Crankbait box?

[slick2526]

As of right now Im building up my crank collections. I havent even got past the rapalas yet... Right now I have two trays of my box dedicated to them but I can tell soon this isnt going to be enough.

Do you guys use a specific type of tackle box, or tray for your cranks? Looking for some suggestions. thanks.

[LMITOUT]

I've went to individual Plano's to store cranks and keep them sorted by style and/or size. Seems to work good as you can grab a box or two and leave the rest stowed away.

For deep diver cranks I have a B&B box which is a hanging style box. Works good but spendy and takes up space.

Here's my box dedicated to Flicker Shads:

Here is an older pic of my B&B:

[Esox_Magnum]

I run a B&B also best I have found and well worth the investment

[harvey lee]

I started out with 1 Special Mate box and now have 4 of them. Love them and have quite a few buddies that also own them now. I believe they are approx $60 each and they have numerous sizes for each sized cranks.

It's not a $20 box but money well spent to organize ones crankbaits.

Each crank hangs by itself so one does not have all the tangles if they are all together in sections. Seems the hooks alwsy tanglwe up and thats a big pain, at least it is for me, I like mine well orginazied and ready to be pulled out at any time with no tangles.

The larger boxes do take up space but I would have 20 plus smaller boxes for all the cranks if I did not have the larger style.

At a minimum, check them out, at times you can find them on the big online auction site too.

[amateurfishing]

I am just starting out with cranks (2 years) and have a very small collection (2-3 small plano boxes), I bought 2 of the FF small bags with 4 clear plastic boxes in each. I only have 15-20 or so and this serves me just fine for now and I have extra space too so if I get to learning it better I may have opportunities for more but as a trolling novice the small tackle bags with clear boxes work fine for now.

[slick2526]

I've went to individual Plano's to store cranks and keep them sorted by style and/or size. Seems to work good as you can grab a box or two and leave the rest stowed away.

For deep diver cranks I have a B&B box which is a hanging style box. Works good but spendy and takes up space.

Here's my box dedicated to Flicker Shads:

Here is an older pic of my B&B:

whats the dimensions on that b&b box? i was looking at those and seen three different sizes were available.

[slick2526]

I started out with 1 Special Mate box and now have 4 of them. Love them and have quite a few buddies that also own them now. I believe they are approx $60 each and they have numerous sizes for each sized cranks.

It's not a $20 box but money well spent to organize ones crankbaits.

Each crank hangs by itself so one does not have all the tangles if they are all together in sections. Seems the hooks alwsy tanglwe up and thats a big pain, at least it is for me, I like mine well orginazied and ready to be pulled out at any time with no tangles.

The larger boxes do take up space but I would have 20 plus smaller boxes for all the cranks if I did not have the larger style.

At a minimum, check them out, at times you can find them on the big online auction site too.

I agree with what your saying. I already have my crank baits in sames spots as each other in one tray and I am not liking it much. I am to OCD to have them like that lol.

[slick2526]

what size are you running on the b&b box so it would hold up to a #10HJ?

[CaptainMusky]

After years of the cluster crank bait fiasco and others are still fighting it by looking at the pics here I settled on the hook em pads.

Everything at a glance and no tangles. No rubberbands.

Been there with those others NEVER again! I will post pics when I can. No more fiasco tangled hooks etc.

[LMITOUT]

I believe it is the model that is 7" deep.

[CaptainMusky]

Here is a pic of the hook em pads. They have a thick pliable vinyl on the ouside with some sort of foam that the lures attach to. I have 5 of these and each "pad" would hold easily 50 cranks. They tuck neatly into a bag.

[Hester]

Here is what I have. Not counting what is in the boat.

My wife thinks I have a problem. What does she know?

I know this might not help on what kind of box to use, but it will serve as a warning. It can become addicting.

1300 cranks and counting

[mattpaumen]

I really like the B&B boxes. I have one and could use a couple more.

[slick2526]

Here is what I have. Not counting what is in the boat.

My wife thinks I have a problem. What does she know?

I know this might not help on what kind of box to use, but it will serve as a warning. It can become addicting.

1300 cranks and counting

wow man.

[Northlander]

Like Harvey Lee and a lot of other guys I know I use the special mate boxes. Lighter and better than the BB boxes in my opinion. The BB boxes are a pain to get dropped cranks out of and the zippers fail. One tip fpor the special mates is to take a swim noodle and stick it in front. It keeps the drawers in place and cranks dont jump around.

[LMITOUT]

If you put shorter cranks in a deeper B&B then, yes, it won't be as easy to get them out if they fall down. I just grab another crank and use the tail hook to fish it out. Not a biggie.

The other thing with the B&B is that sometimes the hook that the crank is hanging on will drop down between the panes of plexiglass at the joints and get wedged in there. Once again, not a big deal...it just takes a couple extra seconds to pull it out.

Are they perfect? Nope. But I've yet to see any crankbait storage that is.

[CaptainMusky]

Cranks falling to the bottom of a vertical system or getting hooks caught in fingers trying to remove a bait are main reasons I won't use a system like that. My musky bait storage is that way and I absolutely hate it.

[slurpie]

Crank caddy. These are pretty sweet storage units. They don't hold a ton of cranks but hold a few. They are only three inches thick. I think like 20 or so of a medium size crank. There is individual slides so they can't get tangled as long as they a fairly upright your good to go.

[harvey lee]

The other nice thing about the Special Mate storage boxes is they also make a shallow box for the smaller cranks. I do what Northlander does so the dividers do not move at all.

I have beem more than happy with these storage boxes.

I have yet to have 1 issue with this brand. Very well built.

Anyone who I fish with that has a collection of cranks and has seen these boxes have purchased them. Not saying they are perfect but darn close. best system I have found and used.

I use to use the Plano storage boxes and they worked but I never knew where I had what. I spent way too much time looking for the correct box for the crank I wanted. Now I just pick out the shallow or deep box for either running depth and color I want to use.

[CaptainMusky]

I use to use the Plano storage boxes and they worked but I never knew where I had what. I spent way too much time looking for the correct box for the crank I wanted. Now I just pick out the shallow or deep box for either running depth and color I want to use.

Problem with hanging boxes even with clear dividers is its still difficult to see exactly what is in a given slot. You may find the color, but pull it out to find out its not the model you expected.

With the hook em pads you can see everything. No wondering where something is, reaching in getting hooked, lures tangling falling to the bottom. None of that. You just keep adding pads instead of having to buy another box when you run out of room at a fraction of the cost.

[Northlander]

Check out a Special Mate box and see how easy it is to see exactly what bait is where. I keep mine organized by colors so its easy to get in the correct devider and then you just tip it a bit and then you can see exactly whats there. These are by far the best storage for cranks we have found. Like said nothing is perfect but these are darn close. I also like the fact they come shallow and deep and spoon models and you can choose from I think 3 colors.

You can find them on line with a quick search.

[CaptainMusky]

Oh I see now, I didn't notice that the Special mate dividers were moveable, kinda like a rolladex. That's a great idea. The other styles suck. Hate them for my musky baits. Might have to pick up a giant special mate for them!

[Borch]

Check out a Special Mate box and see how easy it is to see exactly what bait is where. I keep mine organized by colors so its easy to get in the correct devider and then you just tip it a bit and then you can see exactly whats there. These are by far the best storage for cranks we have found. Like said nothing is perfect but these are darn close. I also like the fact they come shallow and deep and spoon models and you can choose from I think 3 colors.

You can find them on line with a quick search.

The best option out there I'm aware of at this point. I have a couple and I hear Northlander has more than a couple...

[Northlander]

Ya Borch Im up to 5 now and could fill 5 more but a guy has to decide how much he can actually fit in the boat and still be able to drive it. LOLl;

[TruthWalleyes]

Because of this thread, i grabbed a piece of foam and put all my ice fishing lures in it..>Holy cow i didn't realize i had so many jigs and spoons until i laid them out of a piece of foam.

I need better crankbait storage too. I'll admit that. I spend quite a bit of time untangling lures.