Ice Team Tip: Organizing Your Walleye Baits

[Charlie Mason]

After noticing a post about tackle bags, and another one about walleye plastics, thrown in with all the emails I have already recieved this year, thought it was time for an organiztional type article for walleye lures. Not too mention tonight was a sleepless night, so I might as well get some work done to boot. Its 5:30 am back here in Michigan, so just going to copy and paste the link back to the blog I write for the paper. It's even got a pic/discription on how to get more out of your jigging spoons, call it an adaptation to an existing idea.

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/fishing/2012/10/icing-eyes-organizing-your-walleye-lures/

[silverbulletguy]

Nice article. I also find myself re-purposing items I already have for uses they maybe weren't originally intended for.

Golf towels are great for ice fishing and are very cheap this time of year.

[Charlie Mason]

nice idea, since I dont golf, thats something I would have never thought of doing. Actually now that the winds have died down on Erie, they would be great during the late trolling season.

I took the same small tool box that I used for the swim jigs, a 2nd one, for some of the perch gear, small spoons and such. This bag also goes with me for when the crappie are being really aggressive.

[Chumba]

What is the deal with removing the trebel hook, if care to elaborate?

[Charlie Mason]

Sure, and I really cannot remember the name of the special snap that was featured in the article, so forgive.

most often when fishing with a spoon, you tear the head of the minnow off and put on the treble hook. quite often that head gets easily snatched off, or after a while of jigging it comes off. when you take the treble hook off, run the eye threw the torn middle and out the mouth, then attach to the snap again, you pretty much have locked that bait onto the hook. being off the split ring also gives it an added advantage of having more movement during the jigging process.

[Chumba]

Awesome. Thanks!

[JordyED]

Great Info!

I am currently in search of a new organizational system for my arsenal! That has been my focus this off season. For some reason I am geared towards getting rid of the small, clear plano boxes. I don't know why, I just hear all this talk about the 'fly' type boxes. I am having trouble finding the best set up to house my Chubby Darters and Jiggin' Raps. Any ideas?

I understand it may just be that the best option is house them in individual compartments in one of those small, clear plano boxes. I am always trying to get my gear to the ice with the least amount of bulk.

[Charlie Mason]

This is how I store my panfish jigs, each species gets a bag (bluegill, crappie and perch), with 7 pages in each one, and the jigs go on one of these foam inserts. I still have the "fly boxes", there are three, two of which are for actual flies, one box dry, one box weighted. The 3rd box goes with me on tourney days, load it up with jigs that I have nailed down as "go to jigs" during prefishing.

Really the fly style box is most popular when panfishing, and the reason should be two fold. First is ease of use, no jumbled mess and easy to see when looking for a particular jig. The second reason is that when you have a bunch of loose lead and tungsten bumping around, it wont be long before the bottom of that small plano box is full of paint chips.

Fly boxes really dont apply to walleye gear unfortunately