How do you organize your tackle ?

I guess like allot of people over the years I have built up quite a bit of kit and I am constantly tinkering with it and moving stuff from one box or bag to another trying to find the perfect formula for organizing it but I just cant get it right.

Some days I think I should try and organize by species so one tackle box for each, other times I think I should pack a bit of everything for that “just in case” situation and end up carrying a ton.

How do you organze yours ? Any tips gratefully received !

phillip,

I'm the most untidy angler I know, always have been and I suspect I always will be ?

So I do it by species and seperate bags/rod holdals, Carp in one with better set of Buzzers, Pike in another, Barbel in another, Perch in another etc. etc..

In that way I know I will always be kitted out for the species I'm targetting !!

I have a General bag (thankyou Mr New Editor) which I keep a set of Buzzers in and general bits of kit.

I even have a seperate Fishing car, because I'm disorganised I know I'm going to upset the Maggots or spill the grounbait and my Mrs. will not go in it ?

Bob

I was exactly the same...forever swapping bits between bags and boxes but I've now gone "modular". I have a predator bag,a barbel bag,a seatbox and a "general" bag. The seatbox & general all take indentically sized boxes of which I have 3 that I swap around depending what I'm doing...one river box for everything except barbel,one general lake for everything except carp and a tench/perch box. Two holdalls,river or lake.

I had to double up on a few bits like needles,scissors,shot,hooks and a few floats etc so each box was self contained but its revolutionised my fishing.I no longer lug every feeder,lead and reel I own around with me and I can be ready in seconds.

Best thing I ever did IMO.

Me too. But there's always something I don't have with me that I have two of at home in another bag!

See my thread the worlds neatest tackle box is this the worlds neatest tackle box | Gofishing.co.uk which I have since abandoned

The bane of my life is those bloody disorganiser boxes with compartments that are too small for hook packets and such. I have a loftful of the blasted things, and that includes many that I've hacked about to try and get "right". They all hold about one item of kit per compartment and make a mountain out of a pocketful of bits.
The best thing I've yet found for floats are the A4 document boxes that have just moved beyond Poundland's reach and appear in other cheapjacks at about £1.50 (£3.99 in smiffs).
These, plus a Poundland bag of craft foam or an old camping mat to cut up and glue to make partitions, work pretty well,especially if you remember to put a few diagonal dividers in - body-up avons and sticks one side, body-down wagglers and duckers the other.
Even so, sorting my kit out for a trip is often so daunting that I just read about it. Especially if it's wet or blowing an Easterly in Winter.

Alan

I was the same with those multi-compartment boxes that all seemed cunningly designed so that nothing quite fitted. Then I bought a TFG seatbox which came with two "free" TFG lockboxes and bingo...suddenly things fit. I know not everyone is a big fan of TFG stuff but the luggage IMO is great. I've just bought a TFG bag [another "free" box] and these now form the basics of my new organised approach. The various Fox boxes etc that used to drive me nuts are now confined to the shed.

And I no longer have to get everything out to find anything. I know where it is.

Skippy

I really sorted my gear out on Saturday in preparation for my new middy chair ( road tested today, great - full review if anyone wants one) but the rest of the gear now fits in a teeny rucksack I found in the back of the wardrobe. Floats, feeders plummets go in tool box ( I guess anyway) about a5 with different compartments and bits box with shot, hooks etc. All this fits in a small bit of a small rucksack, the rest is filled with bait and a catty.it might just fit a jacket too but didn't try today. It worked well today and can see it revolutionising my fishing as I'll be far more prepared to fish less accessible places for shorter times.

That said today was pants

Most times I take too much tackle. Yet there are many times when I had wished I had brought that, or have forgotten this!

Ron The Hat Clay said:

Most times I take too much tackle. Yet there are many times when I had wished I had brought that, or have forgotten this!

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Ron,

Thats why I take everything

the lads moan at be about taking too much stuff, but how many times is it, that they are asking to borrow something ?

Bob

Bob Hornegold said:

Ron, Thats why I take everything

Click to expand...

If you ever take a look inside Ron's tackle box you will find the most untidy mess you've ever seen in your life, and I bought him a new Fox box a few years ago for Christmas!

As for me, I am almost OCD when it comes to a tidy tackle box. I use the Preston X6 with a place for everything and everything in its' place.

Alternatively, my Carp boxes are very tidy, I use the Nash Tackle Station and it is perfect for a weekend session for either Carp or Tench.

In my river bags I keep Fox boxes and Korum Tackle managers. I have one for float fishing and another for lead/feeder work.

As for my baits, well, one FM regular told me that he knows people who have 'fridges less tidy than my bait bags, and I truly hate dirty bait boxes!

My Carp tackle is cut down to the bare minimum as I have to travel a long way to my waters, so everything is contained in one small shoulder bag and a rod holdall and unhooking mat....

try to have my tackle organised like others on here, predator gear in one box, float/match gear in another, carp, lures etc, etc.

I have my rods with reels already attached then its just a case of grabbing what i need banding it all together put the relevent tackle in the rucksack chuck some bait in a bucket (have a baitfridge in the garage) and im off, like noknot like to travel as light as possible.

Obviously if im travelling further and fishing for longer, using the boat etc then a bit more planning and gear is involved.

(Bob a second car for fishing, now thats a luxuary )

Iv'e tried to fish lightly, but there is always something I want !!

Funny, when I was working I was very tidy, because I had to be, employing quite a few people, I had to know where everything was ?

But in my own life I'm untidy, I'm always loosing things and it drives the Mrs. mad

Having said that, I still catch a few fish and being untidy sems to upset other people, not me !!

Bob

Some good replies....although I am surprised no one mentioned rig wallets ! …they seem to be good for storing all those odd bits and pieces.

I like Skippys modular idea and with that in mind I found the tackle bag/box below. Its basically a small compact bag 25cmx25cm (so a bit smaller than say a car battery) …with 4 plastic boxes inside with removable dividers. You can get a 5th in there at a push. There is also a reasonable sized zip pocket at the front and two side pockets although those are a bit of a joke.

Its actually meat for lures but it seems ideal for storing other kits as well. I already have two, one for predators, that houses all the gear and even a couple of drifter floats…bent round but they just fit. The other holds all my leads, feeders and droppers. Its amazing how much you can cram into them and being individual boxes it fits with the modular idea.

Downside is the platics tackle boxes even with the dividers removed do need a bit of hacking to fit say a standard sized spool of Drennen line but I can see me getting more of them.

I found the downside to being organised is that there is no longer any need for a "getting my gear ready" session the night before a trip.No more spending a happy couple of hours sorting stuff out & swapping it between bags/boxes. I still get a few floats out & play with a reel or two but its not the same.

Long gone are the days I carry lots of rods and tackle,

I no longer take 5 rods (2 match different lengths, 1 Avon, 1 medium and 1 heavy leger), 4 reels, about 100 floats, swing tips and quiver tips, target board, line weights right down to dust shot, legers including arlesey bombs, rolling and coffin leads, about a dozen different feeders and all the bits and pieces.

Nowadays its just one rod and what I think I will need for the venue and the style of fishing I have chosen to fish that day.

As a consequence I have made up several boxes all small with just the bare essentials in each one for light float river fishing, one for deeper and faster rivers, one for legering and a second small box with a few extras if I am going to a larger and deeper river. Then I have 2 boxes one for lake float fishing one for lake legering. Most of the boxes are in the style of small craft boxes with removable partitions although I have hacked some up with a Stanley knife the first time I did it was to fix in a multi-size line weight box. I have marked all the boxes so now I open the cupboard and can see and grab exactly what I am going to use instantly, it just makes going fishing easier and quicker and I don't forget anything. Also in the cupboard are my reels in marked pouches and the fixed spools have spare spools in the pouches.

Spare tackle is kept handy in a set of drawers again all marked on the outside for topping up the boxes after getting home from a fishing trip/session. Hanging on the door of the cupboard is a list of my tackle its been laminated so if I run out of something I mark the list and the next time I go to a tackle shop I copy out what I have marked as needed and take the list.

By doing it this way over a period of time I have saved myself a lot of money and many a disappointment at the waterside of not having what I need with me and the added bonus in that I no longer forget to buy something I need and am a lot less tempted by impulse buys...well except for floats...hehehe

But for me the biggest bonus of all is I am no longer a pack mule, I simply do not haul loads of tackle I am not going to use to the waterside. I get all my tackle ready the night/day before and leave my flask by the kettle and my bait and sandwiches in the fridge...simples...hehehe

when I go out fishing everything has its place...on the way back however is a different matter....all intentional as it gives me something to do sorting it out for the next trip

since starting up again I have downsized my tackle. I use a tribal medium carryall which is superb quality and just the right size for my course and lure gear. I have set of fox clear lure boxes with all my lures, traces and tools in. I just load what I need on the day!
for my course set ups I have just bought a greys clip lok box which is superb, it holds everything I need, much better than the old fox box I used for years (just more room for general course and barbel gear)
my rods just go in to a korum two rod quiver (hard case)

mark

I have a cotswold bag and the things that go everywhere like scales, camera and tickets live in the outside pockets, that way they're always with me. My river stuff lives in carp lead bags, floats in a tube and my carp stuff in a fox box, that way all I have to do is fill the main section. All my rods live in sleeves so are quick to grap too. My lure stuff tends to live in waist coat and waist coat sized boxes so thats quick to pack too.

As I rarely fish longer sessions anymore it works well for me.