Tackle Box

[Matt C]

Getting a new one tomorrow. Mine got beat up at the M'tonka crappie contest last Saturday.

I have always had a hard Plano box, but the new soft ones are looking pretty decent.

I do like to have most of my stuff in one box. Line, tools, knives, tackle, etc. But I see it might be an advantage with a soft sided one, i.e. swapping out the crappie gear for the walleye gear, and not have to carry such a large 'cooler' one board.

Do you prefer Hard or Soft sided boxes? Suggestions?

Thanks.

[Eric Wettschreck]

In all honesty, I prefer to steal my wifes smaller rubbermaid containers from the kitchen cupboard, and stack them in a soft side case.

This way I can keep all my different lures, colors, depths, action, etc, in different containers, yet the different containers are still all stacked together.

Don't tell my Mrs. She still thinks the kids are losing them at school.

[PerchPounder]

Since switching over to a Soft sided box a few years back i'll never go back to a hard box. For the biggest factor for me is organization. I have all of my gear organized by the amount of use it sees. For instance on top I have two boxes full of Shad Raps one with #5's and one with #7's, then I have a box of all plastics, followed by jig heads organized by size and color, the last two boxes stored at the bottom are spinner components and misc items like leaders, hooks, floats, split shots, and anything else Ive got rolling around that needs a home.

[hoggs222]

I am also thinking of going the soft side route. I like the ability to organize things easier than the ol' Plano 777 I currently use.

[Matt C]

Great comments guys. Keep em coming. Sounds like a Soft side, and stealing my wife's Tupperware is the route to go...

[youngie22]

for me soft sided packs have made me alot more organized and versatile. I have a lot of stuff for alot of different things. I have a huge soft side that I cqan un zip and make it half the size and I also have a very small day pack for small trips and hiking to places. If its a big trip and theres room, I bring what I may need. If it's a light weight adventure, I strategically pack small bag w/ bait, sandwich, and a few tackle containers... raps, jigs, hooks'n'sinkers. I think I almost have it figured out.

[bucketmouth64]

Swithched to softside this year. Got a great deal on GM's. Won't go back to old hard ones. Can't believe all the storage room. I couldn't even fill the boxes up. Guess that means more lures to buy .

[fishgutz77]

what's really great about the soft boxes is mine holds eight and then all the side pockets of tools,snacks, whatever. The key is I have 14 or 15 of these plastic boxes and I just par down to 8 depending on what I'm going to do. Sometimes I do bring loose ones but I usually leave them home.

seperated out it goes: slipbobber gear and terminal tackle, cranks by shape and depth, surface baits, Plasitics,weights, you get the idea.

[fishn4kids]

Boiler, I'm tellin the Mrs. on you.

[jasondittrich]

i dont use either. i have the plano/cabalas 3700 containers that fit into sepersted compartments of a triton. everything seperated very well wish i had a softside to put them in for the trip to the river with my cuz tomorrow. i think softside is the way to go

[hanso612]

I have soft side for my lures, a hard waterproof box that floats for the camera, cell phone, keys and headlamps and stuff that I don't want to get wet. Then I load a canvas boat bag with one plano flatbox of high rotation lures, pop,clothes, snacks, mask and snorkle for whatever is on tap for the day.

With two rods and the drybox in one hand and the softbag over my shoulder and boat bag in my mother hand it's a one trip portage down to the boat.

[wplatehunter]

I would also say soft side. I made the switch about three years ago, and got another one this year. This time I went waterproof and I think that is the way to go. My other one would hold the water and things would get wet inside it if I fished in the rain.

[Lotwfisher]

I have a couple sized soft packs. I keep all my tackle boxes in my room on shelves with 1 bag packed for assorted fishing. Just the basics like mepps, shad raps, and jigs etc. Then I have my other specialty boxes ready to grab if I am doing something different and then I just grab the soft bag that will handle the gear, big bag for a tourny, small bag for a days bass fishing etc. I also keep all my plastics in 3 waterproof bags organized into size and fish style...Then I can grab a couple from each bag in the morning. I also have one bag already packed with a couple bags of gulp, a few flukes and a bag or 2 of assorted plastics for those spur of the moment times.