How To Organize Tackle | Terminal Fishing Tackle

Hey folks, Keri May here with BassResource.com, and Glenn wanted me to talk to you today a little bit about tackle organization and how I do it. Everybody does it differently. Nobody's gonna do it the same way, but some of my tips might help you. And, you know, you can always leave me your tips at the bottom of this video, they might help me, or others. So let's get into it, and hopefully, it helps you out.

First of all, I want to say that I usually fish out the back of the boat with Glenn. And a lot of times when we're fishing, we're videotaping. So right in the middle here will be a big camera. I can't run back and forth to get tackle when I need it. So I built my own. It's been created over the years. Glenn got me into it when I started fishing and I started building my own tackle box. It kind of helped me, you know, get my own identity in fishing. And it might help your wife too or girlfriend if you want to take them fishing. Give them a tackle box. Let them build their own tackle box and build their own things. Be careful or you'll create a monster like it did me and I was buying all kinds of tackle right and left and had to like stop doing that after a while. 

But first of all, let's get into it. I'll pull some things out, and we'll go through it, and I'll give you some tips.

Okay, I have my own locker back here where I keep my tackle and inside here I'll keep my terminal tackle right on top because it's the one I use the most. I'll keep a Plano box with jigs. I use them quite often. And then I'll have a tote bag in here that has one, two, three, four, five, seven Plano boxes. And it's easy to get in and out. It's very portable. I really don't remember where I got this bag. It was a long time ago. It was Bass Pro Shops actually, it says it right on front. I don't know if they still make 'em or not but I'm sure you can get something very similar. 

So this is fall going into winter. So this is a great time of year and this is usually what I'll do is I'll pull everything out, go through, replace things that I've used, replenish things, maybe I didn't like something I was throwing I might just take it out but since I've already started now I'm just going to continue on.

But as far as organization goes, I'm gonna start with terminal tackle. I usually take my Plano box and I'll organize it with bullet weights, some bobber stoppers, weights, and then I'll organize my hooks.

I always have a place in here for our used lures because I'll cut 'em off throw 'em in. I always have pliers. And yes I even have a corkscrew in here. I always carry snips and I carry a pen and paper because a lot of times Glenn and I will pre-rig for tournaments and then I'll go on a business trip, or we'll be gone for a few weeks and come back and directly go. I can tell you I'm not gonna remember what the heck I tied on. It's a fast way for me to see it, figure it out, I don't have to dig through the rod lockers, I know what I have. And if I want to change anything I know exactly what rod and reel it is I can pull it out and get it changed.

As far as hooks go, I like to organize them by type but I'll also take and I'll cut off the big label so that way I just see what type of hook it is in size. That way I can put them in order or if I know I'm throwing a particular size I can bring it to the front so I can grab it quickly and go. Same thing for any weighted hooks, same thing for smaller hooks. I will cut off the little tag and just put it in there so it fits in this box. That way I don't have things all over the place. I'm kind of strange that way. You can do it any way you want, but that's just how I do it. I like to put 'em in order so I can find things fast.

Then I have my jig box that I organize by jig color. I don't have a lot of room to put a lot of jigs, but I love throwing them. So I put 'em in by color, and by shape. So I have footballs, I have swim Jigs, I'll have shaky heads you know are over here, I'll put in, you know, brush jigs. They're all by size and by type of head.

All right. Then I go on to grubs and stick worms. Again, it's easy, it's plastics. Don't mix your colors though because they'll bleed onto each other. Every once in a while though it comes out pretty, you never know. But again, you just organize them. I like to organize mine by either Twin Tail, Single Tail. If they're, you know, Hula Grubs I'll put them in. And it all depends on really what type of fishing you're doing. You know, my way's not always the right way. And you may not use any of these colors. You design it for yourself. 

Spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, and chatterbaits all go into one. And I organize them by color as well. And they're just laid in here so they're easy to find. Usually, throw white, but I also have other colors in here. Senkos and tubes is the same thing. Organized by color, size, and easy to find. And I label it, as you can see here if you're looking at this. Everything is labeled. And all the labels, if I change something around I'll re-label it. 

My jerkbaits and my crankbaits, I organize mine by bill size and shape. I'm not so much worried about color, but as far as crankbaits go, it's bill size and shape. So if I know I want a deep diver I know I gotta look for a longer bill size, a bigger crankbait. If I want square bill I know where all my square bills are. I can get the color I want, but I wanna make sure I keep those shapes together so that way I can find what I'm looking for really quick. But that works for me. Again, you do it however you want. 

Same with all your poppers, bills, and jerkbaits. They're all together. Frogs and lizards, same thing. And then my claws and my jig trailers, anything I use for drop shots are all in another one. And you know, you organize how you want.

But what I do is I like to keep things in my tackle box, since it's back here with me, that I'm gonna use more often than not, and organize it each trip as well. If I know I'm going jig fishing, I'm gonna have the jigs I want right up front ready to go. If I'm flipping I'm gonna have all my flipping gear up front ready to go. Heavy hooks, everything's gonna be where I need it so I can get to it fast. Or even if I'm pleasure fishing, I still don't wanna spend a bunch of time rigging. I want to fish.

So it's completely up to you how you do it. Let me know how you do yours below the video. And for more tips and tricks like this visit BassResource.com.