save shelf space.

[Water Wolves]

Planos with trays. Call me nostalgic.................

But call me Water Wolves first!!

:D :D :D :D

[MGV]

Here is what i have done to make a light load. I use all trays. I have them all labeled nice and neat. I pull the tray i need and away i go. I have one friend that is a big time Walleye guy. He has a tray for each color with a mixture of different lures in the tray. Goes by what the day is going to be and grabs a tray. Hope this helps ya.

[Fishbomb]

I use softside coolers to put my Plano or BPS clear boxes in, mostly for spoons and cranks. BPS just had their boxes on sale, $1.49 for the 360 and $1.79 for the 370. You can get alot of boxes for $20 at that price. Wal Mart sells Igloo 48 can coolers for $18. They come with a hard liner, take that out. Now you can get 6 370 boxes and 1 360 box in each cooler, plus a smaller box if you want, I label each box. They sell an Artic Zone 24 can cooler for $14, you can get 6 360 boxes plus a smaller one in these with the liner removed. You can't get a larger mostly waterproof tackle box for the money, hope it helps.

[stelmon]

Alright, it took me awhile but I decided on my tackle boxes that a few of you might want to try if it fit's you.

Bass box
Pike box
walleye/salmon box including all my surfing tackle and trolling equitment.
Spinner Bait Box
Pulling Plug box
River Box
Bluegill and a few bass lure
Spinnerbait box
popper box

That's my set up

[UncleD]

I agree with separating gear by species. I use the plastic containers as well, though I have a tackle box with slots that accommodate the containers. I also have some smaller containers that I take trout fishing - they'll fit into the pocket at the top of your waders - and let's face it - you don't need an entire tackle box/bag to fish for trout in a stream - a few spinners, some hooks, splitshot, and that's about all (unless you're flyfishing, of course).

As for the tackle bags. . .I use an old backpack. Just throw a few containers in there, some beverages, rain gear, whatever. It makes hauling your gear a lot easier.

I'm sure everyone has their own system, but this one works well for me. . .

D-

[Kingstone]

I have found being a crawler harness guy that the best tackle box I have is a plastic storage box that is about 12 inches long and 8 inches wide and 2 inches deep. It can hold a lot of crawler harnesses . Each harness goes into a sandwich zip lock bag. They stay in the bags untangled and you can choose size of blades and color easily .:fish2:

[shalegac]

I have found being a crawler harness guy that the best tackle box I have is a plastic storage box that is about 12 inches long and 8 inches wide and 2 inches deep. It can hold a lot of crawler harnesses . Each harness goes into a sandwich zip lock bag. They stay in the bags untangled and you can choose size of blades and color easily .:fish2:

:yeahthat:
I love ziplock bags.

[Burksee]

:yeahthat:
I love ziplock bags.You can get the 3x5 size at Micheals (Craft shop) very cheap. Couple a hundred for a couple of bucks! As well the box I use is about the same size as Kingstone posted. Its a plastic pencil box from Wallmart! Cheap to $0.99! I bought quite a few, keep my fly tying stuff separated and organized! I also use one for keeping all my little "bottle baits" (genson eggs, gulp grubs, ect.) in! ;)

[thedude]

i use the plano trays and have a big bass pro boat bag. i grab the tray si'm gonna use and toss 'em in the bag. good to go.

i keep my plastics in smaller rubbermaid containers which works well also.