Tackle organizing?

[Blake]

Any of you guys have some tips or pics of ways to organize tackle in smaller boats that doesn't take up much space?

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

I like tackle boxes that use those flat plano boxes. Let's you really fill the box up without a lot of wasted space.

 

[Fishfreek]

I use tackle bags to store my Plano boxes in. They are organized in the boat but all over the van. Sometimes I may take 3 or 4 bags but when I get to the ramp I pick the boxes for the day and put them in a bag that holds 5 boxes.

I like being forced to down size in a smaller boat. When I sold my last tournament bass boat I unloaded almost 300 lbs of gear out of it. Not sure why I thought I needed it all but I think I used most of it on a regular basis.

 

[RiverLife]

I am sorting the tackle storage out too right now. Been going through everything. I picked up some flat Plano boxes. Not sure of the number on them. Would call them a medium size. Cabala's sells them in a four pack and are on sale right now. They make some nice "speed bags" to carry them in.

Plan on leaving the big box at home or in the truck at least. Could always head to the truck if wanted to switch species or found myself needing something. I have a backpack that the Plano boxes fit in and will also carry, sun glasses, wallet, phone, keys, sun screen and other gear.

I recently saw a milk crate outfit that looked pretty cool. Guy had the Plano boxes in the crate and he attached a couple rod holders to the side of the crate. Seen guys turn their live well into storage.

Less is more in the case of a Jon boat. Stay light and mobile.

 

[richg99]

One of the other sites that I follow has this same discussion right now.

One guy weighed what he had in his 18 ft tin boat. 162 pounds of gear!

One guy "cut back on gear" He was only carrying 14 fully rigged rods now!!

Best solution from many posters was to.............. leave more gear at home. Your boat will go faster and you may catch more fish.

richg99

 

[fishmonger]

Like most small boats mine has very little storage and I do not like clutter on a boat. After relocating to a new area I realized that for my fishing I used only a small portion of what was in my tackle bag and decided to down size. I picked up an inexpensive little pouch that has room for the few things I actually use. A small plastic organizer with hooks, split shot, swivels, braid scissors and rattle corks. Along with pliers, bait knife and a couple of spools of different leader material is all I really need and takes up next to no space being only 10"x8"x4"

Coolers get in my way and my boat has a factory live well that is too narrow so I lined it with 1" hard foam and turned into a cooler retaining the original drain. It holds most of the ice for 24 hours which is more than I need.

I framed out an area in the starboard side storage compartment for a plastic bin, ran wires from a switch panel and screwed a 12 volt bubbler to the lid for my totally out of the way bait well.

The factory 6 gallon gas tank sort of fit into a compartment at the transom but jutted out onto the deck and was always in the way of the rod holders. I only use 1-2 gallons a day so a 3 gallon tank worked perfectly but I do carry a spare 1 gallon up in the bow.

It's nice having a big red or cobia dragging me around the boat and not tripping over things trying to keep up.

 

[richg99]

"It's nice having a big red or cobia dragging me around the boat"

YES!

 

[DaleH]

FWIW I downgraded from a 25' offshore fully rigged toona boat to a 16' skiff for zipping around the rivers and bays chasing inshore species like striped bass, bluefish and mackeral and groundfish like flounder and such. So I've been playing around with tackle storage ideas.

Like others I do use the Plano boxes and am putting in a lockable 4-drawer unit into the hull superstructure, but I know there's other gear I'll be carrying. I bought some of these little tackle boxes and tackle dividers that you can drop into a 5-gallon bucket. Makes it simple - could have 1 or 2 all for ground fish tackle and others for top-water or such.

As a bonus, a 5-gallon bucket is a handy item to have aboard a boat!

 

[richg99]

Good idea! And yes, every boat should have a bucket on board.

richg99

 

[riverrat717]

I saw a roll-up hard bait storage system at the outdoor show a few weeks ago....basically a flat piece of material with plastic snapbutton pockets to put lures in, and roll the whole thing up. I'll see if I can find them on the web.

 

[riverrat717]

https://crankcanvas.com/

 

[-CN-]

I used to do a lot of shore fishing, so I had compacted my collection down to what fits in a backpack.
I have 4 large, one medium, and one small of the Plano boxes in the backback, plus pliers, line, a bag of plastics, and the fishing regulations book in there.
The bag takes up minimal room in the 14 ft boat. I'll generally take the two or three boxes out of the bag that I'm currently using for the type of fishing I'm doing, and I'll throw the rest of the backpack and its contents into the front storage compartment. Then all that's floating around in there are a few Plano boxes, a landing net, and about 8 fishing poles.

 

[richg99]

When I take my kayak out ...I get away with ONE medium sized Plano box. Of course, I know where and how deep I will be, and pretty much for what species I will be fishing.

Duhhh.... I know those two things mostly when I take the tinny out, too.

I take too much stuff out with me....that's a fact.

richg99

 

[fishmonger]

"I take too much stuff out with me....that's a fact."

Sounds like my brother, he has all his inshore and off shore stuff in one huge tackle bag. Problem is he can never find what he needs ...he's not the most organized guy.

 

[earl60446]

If I am going fishing, the tackle (all of it) is going with me. Ain't gonna catch no fish at home. Sacrilege !
Can't believe my fellow TinBoaters are leaving it at home, SUCK IT UP MEN!
Tim

 

[AllOutdoors]

If I am going fishing, the tackle (all of it) is going with me. Ain't gonna catch no fish at home. Sacrilege !
Can't believe my fellow TinBoaters are leaving it at home, SUCK IT UP MEN!
Tim

Lol. The more I attempt to downsize, the more I take. I have do have 2 Plano boxes that stay home when I'm running skinny. I will add them when I go to deep water ledges. I know the weight of those 2 boxes wouldn't slow me down in skinny water cause often times I carry a camping load for 4 on the same water.

 

[thatkidhugo]

Carry everything with me at all times.. Ontario offers great freshwater fishinf

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk

 

[PsychoXP18CC]

I too use the tackle trays from Plano. Most are what would be considered medium sized, but I have two of the large single compartment boxes that are bulk storage for additional soft plastics and extra baits that are most often used/lost. There are times when taking them all isn't practical, but most often I have between 5-8 of the medium trays along with the 2 larger models. Rarely have more than 4 rods on the boat with me. I have plenty of room under the front deck for tackle and gear, but no rod storage to speak of.

Given my boat isn't really small or underpowered, and the fact that I've never caught a fish going over about 5mph, I don't worry too much about speed. I'd rather have and not need than need and not have.