Guide to Buying and Filling Up Your Best Tacklebox

How often do you:

1. Miss hooking a good fish because your hooks are dull?
2. Spend 15 min­utes untangling a mess of lures and lines in the bottom of your tackle box while trying to get at that one special lure?
3. Buy a bunch of plugs that are too large to fit the compartments in your tackle box?
4. If you have some of these troubles, you also have lots of company. Most anglers go fishing without a complete and efficient kit of tools and accessories. Now, an impressive and well-stocked tackle box doesn’t make a good fisher­man. I’ve seen Maine guides whittle lures and hooks from wood and catch fish.

    If you have some of these troubles, you also have lots of company. Most anglers go fishing without a complete and efficient kit of tools and accessories. An impressive and well-stocked tackle box or fishing box doesn’t make a good fisher­man.  But who wants to handicap himself in such a fashion? In fact, who wants to handicap himself at all, when work­ing today’s heavily fished waters where some of the most sophisticated game­ fish in the world live? Any machinist can tell you that the better his tools, the better he can work. This applies to fishing, too, whether you’re a beginner, average angler, or an expert. This means as a prepper or just a fisherman you need to assemble a proper tackle box. This post will help you do just that.

     Your first consideration in assembling a kit of angling tools should be a suit­able tackle box. Don’t just go into a store and ask the salesman to show you a tackle box at a particular price, as most fishermen do when they need one. Before you start shopping, you should know exactly what box is best suited to your needs.

     Your first consideration in assembling a kit of angling tools should be a suit­able tackle box. Don’t just go into a store and ask the salesman to show you a tackle box at a particular price, as most fishermen do when they need one. Before you start shopping, you should know exactly what box is best suited to your needs.

     First, look for a box with enough compartments of suitable size. It’s a good idea to measure your largest lures, checking both length and height, in­cluding the hooks. Many anglers get fooled by measuring only the length of their lures, then when they get home to discover that their new box won’t close because the treble hooks on the largest lures stand too high in the compart­ments. If you use such bulky lures, you’ll need a box with deep compart­ments. Figure out how many lures of different sizes you’ll want to carry with you. Then add about ten percent to that number.

     Some anglers take this matter of lure compartments so seriously that they lay their lures out the way they want them to lie and then they make a diagram on a piece of paper to use when shopping for a new box. Such men usually end up with a box that has ad­justable compartment walls that snap into grooves provided for this purpose. Then they can arrange the compart­ments to suit their needs, provided the trays are deep enough. A few boxes are so constructed that you can make long compartments by placing the partitions lengthwise in the trays and securing them in position with the aid of a small soldering iron.
The second consideration when wanting to purchase your best tackle box should be the size of the accessory well in the bottom of the box. This holds reels, extra line, various accessories. It’s a good idea to assemble on a table all of the accessories you use and meas­ure the space they take up, including width, length, and height. That will be the size of your accessory well.
Look for a box that is as nearly wa­tertight as you can find. Most manufacturers advertise their tackle boxes as being waterproof. But I’ve tested quite a few brands and haven’t yet found one that is entirely waterproof. All will leak if completely submerged in water. A well-made box will stay dry inside during a pouring rain or from water sprays from a boat. Some will float if dropped overboard, unless heavily filled; others will sink, even when empty, as water comes in at the seams. Get the most watertight box you can find.
Look for a box that will resist rust and corrosion, especially if you fish on or near salt water. Locks, handles, hinges, bolts, and screws should be solid brass, bronze, or nickel-plated steel. A cheap box is no bargain when you find it rusting after being used a few times in the rain or pitted with small holes after use in salt water or near a pulp mill or chemical plant.
A quiet box is a boon to good fishing. Avoid those on which the handle rattles, the lures rattle around in their com­partments, or a model that makes a lot of noise every time you open and close it. Such noise spooks nervous fish near your boat. Look for handles that are tight enough not to rattle when trolling, and lure compartments lined with cork, rubber, or plastic. You’ll have to fix the bottom of your box yourself, for even the plastic ones are not quite enough. Buy a small, rubber mat cut it to fit the bottom of your box, and attach it with rubber cement. Then you can set your box down in any boat quietly, troll with fewer rattles, and open and shut it with less noise.
Weight is an important consideration also as you want the tackle box to be as light as possible if you are planning to carry your box a long distance to boat or riverbank.

     Filling your tackle box with the correct lures and such is only one part of being prepared.  The other part lies in what you carry in your accessory well at the bottom of your tackle box.   Having the right equipment can, in extreme situation, mean the difference between a good time or misery.  For example, why risk damaging your teeth to cut leaders instead of buying an inexpensive leader cutter? Why go fishing without taking an extra line, reel oil, simple tools, and spare parts? Why would any angler venture into the country where biting flies and mosquitoes are plentiful without taking insect repel­lent ?

Nobody can tell another angler ex­actly what accessories he should carry. But here’s a list of items many veterans have with them :

1. Pair of small wire cutters
2. Long-nose pliers
3. Split shot
4. Assorted sinkers, including wrap-around lead
5.  Sharpening stone
6. Extra hooks, including trebles in all sizes needed
7. Swivels of assorted sizes
8. Small screwdriver set
9. Reel wrench for trolling or salt-water reels
10. Spares to replace delicate or easily lost reel parts
11. Extra spinning-reel spools carrying line of different strengths
12. Reel oiler
13. Leader cutter
14. Plastic clips or wide rubber bands to keep monofilament line from rolling off of spinning reels when not in use
15. Leader material of varying sizes
16. Small coils of soft wire
17. Plastic tape for holding spinning reels firmly to reel seats and for emergency repairs
18. Ferrule cement
19. Fishing knife
20. Small scale and measuring tape
21. Water thermometer
22. Reliable compass for foggy days on large lakes
23. Plug retriever
24. Reliable insect repellent
25. Waterproof matches or other portable fire starter
26. Flashlight and extra bulb
27. Fishing license in waterproof plastic Iicense cover
28. Sunglasses
29. Thick rubber bands to be used with troll­ ing gear
30. Small Sponge
31. Suntan Lotion
32. Toilet Paper

This above guide should be used with common sense as it is not one size fits all.  For example, tackle boxes used for  fishing expeditons will have more fishing lures and other accessories.  However, a tackle box in a SHTF situation will be more lean an mean.  But,  this article and  common sense will help make sure that you are able to properly select the best tackle box for your particular needs.