This came up in my spinnerbait box question. I want to know how everyone else deals with a wet lure, or lures, while on the water.

 

First, I am primarily a bank fisherman. When I do fish from a boat is a pond boat, so I pretty much do the same thing.

 

When I have a wet lure, be it a roostertail, a crankbait, a spinnerbait, doesn't matter, what I do is one of 3 things.

 

First, I take it off and lay it next to or on my bag to dry, if I'm not moving down the shore. When it dries, then it goes back into the appropriate spot in my bag or the hard box contained therein.

 

Second, if I'm moving down the shore, I will sometimes dangle the lure from the bag, depending on the lure and how likely it is that I'll snag it on myself or lose it.

 

Third, I put the lure in the compartment with my soft plastics bags. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, whatever, I put it between a couple bags of soft plastics as temporary place until I get back to the car where I can lay the lure out to dry. Sometimes I forget to lay the lures out and they dry between the soft plastic bags, but they still don't rust.

 

What I rarely will do, is throw a wet lure back in the plastic box. This causes all the lures to rust if not attended to. The only time I do this is if it's raining and the box is getting wet anyways. In which case, I will open the box and let it dry when I get to the car. If it isn't going to dry effectively in the car, such as during winter, then I bring it inside and dry it in the house.

 

Now, I am only bank fishing for a few hours at a time, mostly, so I don't have a dozen lures that get wet, but I'd love to hear what others do both from the boat and and the bank to deal with wet lures.

I keep a small plastic box on the boat just for this reason. Just toss lures into the open box and let them air dry before putting away.

 

When bank fishing I don't go through lures same as in a boat. Not an issue there.

I've got a pile of baits in front of my bow graph mount. They lay there until I clean the boat out again, and by then, they're usually dry. It's not perfect, but it works. 

When in my boat I just toss them on the deck out of my way.  After I get home I put them back where they belong.  
 

When in someone else’s boat I drop them next to my tackle bag.  When the trip is over I put them in the bag on top of the he boxes.  When I get home and empty the bag, I put them where the belong and store them in the boat bait compartment.

On the boat I have a plastic box which is the size of a shoe box.  I toss all my baits in there throughout the day and when I get home I let them dry and will replace any hooks if needed.  I can tell when it was a tough day as I’ll have a lot of baits in there.  Also have another box which holds all my trash (line, used plastics, bad hooks, etc).

Regardless of what steps you are taking after changing baits, before finally putting them away until the next trip you might consider tossing a silica gel pack into the box.  You can buy online or just start saving them when you buy chips, jerky or other packaged stuff.  I bought a bag of 100 online.  I replace the one in each box every trip.  They do seem to work.

2 minutes ago, OldManLure said:

Regardless of what steps you are taking after changing baits, before finally putting them away until the next trip you might consider tossing a silica gel pack into the box.

Yep-yep. I dedicate one compartment in my boxes to gel packs...4 packs in my 3700s, 3 packs in  my 3600s...specialty boxes get the same number, just wander around loose in the box, I.E. my spinnerbait box.

My rig came with 5, I guess they're plastic, cup holders.

One positioned at the bow I use for hook removal tools.

One located at the Helm area I actually use as designed.

Three others positioned between the seats,

have been designated bait/lure drying stations.

(unless there's precipitation).

So cut it off, drop it in the cup holder to dry and then return it to proper box.

Usually happens when I get home and definitely before I get underway again.

Anything with a skirt get extra time. 

Works OK. 

A-Jay

 

I have a piece of foam mounted near my front seat and another by the rear seat that I hang the lure on when I change baits. It’s easy to get to if I change back, doesn’t get stepped on or caught on anything and keeps all the baits together when I pack up. 
 

In the boat, I have a 4” wide patch of floor between the rod locker and the step that is my catch all.  There are probably 25 soft plastics there right now.  When I cut lures off, that’s where they go. It isn’t wide enough to step there so I’m not worried about stepping on lures.  They can dry out on the ride home and will get put away the next time I’m prepping for a trip.  I also have a small plastic tub inside the step that I’ll use for treble hook lures before I put them on.  As in, I know I’m going to fish that crankbait or jerkbait, but I don’t put trebles in the rod locker.  if it is a rainy day I still do the same because when I get home the boat is getting dried out in the garage with a fan.

 

In the kayak, I had a space under the seat that would fit a 3600 sized box.  I took a utensil drawer organizer (i.e. forks, knives, spoons, etc) and trimmed it to fit.  It had openings to let the water run out while on the water and when I loaded the boat into the truck I just pulled the full tray out and put it on the back floor of the truck.  

33 minutes ago, txchaser said:

Never seen anything like that.

 

Found them. Plano Hydro flo series. Those are nifty. definitely be the stuff for a boat.

I use wet lures to catch fish.     Sorry...I will show myself out.

Buy a ping pong table!

 

The wife and son wanted one. I had one growing up and I told them it’s a novelty thing. What do I know? Like a dummy, I gave in and we now have a huge lure dryer! 😂

Buddy from Texas taught me this "air-dry" method many years ago -- works well with spinner baits, jigs, etc. 

 

When I'm done fishing a spinnerbait...I let out about 7-8' of line. 

 

Then twirl / spin the lure over my head 5-6 times really fast. Drys them out pretty well...then back in storage for another day. 

 

We fished out of a canoe back in the day...always good to give each other a heads-up on the aid-dry spin. Sometimes I would dry my lure...then miss coming back and dunk in the water...oops...time to dry again. 

I've seen some folks carry a bucket. Cut a pool noodle or a piece of foam pipe insulation around the rim of the bucket, hook your baits in the foam and let them hang there. If you want to try one of those baits again, you don't have to dig through your tackle for them, they're hanging right there. Leave them there overnight in the garage to dry and put them away tomorrow. 

I use a tool caddy (household caddy, whatever) in my boat. The top (rim) i have 12 slices for holding spinnerbaits (hooks inside / blades outside)  and a buzzbait. The rest of the rim i drill holes for treble hook baits. Then 5 slices on each side of the handle will hold bladed and regular jigs. Also drill drain holes in the caddy bottom for drainage. The lures i put in there changes with the season, but i pretty much fish out of this thing. This is what is in it right now:  11 spinnerbaits,  buzzbait, popper, plopper, chugbug, jerkbait, 2' twitchbaait, 2 squarebills, 2- 8' cranks, 12' crank, dd22, 4 rigged flukes, 3 scroungers, 6 bladed, 2 swim, 2 reg. jigs, 5 paddletail/jighead, and a couple of rigged tubes. I carry a bunch more stuff elsewhere in the boat that i might dip into, but basically this is what i fish with. Quick and easy access, and put away wet without worry. If i knew how, i would post a pic.

I made this on a 3 gallon bucket - I put zip ties to keep the lures from sliding in to each other/getting tangled and zip ties to keep the hanger secured - on the front of the bucket I have a small tool holder - allows the lures to dry, keeps them handy if I want to re-tie, keeps them out of the way so I don't step on them - if they bounce off when I am under way they just fall into the bucket - I already had the bucket/hanger/zip ties so no additional cost for me - bucket can be used for trash, bailing out the boat (hopefully never have to do that !) or additional storage - works for me.