Tackle box organization is essential for any serious angler. Whenever I got the chance to fish with one of the touring bass pros I always liked to take a sneak peak in the pros’ boat storage compartments to see what lures they used and how they organized their tackle.

The pros know that time is of the essence when they are on the water, so tackle organization is critical. Knowing exactly where a particular lure or hook is in their boat prevents them from wasting valuable time searching for that item. I have also visited some of the pros at their homes and have noticed how organized their tackle is in their garage or workshop.

The pros have taught me the importance of keeping the same tackle organizing regimen whether you are at home or in your boat. Over the years I have accumulated enough lures and tackle to open a small bait-and-tackle shop so I have developed a system for organizing items in my house that extends into my boat.

Divide And Conquer

I separate surplus lures by lure types, such as crankbaits, suspending stickbaits, jigs, spinnerbaits, etc., into cardboard boxes and label the boxes with the lure type to store in my office closet. I also put extra fishing line, hooks, sinkers and fish attractant gels and sprays in separate boxes.

Tackle Box Organization: Separating Soft Plastics

My soft plastic lures are kept in their original packages and stored in plastic tubs that are stacked along my office walls. I have separate tubs for swimbaits, plastic tubes, creatures, beavers, plastic worms, Senkos, plastic lizards and plastic craws and chunks.

Home Fishing Headquarters

The lures I intend to use throughout the year are stored by lure types in Plano 3700 boxes and are also kept in another area of my closet. I have about 30 of those boxes filled with lures and tackle ranging from topwater baits to worm weights. The boxes are even divided into specific categories of lure types such as boxes for topwater prop baits, topwater chuggers, deep-diving crankbaits, medium-diving crankbaits and square bill crankbaits. My closet also contains a smaller Plano 3600 box filled with snaps, split rings and swivels and Plano 3600 boxes filled with components for drop shot and Neko rigs.

Tackle Box Organization: Take What You Need

Storing all this tackle in my boat would severely test my bass boat’s floatation system, so I lighten the load by carrying seasonal tackle on the water. I determine which lures I will need for the seasonal patterns I will be fishing and carry a tackle bag capable of holding four 3600 boxes for my hard plastic baits. The soft plastics I intend to store in my boat for the season are taken from my plastic tubs in the house and transferred into Ziploc bags. Each bag will contain packages of a particular lure in four or five different colors. By employing the same tackle organization system from home to boat I know exactly where to find my lures without wasting time.