Find the right tackle box for your needs and keep your tackle tidy with these great tips from the BCFing Experts – we’ll have to take our own advice and organise our own fishing gear soon!
Every Fisho knows the story all too well – tackle boxes in every corner of the shed, lures coming out of your ears with nowhere to put them, rods piled up in the corner, and that never ending search for that elusive hardbody you really wanted to tie on. Keeping your fishing gear tidy is no mean feat, but it’s super important that everything’s in order when it comes to game day. With our busy lives, none of us really have the time to chase our finned friends as often as we’d like, and we certainly don’t want to be spending our time rummaging around the garage for those runaway jigheads. So, the BCFing experts have decided to pull this guide together to help you choose a tackle box that’ll help keep your gear nice and tidy - you’ll thank us for it when the time comes to head out for a flick!
What tackle box should I buy?
When it comes to tackle storage options there are a whole bunch to choose from, each with their own pros and cons. It really depends on two things – your experience level and the type of fishing you do. You can run the classic fishing tackle box that’ll have you sorted for a day on the jetty, or splash some more cash on a big boy with removable tackle trays. If you’re a keen Fisho, choosing a tackle storage option with tackle trays is your best bet. You can dedicate trays to particular species, fill them with a certain type of lure, or simply load them up with one type of tackle - whether it’s hooks, sinkers, or swivels, they all deserve their own spot. The other great thing about tackle trays is that you can take the ones you need and leave everything else at home, so the only thing you’re hauling onto the boat is a stonker!
The line-up: tackle-tray options
For the seasoned Fisho, tackle boxes with removable tackle trays are the way to go. Things like a tackle backpack, tackle bag, or even a hard tackle box make great options for a day by the river or out in the boat. If you’re on a budget, another idea is to simply buy the tackle trays individually and keep them stacked up at home, where you can get to them easily when it’s time to wet a line. To give a better idea of the benefits of each different type, we’ll take a look at them all separately in more detail down below.
Tackle Backpack
Tackle bags, or trekking packs as they are often called, are an absolutely cracking option for the porta-fisho who spends their days walking along the river flicking lures. Combining the benefits of a backpack with the lure-holding power of a tackle box, these bags allow you to keep rod in hand while bringing all your gear along for the ride. Most of these bags have a number of tackle trays and a huge top compartment for your pliers, gloves, line, sunnies, or our personal favourite… more lures! Some bags even come with a bottle opener, so you can crack open a cold one on the go – you beauty!
Tackle Bag
If you’re looking to store a whole heap of fishing tackle, look no further than the good old tackle bag. The beauty of these bad boys is that you can use them to keep all the gear you own in proper order. Dedicate one to saltwater gear, fill one up for the fresh stuff, and use another to keep your collection of squid jigs neat and tidy. If you’re looking for tackle HQ, we highly recommend grabbing a tackle bag off the shelf. Like other trayed options, you can easily chop and change the tackle you decide to bring along with you. That way you’re not carting along excess weight and only taking exactly what you need for the day. It’s a good idea to look for something with corrosion resistant zips as the salt water can really do a number on your gear if you don’t take care of it. If you do get water in your tackle trays while out on the boat, this tackle moisture absorber hack by Sammy Hitzke will ensure your hooks and other pieces of tackle stay in tip top shape.
Trayed Tackle Box
The last item on the agenda is the tough guy of the tackle storage options – the trayed tackle box. These guys have plenty of room to store everything you’ll need for a day on the boat or the bank and won’t suffer from the same wear and tear as you might find over time with the soft bag options. They come in a huge range of sizes to suit the individual needs of just about any fisho. From the first-time flicker with a handful of gear, to the elite angler with more kit than a BCF store. Although they can attract a pretty penny, they’re well worth the investment and will last a lifetime if you take care of them. If you’re looking to upgrade your old tackle box and want something that’s as durable as can be, these trayed tackle boxes are the perfect fit for you.
Ways to pack your tackle trays
Now that we’ve gone through the different trayed options, it’s time to think about how you’ll actually use them to keep your tackle tidy. While there are a million ways that you could go about organising your tackle, we reckon there are 3 main methods that top the lot - these are organising by lure type, species, or tackle type.
Lure type
Filling up a tackle tray with one or two types of lures is an epic idea for the big-time lure Fisho. You might want to flick out a surface lure and try for whiting off the top or decide to troll a tassie devil in search of a hungry trout. By keeping the same type of lure together in one tackle tray, you can easily swap between colours and sizes until WHAM – fish on!
Species
Every good Fisho knows that you need to have a target species in mind when out on the water, so it makes complete sense to put your own ‘species kit’ together with this critter in mind. You can purchase a tackle kit at BCF that has all the gear you need to catch a whiting, flatty, or even a squid, but nothing beats putting your own box together with high-quality tackle options from the likes of Black Magic or BKK. This is an epic option for bait and lure Fishos alike and will allow you to keep everything you need to catch a certain species together in one place.
Tackle type
Here’s one for the Fisho that lives by the KISS principle – and we’re not talking about puckering up every time you land a snapper. It doesn’t get much more basic than organising your tackle by type, put the hooks with the hooks, the sinkers with the sinkers, the swivels with the swivels, and you’re good to go.
How to store soft plastics?
If you’ve ever left your soft plastics out of the packet or in the sun, you’ll know that you need to put a little thought into storing your softies to keep them in tip top condition. When you buy a packet of placcies, keep them in the packet, and don’t throw out the hard plastic inside. This way they won’t melt together into one big clump of soft plastic mess. We love a bait ball but can’t say the same for a huge ball of plastic. A great way to organise your plastics is to get your hands on a tackle wallets from BCF. Many of these have plastic sleeves designed to hold a packet of plastics and some, even have a small tackle tray perfect for storing all your jigheads.
What about the good old tackle box?
The good old, tiered fishing tackle box still has its place and is an absolute cracker for the beginner Fisho, or for the little tackers. Pop in all your essentials such as hooks, sinkers and swivels and you’ll be right to go for a quick flick on the pier. There’s also plenty of room to throw in your knife, a set of pliers, and any other bits and bobs that you feel like bringing along. Compact and light, these boxes will be just right if you’re looking for a simple solution to store your tackle. Plano have a whole host of this style of tackle box, that you can check out at your local BCF store
An organised Fisho is a Fisho that’s going to land more fish, spend more time out on the water, and spend less money replacing tackle that gets lost in the black hole better known as ‘the shed’. We’re all guilty of letting our fishing gear spread around the garage quicker than a bad rash, but there’s no better time than now to get organised! If you’ve got a day off coming up and don’t know how to spend it, or your fishing plans get washed down the drain by a little too much rain, jump online or head to your local BCF and sort out your gear so that when the next good day rolls around, you can pick up stumps quicker than say 'where's my tackle box' and get fishing!