Lure Organisation Boat Fishing

[Cladone]

I know this is an age old discussion and have checked these forums too. The issue of too many lures and how to sort them out.

For any boat owners who have way too many lures, what is your organisation and storage solution?

I currently take everything and leave it on the boat, but find it leads to paralysis as to what to use, or too many to try out etc. Boat is not trailered its in dry docks.

Was thinking of leaving a handful of plano 3700s on boat permanently as a broad selection of lures divided by species. 

Leave the bulk at home divided by type and then just take what I think will be useful on a trip by trip basis to supplement and have only a manageable amount. It sounds like it would free up storage and declutter every compartment I have while still being practical. 

Thoughts? 

 

[Rebel]

Just make sure if you have plastics do not mix them together, especially ZMan.

[Cladone]

5 minutes ago, Rebel said:

Just make sure if you have plastics do not mix them together, especially ZMan.

Yeah I learned that lesson the hard way.

My plastics live on the boat, my post related mainly to hard bodies.

I keep plastics organised together in some fashion or another, but all remain in their original packs, except for the gulp variety i put in those special made plano tubs full of liquid and put a mix in there.

[Rebel]

Hard bodies are not a problem.

I have them sorted out in various containers

[Cladone]

3 minutes ago, Rebel said:

Hard bodies are not a problem.

I have them sorted out in various containers

Yeh but how many containers?

Do you sort by style I.e surface, sinking etc or by species or otherwise?

Do you take all your lures to the boat or only what you think you'll need?

It's never a problem if all fit in a handful of containers, but when too many to practically store etc then...

[Rebel]

I just keep a couple of each one. Depends where I am fishing.

I do a lot of beach fishing,so I take a range of metals with me.

[Cladone]

Just now, Rebel said:

I just keep a couple of each one. Depends where I am fishing.

I do a lot of beach fishing,so I take a range of metals with me.

Yeh fair enough. All my fishing is from boat and not limited to 1 or 2 species, so have a lot of variety.

That's why was thinking of keeping broad handful selection permanently on boat divided by species. Then have all else at home by type, that I just take whatever may be relevant for a given day. 

That way more space on boat and less clutter on mind. Still trying to work out best solution. 

[Isaac Ct]

i've only just started using lures and have been replacing trebles and adding assist hooks, but I would definitely sort different boxes for hardbodies. That's about as advanced as I am right know.

[Cladone]

1 minute ago, motiondave said:

I have three lure boxes and limited plastics, 
I sort according to where and what im targeting on the day. 

And I have a boat, but its trailer.

hardbody lures, metals can stay in containers. Plastics, I like to keep them in their bags and at home out of extreme weather conditions, as Ive found leaving them in the car makes them go bad.

Thanks for that. You have a benefit of having trailer boat, in that you can keep everything in garage and just stock what you need and drive off.

Having boat stored means more lugging around and becomes impractical and a pain.

So I'd rather have a selection permanently on boat for sure, but just trying to figure out a system.

I want to rotate use of different lures rather than letting them get dust in a cupboard, but at same time don't want to store loads on the boat or lug too much around and force myself to different lures and techniques, rather than spending half my time deciding what to throw out next

[Cladone]

Just now, motiondave said:

to be honest, Ive reduced down to what works now. I do fish bait as well, but Id rather not be changing more than 3-4 lures in salt (2 for freshwater) a time, even from shore, or boat.

Depends what's being targeted and what action there is I guess,  but agree in principle.

That is the reason I might just keep a few trays on the boat one for a different species at any time, keep what I like and discard what I don't. Then rotate lures every few sessions and repeat.

[slothparade]

careful leaving lures exposed, like in a plano box, even if its in a cubby in the boat. If lures get to hot, they can actually explode. Ive seen firsthand a crank bait go pop. also soft plastics melt 

[Cladone]

54 minutes ago, slothparade said:

careful leaving lures exposed, like in a plano box, even if its in a cubby in the boat. If lures get to hot, they can actually explode. Ive seen firsthand a crank bait go pop. also soft plastics melt 

Yeah 100% trick is to avoid any temp extremes either way. I am lucky in that while in storage its shaded and there is good general ventilation etc

[Berleyguts]

I like to have them sorted by style, e.g. skirts, metals, bibbed minnows, bibless minnows etc., then left to right by size in colour groups.

That’s what I like but I haven’t quite got there yet! 😂

[Cladone]

14 minutes ago, Berleyguts said:

I like to have them sorted by style, e.g. skirts, metals, bibbed minnows, bibless minnows etc., then left to right by size in colour groups.

That’s what I like but I haven’t quite got there yet! 😂

Yeh I try stay a little loose otherwise becomes tedious to maintain. So long as types are together like sinking stick baits,  shallow and deep divers that's alright. I guess from there you can easily extract any type for any fish for a day trip etc

[slothparade]

4 hours ago, Cladone said:

Yeah 100% trick is to avoid any temp extremes either way. I am lucky in that while in storage its shaded and there is good general ventilation etc

Should be fine then. 

[dirvin21]

my lures are stored in tackle boxes according to target species or lure type, they're stored in the garage at home rather than in the boat otherwise my boat gets cluttered 

I take what I need for a trip according to target species and what rod setups I'm taking, 90% of the time I'll use 2 or 3 lures in a days fishing  

[Little_Flatty]

I suspect I have spent as much time mucking around with my gear organisation as I have fishing! 🤣 I'm landbased so I don't tend to carry much.

I'm like @dirvin21 in that I keep the majority of my collection at home and take only what I need. At home I have one large tray dedicated to jigheads, EWG hooks and bullet/snakelockz sinkers that I use to replenish my pack, one wallet of SPs and a couple of trays of hardbodies/vibes/blades.

Where the action happens is in my tackle belt.

In my tackle belt I have one medium sized tackle box for a selection of plastics/jigheads/EWG hooks/Bullet + Snakelockz sinkers and another medium foam-lined tackle box for blades/vibes/hardbodies/crankas etc. The latter foam-lined box has been a boon to my existence (no more tangled trebles) and I'm finding myself using these lures more as a result.

Rounding out my belt is a 'wildcard' box which contains things I don't use often but don't want to get caught without. For instance, I always have a squid jig, a metal and a tiny selection of single hooks/sinkers on hand.

I don't tend to change out the contents of my belt very much; I tend to just replenish. It's only when I'm going on holidays or consciously trying a different kind of fishing that anything gets swapped out.

Then in my car, I permanently keep a travel rod, 1000 sized reel and a small tacklebox with a few rigged plastics, a couple of hardbodies and a few hooks/sinkers. You'd be surprised how many opportunistic fishing sessions I've been able to wangle with this kit!