When you have an effective tackle organization system, re-rigging can be much simpler and faster when you know exactly where to find what you need while you're out on the water. Quickly locating the right gear and tackle ultimately gets your line down faster and keeps you fishing longer. Here are some tips to help you organize your tackle for success on your next fishing adventure.
1. Start with the Right Gear
Before you break down and assess your existing tackle, make sure you are set to go with your new storage system or that you replace anything broken or missing from your current tackle organization system before you begin.
Your standard tackle trays in a simple bag work fine, and there are plenty of options on the market across a wide range of sizes and prices - especially on the low end. The customizable compartments can help you adjust your boxes to the appropriate size and shape of your lures to help reduce tangles, but the dividers can easily become loose and often still result in tangled hooks if you have multiple lures per slot or compartment. You might also run into other issues such as rusty hooks from a non-watertight seal (or lack of a seal entirely), chipped paint from lures that jumble and toss together within the compartments, cracked lids or boxes due to cheap materials and poor quality, or even those dreaded times when a compartment divider falls out or doesn't do the job and your entire tray becomes an unorganized mess. Better yet, it tips over onto the floor of your boat and spills all of its contents into a pile for you only to have to re-organize it all and lose that precious time you could be fishing.
If those issues sound familiar, it might be time to upgrade to something that keeps your lures securely in place and well-protected from the elements. That's where Stone Tackle comes in. Our boxes are designed to securely hold each lure individually in slotted foam (or separated compartments in our Glide Bait Box) so they don't knock around or tangle with each other inside the box. The secure in-foam lure placement also ensures your lures won't just fall out if you tip the box over while it's open. This allows you to organize your lures in a manner in which they stay put neatly and you can see every size, shape, and color clearly through the transparent lids instead of just a pile of jigs in a compartment, for example. Our boxes also feature a watertight seal keeping your lure investments protected from water, snow, and dust as they get tossed around. To top it off, they float!
2. Categorize and Sort Your Tackle
Begin your organization process by laying out all of your tackle and start separating them into sorted categories that make sense for your needs. While it might seem like you're just making an even bigger mess, being able to visualize all of your different types of tackle and in their various colors, sizes, and quantities will help you start to envision how to sort and store everything effectively.
For a simple recommendation, you can start by separating your lures by type and species. All the jigs go into one pile, spoons, cranks, glidebaits, and so on. Then you can break them down into species and start sorting according to size.
3. Determine Box Assignments
Most anglers prefer to organize their lures into boxes according to lure type, but it's ultimately all about personal preference here - organizing by species works just the same. After assessing your organized piles of lures, you can begin making decisions on what baits will go in which box and how to divide them into the different compartments of standard tackle trays or how to place them into your Stone Tackle boxes.
Our customers often prefer to assign each side of our Stone Tackle box a lure type. For example, you can set up our large box with all of your predator (walleye, pike, etc) jigs on one side and spoons on the other. You could even setup a box according to a specific circumstance such as walleye fishing in Manitoba where barbless hooks are required. For more ideas on how to organize our Stone Tackle Boxes, you can check out some examples here.
4. Pack It Up As Neatly As Possible
After all the box assignments have been set, the last piece of the puzzle is simply getting all your lures into their appropriate boxes. When it comes to aligning your tackle into our Stone Tackle jig boxes, we've found that anglers can often fit more jigs into their box when they alternate jig head directions. Spoons, on the other hand, can be laid out all in the same direction with their detailed side facing upward so that you can easily identify them with the transparent cover closed. If you're putting smaller cranks or glidebaits into our jig boxes, just make sure you have all the treble hooks secured into the foam so they don't jump around. In the Glide Bait box, you can sometimes fit two smaller baits together in one slot but keep in mind that they may end up tangling.
Once you have all your boxes filled and lures stashed appropriately within them, pack your boxes into your travel bag or box or back into your boat compartments so you're set for your next trip ahead. Not sure what to do with your Stone Tackle boxes? Our large box is the size of most of your standard tackle trays and will generally fit into most storage bags accordingly. The Glide Bait box is a bit smaller and you could fit two of them side-by-side where a tray or large box would fit, or stash one into a side pocket. The same goes for our smaller panfish box which is also great to toss in your ice fishing bucket, a backpack, or your boat's glovebox.
Regardless of the system you use, make sure your organized tackle boxes are stored where you can access them easily or where you will remember to find them.
5. Hit the (Open or Hard) Water Prepared
With your lures inventoried, sorted, and stored in a well-organized system, it will not only be easier to change out your lures while you're on the water but also will help you figure out what you need to replace. Lost your favorite lure to a surprise toothy pike? The empty foam slot in your Stone Tackle box will quickly remind you to grab one the next time you hit the bait shop or put in that online order. Need to swap spoon colors to catch up to your friend landing all the fish on gold? Grab the right tray and fish it out OR reach down for your Stone Tackle box and find it with a quick look through the cover - and no tangled trebles to boot!
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Being organized on the water is all about the time and effort you put into your storage system off the water. Like we said - simple tackle trays do work just fine, but if you're sick of losing time to finding and untangling lures, rusty hooks, cracked lids, or simply spilling their guts on the floor, Stone Tackle has you covered with tackle storage systems that actually work. Want to grab our entire line-up? Save 20% off when you purchase the Stone Tackle Box Kit.
