We USED to have a topic on here about tackle boxes and what we had....and what our thoughts were when it came to organizing our stuff. I spent an hour trying to find it yesterday....but had NO luck.

So here we go again!

I had talked about back then about how I had 2 basic groups of lures in 2 MAIN tackle boxes....one box of stuff 3/8 oz and smaller, the other 1/2 oz and bigger. At one point I talked about splitting my stuff up for "clear water" and "stained water"....and although I may do a bit of that....I've had some other thoughts.

Over the months I started looking at 2 other basic types of waters....those with HEAVY cover / weeds....and those without.

So I decided to do the following...

Here's a box of things I'm putting together for HEAVY cover / weed waters...virtually ALL weedless/ snagless lures. Not very organized yet....but will be in a few days.

And here's another box that I'm putting together....all topwater baits. It's a Plano 1444....with multiple levels of storage.

The 1st box is pretty self explanatory. If I'm not on a body of water where there's heavy cover like weeds, stumps or laydowns, there's not much sense in taking this stuff.

With the second box, if I want to concentrate on topwater tactics on an outing, I can have several sizes and types of lures at my disposal.

At the same time, since both boxes have smaller storage boxes, I can put certain things into those. Then....if I want to add a few of different kinds of lures to the main boxes...or take a few of these along in yet another box....I can remove / add the smaller boxes, allowing me to mix and match to what I fell like doing trying for the outing.

Glad to see your redoing some of the old posts...I'll take some pics of my storage thingies and add them here!

Sounds good 'bro! This IS a discussion for anyone who is willing to participate....so feel free to post pics....ask questions....make suggestions.

That way....we ALL have a chance to maybe learn something

I also have a PILE of trolling related stuff to get into some type of a box...but that is at least a couple months away. I also may take my crankbaits and divide them up into shallows and deeps....and may even break them down further into "clear water" and "stained water" groups.

I have countless crankbaits, spinnerbaits, walleye gear, muskie lures, swimbaits and soft plastics.  Well and other terminal stuff too.  I want to get it all into one box/bag.  Any recommendations? For some reason i'm nervous venturing into a softsided bag. 

I guess the biggest thing is that i want to be able to fit a half dozen or so muskie lures 8-12 inches ea. in length along with my cranks/spinnerbaits/walleye gear so i don't have to buy a separate big game box for 80.00 bux.

I guess I'll jump into this topic.  I have two soft sided tackle boxes and over the winter have organized them by the depth they will go.  I marked the clear boxes with a black sharpie on the inside and outside so that if the outside wears off, I can remark it.  I also mark the end of the clear box with the contents so I don't have to pull the boxes out.  If I am going fishing in a lake and experience tells me what lures to put in my tackle box.  In one of the side pockets, I have a clear plastic box that I have hooks stored in.  They are also marked by type (EWG), octopus or whatever and the size so when I need to replace some, I know what to get.   I also have sinkers (different sizes and types) also labeled and swivels.  It is a system still in the works.  Hope this helps someone.

Gary

Hi Jo and welcome to the BB. I can relate to what you are talking about....as I had similar thoughts several times over the years. For me though...my amount of tackle has historically outgrown any storage ideas I had...so I've been on a constant switch / change / rethink process with all of it. That being said....without having any idea exactly HOW much stuff you have, making a recommendation is tough...but I'll give you some of my thoughts anyway.

THe muskie lures you have present the biggest dilemna...as some of those won't even fit into a 3700 size storage box. If Plano still made their model 1259 box....that would be the 1st thing I'd recommend....as the top tray has sufficient depth for almost anything....and you still have a major spinnerbait rack in it....plus room in the bottom for several 3600 size boxes.

For stuff being currently made, the largest hiproof made these days is a Plano 9606....6 trays...fairly large bottom. Here's mine...although it's no longer this full as I took out all the topwaters and put them into the Plano 1444...

If you didn't have the spinnerbaits...then this would be a consideration I believe. As you can see...I don't have ANY tools or extraneous gear in here....just lures. Quite a while back, myself and a few others on the BB here decided that we should keep stuff like tools, extra line, hooks etc...somewhere else.

You could also consider one of the Plano "rack" type boxes....say a Guide Series 1374 or a 1373. You could also look for a 7771...

See Plano products here...

http://www.planomolding.com/tackle/products.asp

7771....

Hey Dave when are ya going to show your tackle???? lookin good

THE 7771 IS COOL.  I JUST DON'T LIKE THE LATCHES.

THIS IS WHAT I'M LOOKING AT, ITS A FLAMBEAU

Well, I guess I will try to explain how I organize...I use plano boxes to store groups of individual lures.

Example being the box above is nothing but spinners - generic.  The box below is all top water...

The next two boxes are spoons...

And so on...Some for deep running, deeper running and those that run 5' - 8'.  Each box has a specific type of lure in it.  Not necessarily the same body style or function (trolling or casting for example).  LOL, I guess once you set yourself up only you will understand the reasoning!

I posted all these pics to give you an idea as to how many will fit into a grain sack that was altered to carry tackle...

\

All the plano boxes I have sit on shelves in my basement where I can see them.  When I head out for fishing I load the boxes I wish to take along into the sack and put that into my truck, hook up the boat and away I go!  For example, when I go out to LaCrosse, WI I fill three of these sacks and add some soft plastics and spinnerbaits.  I take that much gear because I do not know what it will take to put fish in my boat!  For local fishing and bank fishing I usually take a soft box, especially if I will be in someone elses boat.

When I will be trolling I almost always bring my "trolling bag.  Inside you will see lake troll pouches, designed to keep individual lake trolls (already set up and ready to hook up) and different Plano boxes...

I do a lot of straight line trolling from my boat right now.  I have just receintly acquired two manual down riggers and will attempt to use them!  Another new addition is my crawler harnesses...

And of course some assorted small spoons...

And all this stuff fits into this bag...

By this time you are probably wondering why I use this method.  It is all because I have limited space in my 16' boat.  I can store two fully loade grain sacks of Plano boxes in my storage compartment, nothing to get under my feet or trip over.  This allows room for my Cabelas soft plastic bag and my two spinnerbait boxes and still have plenty of foot room!

Sometimes I only take gear that will help me when I am species specific.  An example would be when I go to the Finger Lakes meet, my primary focus is on pike.  So the only thing I pack is my "go to" box for that species...

All of this fits into one box, and that is the only thing under foot in my boat...

Another example would be when I am fishing with Erabbit for lake trout or salmon.  I take a "go to" box of lures that I am experimenting with.  Sometimes he even lets me put them in the water...LOL!

I have learned through experience and advice from many club members that if I am fishing alone or with someone, storage space is important.  It is also important to be able to navigate in your boat without having to climb over tackle boxes!  Like I said earlier, I have shelves in my basement for tons of Plano box storage and I also use big boxes for storing lures that are not in my "go to" boxes...

This first one is for musky and pike lures!

And this one is for all my spoons & plugs that I use for lake trout and salmon...

I also bring along any tools and spare parts that I may need when I am away.  With the storage method I use there is plenty of room for all things.  When I am shore fishing it is almost always live bait fishing so my small soft tackle bag will have plenty of room for tools, etc.  For me it is important to have plenty of room in my boat and not to overload myself when shore fishing!  I hope this helps with some ideas!

Well Jo...even with this setup you have the 2 thoughts I mentioned earlier...

1. Where do the spinnerbaits go?

2. Where do the muskie baits go?

If this setup allows you to take care of those stated needs, then you may be good to go

Pete...thanks for your post...looks like you are almost ready for ANOTHER tackle box / bag  

Thanks to you too Gary for your post

For YOU Lou...  

for large muskie and pike lures,check out

http://www.dunwrighttackle.com/tack...oxes.shtml

http://www.lakewoodproducts.com/musky.htm

hopr this helps these are some nice boxes for large baits. plano has a 7915 that is priced nice also

Was in sportsman's warehouse this weekends looking at possible takle boxes/bags.  was talking to an employee of sportsman's who seemed to have the necessary knowledge and he said that they sell softsided tackle boxs over hard sided 20 to 1.  why do you think that is.  I'v go my eye on a hardsided that would be perfect for me and while i was looking at it the guy that was helping me just completely steered in the direction of the bags.  Softsided bags don't seem to have the verisitility that the flambeau hardside did and it's cheaper.  What's the deal?

Soft sided bags are meant fo ease of use, for bank fisherman thats what they were originally made for the reason they are selling 20-1 is because 20 of 21 fisherman fish from the bank or dont own a boat, I am not saying that bank fisherman dont buy hard boxes and boat owners dont buy soft sided just saying people are more into buying stuff for "looks" and the lazyness approach then anything now a days I do own 1 soft bag but that is for my Spring walleye and I am walking dam's in the middle of the night so the ease of lugging it around is by far more important, then having the storage space for all my equipment. I have seen very very few soft bags that even have space in them to hang anything like spinners or musky/pike baits. I am a bank fisherman. Unless it is for catfish tourneys then I will get in a boat. Loving this post by the way dave, turnip thanks for showing us your set up as well.

Its easier to Judge then be Judged, Its better to be Judged and Learn from it. Holdrege, Nebraska

Nice looking box....but way too expensive my my pocketbook.

If you get it....let us know how it works for you

59.00 bucks at sportsman's warehouse.  I think I'm going to pick one up this week.  You can fit 2 more of the 6004r's in place of the larger box too.

Hey Guys, For several years now I have been using a Plano Guide Elite as my "go-to" box. It is set up for multi-species fishing and if I need more or go species-specific I have two soft side bags for backup. Its about 17"L, 10"W,15"H and will hold plenty of extra stuff.

And below the main top is two drawers and two slide-out trays. The trays are size adjustable. The main top has a roomy spinner rack, will hold up to six of the Plano 3500,s and is nice and deep for extra stuff.

 

 

Looks good Larry!

It's hard to argue with the way Pete has his stuff organized. Since he started from scratch (basically), it was easy for him to to that. For me to go the same route I'd have to spend over $100 just on utility boxes....not really an option for me at this point in time.

So here's some of what I have done...I've made some progress over the last few days....and here's part of that.

First off...I've separated my "big deep" crankbaits and put them in a box by themselves...

Then I did the same with my "big shallow" cranks AND my "walleye-shad" type lures..

And this box is all smaller-sized shallow cranks...

Life Member David BB Linkmeister US Army '78-'85 West Central Wisconsin