Ok...those of you that know me know that I have a little problem with my tackle bag. Actually, it's a big problem...the bag that is. I cannot for the life of me get my tackle down to 4 or 5 3700 boxes. I tend to carry around a HUGE tackle bag that holds somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12 3700s, plus two big soft plastic binders, plus all the other peripheral garbage I can fit in all the nooks, crannies and pockets. I just KNOW that if I leave something behind, I will need it when I'm out on the water...My question to my brethren:
What do you carry in your tackle bags (or what do you bring when fishing out of someone else's boat instead of yours)? What do you consider to be the bare essentials? What is it that you could NEVER EVER leave the dock without? Any tips and/or suggestions on how to condense my tackle to one small, manageable bag are greatly appreciated...
Simplest solution would be to raffle it all off to forum members. You could probably afford a boat with the proceeds. :o
B
When I fish on someone else's boat I take less of everything. In other words, I still bring 'some' of everything instead of large quantities of everything. (if that makes any sense) Just bringing a half dozen St. Clair Goby tubes instead of the normal 25 or more that I usually have in the 3700 box gives me room to pack in some other plastics in the same box usually reserved for only tubes. I also shorten the selection of colors and skip bringing certain baits if I know what kind of water I'll be fishing. Rather than have a seperate box for weights and a seperate box for hooks, I shorten the supply of those as well and whittle it down to hooks, weights, swivels, etc. in one box instead of several. That's how I approach it. I usually get it down to 7 boxes. Oh yeah, I bought one of those double layer boxes too which helps me get more baits in less space. It's a little smaller, so it actually fits in the outer pouch of my bag. That helps.
;D ;D....sorry jcheetam can't help u i just had to buy a 200 hp to haul all of my tackle,the 150 hp just coudn't do it anymore...lol..lol ;D ;D...all kidding aside(not really kidding about that though) it sounds like your ready for another tackle box,then just take what you think you need for that trip(easier said then done i know) ;D ;D
I don't do a lot of fishing out of other peoples boats, about 4-7 times a year and I always have the same problem you are talking about. One thing that has really helped and has been the best organizational money saving idea came from Scott S. off this board. He uses prescription bottles to put hooks, swivels, weights, jigs, etc. in and in each bottle of hooks he puts in a small silica packet. On the top of each plastic pill container you can mark with permanent marker what you have inside. You can get about 30 of these in a plano. They all stand with the tops showing and you have at a glance all of your terminal tackle at your fingertips. When it's damp out and you need a hook you can open your box, pull out the particular vial, and get a hook out without getting any moisture in your vial or in any other vial. Also, if you are going to fish in someone elses boat and you know what type of hooks and weights you need you can just pick out those particular vials. If you are in a snaggy area you just keep those vials of hooks and weights in your pocket and it saves a ton of time. You really can get a good number of hooks in a vial probably at least 30. It really helps me keep better inventory control as well. Can't tell you how many times I have bought hooks thinking I was short of a given size only to find a couple more packs here or there. When I buy hooks, jigs, weights, etc. they go in the vials instead of tossed here or there in a bag. I did not have one hook rust this year!! I went to my local pharmacy and they were very good about giving me a number of vials in a variety of sizes. Scott gave me a whole bag full of the silica packets. I bet if you ask your pharmacy that they would have a bunch of these that they would give you as well.
you don't need a smaller bag i need a BIGGER boat.. got to admit that baby is huge. you could switch to the baits i use and keep them in your pocket.
ss
Jeff you just need to fish with me you know I always save that huge storage box for my co angler ;D
Quote from: cast n blast on February 05, 2007, 06:45:11 PM
Jeff you just need to fish with me you know I always save that huge storage box for my co angler ;D
That box was so big, I was actually considering taking a nap in it! Anytime you need some company, let me know...
Quote from: dartag on February 05, 2007, 06:11:40 PM
you don't need a smaller bag i need a BIGGER boat.. got to admit that baby is huge. you could switch to the baits i use and keep them in your pocket.
ss
522 w/ a 250xs? ;D Actually, my bag is so big you might not be able to get the bow down with a 250...might need to go with the 300xs :D
Pill bottles, double layer boxes, consolidating terminal tackle...Some good stuff so far! Any other suggestions?
Cut your gear in half and give me the excess. I forgot about that one. ;D
About every time I've 'pared down' I've regretted it somehow (besides, I get bored easy). I like always keeping a few extra empty Plano's around to move tackle in and out of as I get into other angler's boats and back into mine. It would be easier just to pack mine with everything and only use mine, but no one ever said life would be easy (a 'Momism').
Quote from: djkimmel on February 05, 2007, 11:23:26 PM
About every time I've 'pared down' I've regretted it somehow (besides, I get bored easy). I like always keeping a few extra empty Plano's around to move tackle in and out of as I get into other angler's boats and back into mine. It would be easier just to pack mine with everything and only use mine, but no one ever said life would be easy (a 'Momism').
When you pare down, what do you decide to bring? Are you taking, for instance, 3 shad color cranks (shallow, mid, deep), 3 bright color cranks, etc? I guess I'm too hung up on having "everything" for every possible (potential) situation. And by everything, I mean EVERYTHING...two or three of every lure (never know when you will break off), in every color (never know when the water may get muddied up or clear up), in every size (never know when you need to downsize or upsize). Yes, I'm a tackle junkie...I know that (admission is the first step to recovery, isn't it?)...
Yeah, that's kind of how I approach it. But sometimes, I'll leave entire boxes behind say if we're fishing St. Clair and it's forecasted to be kind of rough... I'll leave the topwater box home. In my two layer crankbait box, I have shallow, mid, and deep cranks in a few basic colors only and layer of lipless cranks. Same for jerkbaits. I just take a few of my favorite Pointers and TD minnows, and leave the rest. I figure I should be able to make it work with a half dozen jerkbaits intead of my normal box full.
Plus I'm a scrounge. If you're catching fish on something I don't have, I'll cry and whine until you loan me one of yours. ;D I'm not proud. he he
Why recover? the bait monkey always wins in the end anyway. :D
Are you strictly talking fun fishing with a buddy or co-angler in tournaments?
You cant possibly account for every situation. I dont have to tell you how to prepare for a tournament, you already know that. So do your preparation, know what your predicted patterns are going to be and pack your gear accordingly.
In a perfect scenerio you should know by the time tournament day comes what size/color/speed presentation the fish want based on your practice. 3 and 4 day tourneys would be harder to prepare for because conditions change over those 3 to 4 days obviously.
Get one big tackle bag that has pockets all over it so you can store extra spools pre spooled with line sizes according to what you believe the conditions will warrant. Above all, pack your confidence baits first... you know it's all about the confidence baits, I dont have to tell you that either. Pack a couple of primary colors of baits that fit the conditions, etc. Just cull your gear out from there. No really simple solution.
B
I made up one box with a little of everything. Beavers and other assorted plastics. A couple topwaters, some rattletraps and diving baits. senkos, jig spoons,jerkbaits,plastic worms and anything else you can think of. Now say I am going to fish St. Clair and my partner says we will be tube fishing all day. I leave the topwater box, crankbait box home. If he changes his mind or conditions dictate I still have a couple of topwaters and cranks with me in that Misc box. So you pack for where you are going and what you will be doing but by bringing your Misc box you will always have 2 or 3 baits in your favorite colors with you. If all of this fails and you get caught without, I don't think I ever had a partner that refused to lend me something.
I take my confidence baits always. I may not take them all. I'll take more of the ones I'm pretty sure that time of year on that lake I'll need.
I like crankbaits and spinnerbaits, so I take a good selection of those, but again extra of the ones that run where I think I'll spend most of my time, and less to none of the ones I don't expect to use.
I may be infamous for my tackle, but like I say, I get bored easy and we have some really varied bodies of water. So there are many times I don't get into several bags or boxes. You never know completely for sure as conditions can even change hour to hour. Minute to minute sometimes.
I don't worry so much if I'm going somewhere I'm used to. It still takes me a while to pull out what I want, but that is part of my ritual for getting in the zone... okay... I've been around the zone more than in it lately... but this too shall pass.
It might actually be easier on new water for me now that I think about it. I tend to take more tried and true baits, looking at them more as tools. I may leave a category of baits home, but like Team houston, I always have a few odds and ends representing the 'what if' classes in my misc holes.
I actually think my real challenge is more remembering all the accessories and carrying them - hooks, jigs, sinkers, skirts, blades, swivels, split rings, rattles and so many more things that allow a lot of different techniques.
As long as no one has been injured because of the bag I would keep doing the same thing, anytime I leave something home that's what my partner catches everything on.
Quote from: cwinsiii on February 06, 2007, 11:49:05 PM
As long as no one has been injured because of the bag I would keep doing the same thing...
Never thought of it in those terms... :D
I always tell my partners to bring the essentials...
If we're fishing tubes on St. Clair... bring a bunch of tubes and soe jigheads... maybe some dropshot stuff... and a few odds and ends...
If you don't have something the fish are biting... and I do... then use my stuff...
If anything I always tell my partners to not bring anything except a couple rods... because I usually have everything we'll need for that day...
I meant, I don't like using other guy's fishing tackle...
Risque'
B
Jeff,
I see no reason why you need to bring anything other than a can of corn, a 5 pack of Eagle Claw snell hooks, some split shots, and your trusty cane pole. What more does a certified 'carp master' need?
McCarter himself :-\'
Quote from: McCarter on February 07, 2007, 01:01:27 PM
Jeff,
I see no reason why you need to bring anything other than a can of corn, a 5 pack of Eagle Claw snell hooks, some split shots, and your trusty cane pole. What more does a certified 'carp master' need?
McCarter himself :-\'
Much like bass, if I TRY and catch carp, I won't...which means I might start to catch bass...interesting...
Is canned corn legal in a tournament?
What size bag can you get away with, without peeing off your boater as a Co-Angler in BFL???? Right now I have a bag that will hold 5 3700s...There is a browning bag at BPS that will hold 6 3700s and has a little bit more pocket space..I just don't want to step over the edge and have my boater start chucking my stuff over the side of the boat....
This kind of reminds me of the new Privates in the army that do one of 2 things; they either show up with everything and the kitchen sink or else don't show up with anything but their Game boy...
I will be bringing a small boaters bag that will hold my wet weather gear, goggles, snack, etc. I guess I could always throw some smaller x-tra stuff in with that.
Curadokev Touched on this in his article..Maybe we could have him attach an example Packing list...Not specific lures, but how he keeps himself organized..
Quote from: motocross269 on February 07, 2007, 02:34:16 PM
I will be bringing a small boaters bag that will hold my wet weather gear, goggles, snack, etc. I guess I could always throw some smaller x-tra stuff in with that.
Definitely need to ditch the goggles and talk to me about a new Fish Hedz mask! (shameless plug) 8)
Jose
nothing personel realy dont take it that way but I wouldnt want to co angle with you, when I fish another guys boat I bring 4 rods and and a browning bag with 6 planos in it and a small velcro box on top so it measures 15"L x 11" W x 2' 6" tall, thats what it takes for me to bring what I need or I would rather stay home, I could get into a bite on several different baits in heavy cover and burn through $50 worth of cranks or jigs easily, I would be freaking out every time I got hung up using another guys tackle it wouldnt be fun!
most of my 30 years of tournament fishing has been team tournaments, even though I have always owned boats I fished outa a partners boat alot probobly 50% of the time so I know full well what it is like to get on somebody elses boat.
It is VERY hard for me to do becouse I litteraly have a boat load of tackle but I ALWAYS keep an open full size box for my co angler, I do ask them not to bring more than 4 rods or a lunch box.
heres a few pics of my travel bag and the tackle in them its still a mess from last season but it will give you an idea jeff, you will notice I have at least 40 cranks, 15 jerkbaits, 20 spinnerbaits, 4 buzz baits, 10 topwater, 10 spoons, 30 jigs, 14 colors of tubes and about 10 of each color, 12 colors of plastic worms, a couple dozen swim baits in a few different colors then in my 6th plano I keep about 20 1/0 worm hooks, 20 2/0 worm hooks, 20 3/0 worm hooks, 20 4/0 worm hooks, 20 5/0 worm hooks then 20 of each size of bullet weights from 1/16 to 1/2 oz and a few 1 oz, 3 different sizes of spot remover jig heads for shaky heading about a dozen each size, a dozen 1/16 mono weed guard jig heads a dozen 1/8 mono weed guard jig heads for whacky worming and fishing darters, 3 different sizes of k&e jigheads for tubes about a dozen of each size, about 4 different sizes of dropshot weights a dozen of each size, 20 1/0 dropshot hooks and a dozen trailer hooks for spinnerbaits.
In the small bag that velcrows to the top of the big browning bag I keep about 50 bags of soft plastics including all my dropshot baits, sinkos, craws, creatures, lizards and trailers for jigs.
on each side of the browning bag is small pouches I put a liter of water on one side and a sub sandwich and a couple candy bars on the other.
I left out a few baits but that covers most of it jeff if the pics come out to small let me know I will e mail them to you bigger.
Quote from: cast n blast on February 07, 2007, 04:06:13 PM
Jose
nothing personel realy dont take it that way but I wouldnt want to co angle with you, when I fish another guys boat I bring 4 rods and and a browning bag with 6 planos in it and a small velcro box on top so it measures 15"L x 11" W x 2' 6" tall, thats what it takes for me to bring what I need or I would rather stay home, I could get into a bite on several different baits in heavy cover and burn through $50 worth of cranks or jigs easily, I would be freaking out every time I got hung up using another guys tackle it wouldnt be fun!
most of my 30 years of tournament fishing has been team tournaments, even though I have always owned boats I fished outa a partners boat alot probobly 50% of the time so I know full well what it is like to get on somebody elses boat.
It is VERY hard for me to do becouse I litteraly have a boat load of tackle but I ALWAYS keep an open full size box for my co angler, I do ask them not to bring more than 4 rods or a lunch box.
heres a few pics of my travel bag and the tackle in them its still a mess from last season but it will give you an idea jeff, you will notice I have at least 40 cranks, 15 jerkbaits, 20 spinnerbaits, 4 buzz baits, 10 topwater, 10 spoons, 30 jigs, 14 colors of tubes and about 10 of each color, 12 colors of plastic worms, a couple dozen swim baits in a few different colors then in my 6th plano I keep about 20 1/0 worm hooks, 20 2/0 worm hooks, 20 3/0 worm hooks, 20 4/0 worm hooks, 20 5/0 worm hooks then 20 of each size of bullet weights from 1/16 to 1/2 oz and a few 1 oz, 3 different sizes of spot remover jig heads for shaky heading about a dozen each size, a dozen 1/16 mono weed guard jig heads a dozen 1/8 mono weed guard jig heads for whacky worming and fishing darters, 3 different sizes of k&e jigheads for tubes about a dozen of each size, about 4 different sizes of dropshot weights a dozen of each size, 20 1/0 dropshot hooks and a dozen trailer hooks for spinnerbaits.
In the small bag that velcrows to the top of the big browning bag I keep about 50 bags of soft plastics including all my dropshot baits, sinkos, craws, creatures, lizards and trailers for jigs.
on each side of the browning bag is small pouches I put a liter of water on one side and a sub sandwich and a couple candy bars on the other.
I left out a few baits but that covers most of it jeff if the pics come out to small let me know I will e mail them to you bigger.
What, no Rooster Tails? :D
Thanks for the detail Skip...I definitely need to look at picking up a tackle box/bag that is a little more manageable than the one I have. It's amazing to see that you fit all of that into 6 plano boxes! I may have to take you up on the bigger photo thing...these eyes of mine aren't what they used to be...
yeah you just want to see my secret stuff.lol
its cool theyre all in the bags in the little box so you cant see them ;D
gotta go to bps for them rooster tails soon, no joke Im gonna :D
pm me your e mail adress
Cast and Blast.. or someone...where do I have to click to see your pictures..I haven't quite got that figured out yet..
Blake..PM me about those FishHedz..What kind of deal you can get me and all of that....See sometimes shameless plugs do work.
Brian
One Okuma tackle bag which holds 5 or 6 plano 3700's, It has pouches for the other junk. I just started putting my spinnerbaits in a Cd wallet with clear inserts, 4 to 6 rods, and rain gear is what I take on someone elses boat and what I don't have I use from them. On my boat I still have all that and all the more but it's in mounted trays and rods are in a locker that has an 11 rod holder. 5 baitcasters, and about 7 spinning reels. I never use all that when I'm out but when you are fishing with a buddy on his boat, it helps to know what type of fishing you will be doing that day. Oh I forgot I do have a bag just for panfishing too!!!!
Good Read...
http://www.bassdozer.com/articles/bassdozers-bag.shtml
ween i goes out fishin i brings me 5 fishin poles an i has a bigs coffee can with the plastic lid on theer ;) ;) ;) in the coffee can i has me spinners bait!!all 150 of thems reedie fur actiun ;) ;) ;)
ifin it starts to rainin out i puts the lid on theer an no rains down in the can on me spinners bait ;) ;) ;)
:-* :-* :-* RANGERS BOAT RULE :-* :-* :-*
??? ??? not no bout SKEETORS BOAT ??? ???
BASS FISHERMAN
I got one for ya, at ABA nationals this year I drew a guy on day 3 called topwater charlie he showed up with 2 baitcasters each had a devils horse tied on, he had NO other tackle and refused to throw plastics even though I was catching fish and he was not.
why dont you just tie on 5 spinnerbaits and leave the coffee can at home if thats all your gonna fish with :D
oh and if you want to know anything about skeeters just ask Ive owned 5 and I think they rule, aint never been passed by a ranger.
:-* :-* :-* skeeter boats rule :-* :-* :-*
To each his own I guess...
That's just my thing... someone can bring whatever they want... but if somehow what they have isn't working my box is always open...
I always keep my rear passenger side compartment open... bring whatever...
MOTO - The best thing for the BFLs is to bring you gear in the one big bag, but also bring some smaller bags in case your big bag doesn't fit in the storage provided. All boat storage compartments are different sizes and shapes, so being flexible makes it easier. I have taken all my 370's out and stacked them loose in the storage and transfered my other gear to smaller bags stuffed around the 370's just to get them to fit. It is not fun trying to keep a hold on your tackle bag while running 30+ miles across lake erie.
It's actually very simple. All you need is one bag that will carry 4 hard plastic containers.
1st plastic container) Tubs, jig heads & other soft plastics that are your confidence baits.
2nd container) Jig & Pig jigs with pork & plastic.
3rd container) Hard baits, crankbaits, jerkbaits & top water.
4th container) Lizards, worms, hooks & Texas rigged weights.
Use the pockets in the bag to carry other plastics (drop shot, etc..)
Then bring one down sized spinnerbait box.
Depending on the lake your fishing......you will know whether you're fishing for Largies or Smallies.....or both! You should have a good idea of what extra plastics to fill the bag's pockets with.
Even though my boat is my tackle box ;)........I never use 98% of the tackle I have on board. You just need to know which lake you're fishing and adjust your tackle for the day's conditions and your target fish. ;)
BS
Quote from: smbassman on February 08, 2007, 07:54:42 AM
MOTO - The best thing for the BFLs is to bring you gear in the one big bag, but also bring some smaller bags in case your big bag doesn't fit in the storage provided. All boat storage compartments are different sizes and shapes, so being flexible makes it easier. I have taken all my 370's out and stacked them loose in the storage and transfered my other gear to smaller bags stuffed around the 370's just to get them to fit. It is not fun trying to keep a hold on your tackle bag while running 30+ miles across lake erie.
I just pm'd about being able to break it down and sometimes leaving the bag at the car also, yea the holding onto a box at 60+mph is hard when your just trying to hold onto the boat.lol