It is time to go back through the tackle and decide what to keep in the boat and what stays behind. If you are a tackle junky, like most of us, you probably do this chore as well. I look at the stuff in my boat and think if I fished every second of the rest of my life I would never even get to half of this stuff. Lighten the load, be more efficient, take inventory, etc. The hardest decision is what lures to cull. (I may need that one someday.) I will force myself to downsize the arsenal. Sad truth is, I will buy more and have to do this chore again soon. So how do you decide what gets voted off the boat? Past results? Cost of the lure? Colors? Something else? It is truly a depressing task and a sickness. Bad monkey!

I do it all the time.

Actually have a gun cabinet in my man cave dedicated to fishing exclusively.

It's darn near full from attempts to reduce inventory on the boat.

The bigger issue is, I follow a thread or watch a video and the boat mysteriously fills back up 😳

Best way I have ever found is to get a reasonable size tackle bag. Load it like you are going to be a coangler and have to carry everything in one trip. So I will carry two 3700 size Plano boxes. Remove all the hard baits to start. Now for each bait type put in the one that has caught the most fish. Continue to do this until they are full.  Now you will only be carrying confidence baits. This helped me spend more time fishing and less time trying different baits. 

 

Allen 

Buy a bigger boat.  Problem solved.

7 hours ago, Munkin said:

Best way I have ever found is to get a reasonable size tackle bag. Load it like you are going to be a coangler and have to carry everything in one trip. So I will carry two 3700 size Plano boxes. Remove all the hard baits to start. Now for each bait type put in the one that has caught the most fish. Continue to do this until they are full.  Now you will only be carrying confidence baits. This helped me spend more time fishing and less time trying different baits. 

 

Allen 

 

I kind of do the same thing. I have downsized some of the stuff I bring with me when I am a co-angler or if I am on a fun fishing, kayak trip. I take two Plano 3700's and about 15+ bags of soft plastic. I keep one Plano box filled with BFS stuff and the other I keep empty until the night before. I then fill it with baits I intend to use before my trip. When I get back the baits go back into there appropriate boxes. It can be a pain but after a while, it's sort of fun.  

I’m almost like @FishTank. I unload my boat every trip….the boat stays out at the dock.

I try and have a two trip rule.

First trip down the dock I carry tackle and food/ water.

Second trip carry rods and reels.

It don’t go in the boat, if I have to make a third trip.

You should see me on my first trip, soft side cooler on one shoulder, tackle bag on the other, worm bags in one hand. Terminal tackle box in the other hand.

I look like one of those guys on Wide World of Sports, strongman competition carrying the heavy blocks….staggering down the dock to make it to the boat.

The things we’ll do to fish.

 

 

My boat stays in a covered slip at the marina for 11 months of the year.  In January I pull it out, remove 100% of everything and anything.  I then tow it to my dealer for service, repairs, and a complete detailing job.  From there I take it home and load it up again with only the bare essentials (ha-ha).  Finally, I return the boat to it's slip at the marina where it remains in place until about March, during which time the birds, mud daubers, and spiders all leave their marks on my freshly detailed and spotless boat, followed by a thick coating of pollen.  I carry a load of "whatevers" to and from each time I go out, using a beach cart when there's more than usual.

I recently did this. I was surprised at how many plastics I had in my under seat storage compartments. Stuff that I had forgotten all about much less used. So...I figured lets lighten the load and now that stuff is on shelves in my barn where the boat is stored. When I go fishing instead of taking my big tackle bag I take a small bag that is actually a bag for a laptop computer with one large Plano box with my confidence lures and a few bags of plastics. I figure if I don't catch fish with what I have then I need to be at home doing chores LOL!!!

I go through all of my tackle at the beginning of the year.  If I haven’t used a lure or haven’t caught anything worth wild on it in 2 years I get rid of it.  Luckily I have a local kid who will buy my old or unopened lures for penny’s. So i’m just not putting it in the trash.

 

in the last 1.5 years since the twins have been born.  I have not purchased a lot of new tackle to just try.  It’s just basically restocking been what i’m currently using or losing. 

This is a perfect example of why you should rationalize the need to expand your inventory.  It’s’ really easy for me. I just tell myself my grandsons can split it up.  At some point Ian and Dez will be stocked up for life.