Tackle Organization Ideas On How To Organize A Tackle Box

Table of Contents

• Tackle Storage Optimization Basics
• Types of Tackle Storage
• Tips For Organizing Your Tackle Box
• Organizing Your Fishing Tackle By Lure Type
• How To Organize Your Fishing Tackle By Species
• How To Organize A Tackle Box By Color
• Tips For Organizing Tackle Boxes

Tackle Storage Optimization Basics

Having a well organized tackle storage system is one of the best ways for anglers to save money, keep baits and lures longer, save time, be able to quickly swap lures and baits, and many other benefits. In my opinion, organizing and sorting my tackle is almost just as fun as the actual fishing trip. I like to separate my utility boxes based on lure type, so I have one tackle tray for spinner baits, one for crank baits, one for soft plastics, etc. There have been plenty of occasions where I am in a boat, fishing a white and chartreuse spinner bait, while my buddy is throwing a natural silver colored jerkbait, and the fish are only biting that, luckily since all of my tackle is organized, I was quickly able to switch out to a similar lure and get on the bite and catch some fish, which is another example of why it is so beneficial to having an organized tackle box. In this guide we will discuss some of my favorite and most beneficial ways to organize a tackle box.

Types of Tackle Storage

Before we get into organizing your tackle storage, we should discuss the different types of tackle storage that are available and what each of them are good for. Overall, there are tackle boxes, tackle bags, utility boxes, and other fishing rod cases or lure wraps and binders.

Tackle Boxes

When you think of a tackle box, it is very common to think of the iconic double decker plastic box with some pull out drawered that your grandpa probably used to store all of his fishing gear. Well fast forward a few years and there are so many styles and variations of tackle boxes, the game has completely changed. There are very intricate tackle boxes now that have several compartments like the Plano Guide Series 3-Tray Tackle Box. There are also tackle boxes designed specifically for types of lures, for example the Flambeau Big Mouth Spinnerbait box is designed to hold spinnerbaits, which makes for a very handy way to organize your tackle boxes.

Tackle Bags

Tackle bags, to simply out it, ROCK. I have a few tackle bags for different purposes, but tackle bags are typically a soft canvas bag with a large main pocket to hold utility trays, tackle boxes, and other large gear. They will typically also have side pockets for other storage like sunglasses, fishing knives, line, fishing license, and anything else you may want to keep in your bag. One of my favorites is the Evolution Outdoor Drift Series Topless Horizontal 3700 Tackle Bag. Overall tackle bags are great for loading up all your fishing gear based on whatever species you are targeting, so when I am going on a walleye trip I can easily take out all of my bass lure utility boxes and load all of my utility boxes of walleye lures into the bag.

Utility Boxes

Utility boxes are often confused with tackle boxes. However, utility boxes are the clear plastic boxes that are snap sealed shut, have plastic dividers, and the inside can be interchangeable to fit all of your fishing lures. This is easily one of the best ways to keep your lures organized due to the customizability of the boxes, as well as you can easily see into the box, so you know what is in it, and utility boxes are my personal go to for storing my fishing lures.

Fishing Rod Cases

Fishing rod cases are an excellent way to keep your favorite combos set up and ready to go for quick and easy use. There are two main types of fishing rod cases, one is the boat or wall mounted rod holders. These make it incredibly easy for you to take a full combo and hang it on the wall, always ready to grab and go whenever the bite is hot. The Berkley Horizontal 6 Rod Rack is an excellent example of an affordable rod holder that can hold up to 6 fishing combos horizontally on your wall. The other type is tube type that rods can slide into. The tube style fishing rod cases are a bit more difficult for storing complete combos but are excellent for travelling with rods. I personally take my reels off and store them in my tackle bag and put all my rods in the travel case. A great travel fishing rod case is the Flambeau 6085 Bazuka Rod Storage.

Other Fishing Tackle Storage

There are also other types of fishing gear storage as well, there are specifically waterproof tackle boxes, lure wraps, and worm binders. A lure wrap is a plastic cover that goes around fishing lures to prevent hooks getting tangled with each other or in your other gear. Worm binders are books of plastic pages for soft plastic baits. They keep soft baits separate and easily accessible. A great option is the Plano Guide Series Worm Wrap.

Tips For Organizing Your Tackle Box

Now that we have gone over the types of tackle storage, we can get into some of the best tips and strategies for organizing your tackle box. There are three main ways to organize your tackle setup, if you organize your fishing gear differently, comment and let us know! The three ways I like to organize my tackle storage is by lure type, by species I am targeting, and by lure color.

Organizing Your Fishing Tackle By Lure Type

Organizing your fishing tackle by lure type is extremely efficient as you will know where to look when you want a very specific lure to throw. You can group all of your jerkbaits together while all of your spinnerbaits are in a different box. Additionally keeping all of your soft plastics in one area together will actually protect your hard baits by not getting them wet and smelly. This is most commonly how I will organize my tackle and lures, with slight modifications depending on when and where I am fishing. I like to use utility boxes as I can see what is in them, so it is very efficient for me to flip through my fishing utility boxes to find the lure I want. I have an individual box or boxes for jerkbaits, crankbaits, hard swimbaits, top water lures, spinner and buzz baits, and finally jigs and spoons. For me this system just works the best for what I need.

How To Organize Your Fishing Tackle By Species

Very similarly to organizing some utility boxes by lure type, you can organize them by species you are targeting. This is effective if you don’t want to bring an entire utility box for every single type of lure, and rather take one or two boxes with a plethora of lures that will work for your target species. For example, based off of our Best Summer Bass Lures Guide, if you are fishing for largemouth bass you can take one or two utility boxes but fill them with crankbaits, soft plastics, jigs, frogs, and jerkbaits. While if you are going walleye fishing in Lake Erie you can focus your tackle box on spoons, blade baits, live bait rigs, or larger deep diving jerkbaits. This is an effective strategy if you don’t want to lug around a box or bag for each type of lure, and already know before hand exactly what fish you will be targeting.

How To Organize A Tackle Box By Color

Organizing your tackle box by the color of lure is also a very popular way to do things. Having all of your red lures together is great when fish are eating crawfish, or all of your gold color lures is perfect for when that sun is just coming up or starting to go down. Overall, it gives you a huge advantage and efficiency when needing to change lures based off of water conditions, or hot bites. When all your shad colored hard baits are together and you want to match the hatch for a shad bite, well easy enough to pull that box from your tackle bag and throw something on! Not only will it make things very easy for you to adjust your lure color, but your utility boxes will also look aesthetically pleasing, it will perfectly scratch that OCD itch. I don’t typically use this method of organization for my personal fishing uses, however on my lure collection wall where I have my favorite fishing lures hanging on display, this is how I organize them because it just looks so clean. Another interesting note is that when storing your soft plastics in utility boxes, having them organized by color can prevent color bleeding vs when you mix and match different colors in one box.

Tips For Organizing Tackle Boxes

Finally, to close here are some general tips and tricks for optimized tackle storage and organization.

• Store soft plastics in binders or zip top bags.
• Use compartmentalized utility boxes for terminal tackle.
• Use external labels to help know what is in each box or bag.
• Keep boxes open until all lures are dry to prevent rust and damage to lures.
• Do an annual tackle box gear purge to get rid of any broken lures and garbage keeping your tackle box clean and tidy.
• Always close tackle boxes when not using to prevent accidental spills.
• ave fun and enjoy your time prepping your tackle and gear.

Closing Thoughts on Tackle Organization Tips

Overall, organizing a tackle box can be a very fun and appealing activity. Whether you are organizing your tackle based on lure type, lure color, or target species, you can have fun preparing your organization. I like to throw on some music, or pop on a YouTube video while I am grouping my lures and baits for my next trip. If you have any other questions on lures, tackle, or tackle storage feel free to give us a call or talk to one of our fishing experts by filling out a contact us form and let us know if you have any other ways that you like to organize your fishing tackle.

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