Pretty similar bag to what @Motoboss has pictured here. Usually 4 of those style boxes in it and 4 rods and that's more than enough to keep me busy for a full day. I can also fit my scale and pliers in that same bag as well as an extra spool of leader material. I generally keep a box like that for each setup that I own and have 3-6 different types of lures in it so if I want to try something else it's easy to do so. So for example for my jig and worm setup I have jigs, 4/0 1/16oz gamakatsu screwlocks for flukes and swimbaits, texas rig weights and hooks, and small underspin hooks and then can throw any of those with that one rod / reel (usually with 2 or 3 colors available) depending on what the conditions are actually like once I get out there. Multiply that by four for the other boxes and it ends up being plenty for me and I usually only end up trying out a fraction of the lures available on any given day.

I haven't pared down my soft plastics yet, but I did pare down my hard baits and switched from a 100Ah LifePo for electronics to a 36Ah. I gained 3/10 mph in speed on my AP120 Monn Kota motor running at setting 8 (out of 10).

 

I carry WAY too many soft plastics right now.

When I take my kayak out, I throw whatever fits in a backpack. I mainly fish soft plastics so usually just throw a ton of bags, and terminal tackle. 

My look on it is I don't have a ton of room on my kayak, so I am going to account for that and have the bare minimum with me. If I feel like what I have isn't working, I'll usually go back to the truck real quick and switch out tackle. 

Rod wise, I usually have 2, max 3. 

I have a Jackson Bite Angler can fit 4 3600 boxes in slots provided. I have an underseat bag and fit a 3700 size and two bags with plastics in there I do have a crate with 4 rods attached and other gear inside

I take too much. A Buzbe 3700 of soft plastics and a 3700 of hard baits. 6-7 rods.

I am still a beginner so I fall victim to “if I just had this one lure, or that one color”… when in reality I should be focused more on locating fish, and my technique with whatever I do carry.

Can’t get myself to bring less but I know I probably should.

I'm a minimalist as it goes in many things.

I tend to focus on one technique on my short (4-5 hours) trips.

Generally these are proven fish catching presentations so I just stick with them. Ned rig, wacky / texas rig and paddletail swimbaits.

10 hours ago, LootyDjibouti said:

I take too much. A Buzbe 3700 of soft plastics and a 3700 of hard baits. 6-7 rods.

I am still a beginner so I fall victim to “if I just had this one lure, or that one color”… when in reality I should be focused more on locating fish, and my technique with whatever I do carry.

Can’t get myself to bring less but I know I probably should.

I started out with a few combos (4) and bringing every piece of tackle from the cave. I never ended up touching 98% of my tackle and soft plastics, who needs every colour, multiple sizes of the same bait them multiply by all the different possible techniques.

Then I added a 16x16 BPP and added 4 additional rod holders, so I could carry 10 for a tournament and whatever I wanted on a random outing. It became a chore to set up everything the night before, deliberate to add more in the event that “something” was missing or would be that one bait I was missing and load up the truck.

This winter, I’ve sold off a bespoke technique combos, replaced them with nicer combos that can do more. As I pairing things down on the rods/reels side, I scaled down my baits massively at the beginning of last season. All my terminal and jigs fit into x2 Yak Attack short stacks, one holds all my hooks, another tray for weights, another for skirted jigs and one without. Then I narrow down the baits from my collection down one 3700. One doubled waterproof 3700 has all my tools, first aid, cement glue, reel grease etc. and spare nk300 components in case my motor breaks down.

First season

2nd season

July long weekend 2025 after whacking em on Three Mile Lake.

1 hour ago, Dangerfield said:

I started out with a few combos (4) and bringing every piece of tackle from the cave. I never ended up touching 98% of my tackle and soft plastics, who needs every colour, multiple sizes of the same bait them multiply by all the different possible techniques.

Then I added a 16x16 BPP and added 4 additional rod holders, so I could carry 10 for a tournament and whatever I wanted on a random outing. It became a chore to set up everything the night before, deliberate to add more in the event that “something” was missing or would be that one bait I was missing and load up the truck.

This winter, I’ve sold off a bespoke technique combos, replaced them with nicer combos that can do more. As I pairing things down on the rods/reels side, I scaled down my baits massively at the beginning of last season. All my terminal and jigs fit into x2 Yak Attack short stacks, one holds all my hooks, another tray for weights, another for skirted jigs and one without. Then I narrow down the baits from my collection down one 3700. One doubled waterproof 3700 has all my tools, first aid, cement glue, reel grease etc. and spare nk300 components in case my motor breaks down.

First season

2nd season

July long weekend 2025 after whacking em on Three Mile Lake.

I suspect this is a journey many of us go on! Nice setup.

I have the Black Pack Pro, bigger than I need but.......

Inside I have 3 Plano Edge 3700 thins, a 3600 terminal box, and a small bait binder that I keep spinnerbaits in, and my rain gear.

The side of my seat has two 3600 Plano boxes with plastics and the front of my seat has another 3600 where I keep what I think I'm going to use lure wise during the day. 90% of the time I never have to reach behind into the big box for anything other than a rod.

I used to bring eight rods, now I bring six.

On 10/28/2025 at 5:28 PM, DogBone_384 said:

I have a milk crate and stick with that.  

Same.

I started with 4 PVC tubes, 1 in each corner.

Then added 2 additional tubes. Then added 2 more.

Carry 8 rods. Pretty much maxed out.

Normally use them all on an outing.

If I could carry more I would. I can't even imagine how I would though.

I've done a good job of paring down lately, especially with soft plastics. I am heading to a tournament in FL next week and I'll bring a bunch of tackle in the truck, but the kayak will be fairly light. I know what baits I want to fish, so I'll cut down on the types of baits and concentrate more on having a variety of colors.

For once, I have a good idea of my strategy heading into a big event.

I found stripping down gear by leaving rods rigged with the baits I used on that specific day, not the “what if rigs”. Took an empty box and placed the baits I changed out during the day in it. After five/six trips I had a great idea of the lures/plastics and rods I repeatedly used and started leaving the extra behind. I also resigned myself to tying on a different lure rather than having”everything “ pre-rigged, thereby eliminating extra rods.

If I didn’t miss it twice then it became unnecessary to carry in the canoe. Now, not saying I left it at home, it’s in the truck but just not in the canoe, giving me an opportunity to change out gear for specific locations.

Letting go is the hardest thing to do but it can become overwhelming and unnecessary.

41 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

I also resigned myself to tying on a different lure rather than having”everything “ pre-rigged, thereby eliminating extra rods.

On my kayak I bring two MHF rods with snaps while I tie on with the remaining 4-6 rods.

I know that some people don't like snaps, but I rarely, if ever, have a problem. And on a kayak, it's not like on a boat where I could bring two dozen pre-rigged rods.

I too am a believer in snaps, which I use on my two moving bait rods. The only time I have to “tie” a lure on is spinnerblades, just can’t use a snap for those.

An ice cold beer is also essential kayak fishing tackle

I'm normally more around 10 rods. This day was a little light with the obvious winter conditions not calling for as much variety. There's also a much larger graph and livescope pole on it most days also.

I got a chance a good while back to share a meal with Michael Iconelli(some of you might know him) at the time I didn't have my boat, just my kayaks. Here is what he told me about kayak fishing. Tackle is a luxury so at the least carry enough to cover the whole water column from topwater to bottom and you will be just fine.

My usual strategy is to keep a couple soft plastic bags with me by my seat, and my bag with 4 3600 tackle boxes gets strapped to the back of the kayak. I generally don't switch baits too much on my kayak, and don't go out for super long periods of time. I take 3 rods with me.

I use an Okuma tackle backpack. It fits 4 Plano 3700’s, a large bait binder in the main compartment, about 20 packs of soft plastics on the top zippered section. Leader line in the side pocket, termina tackle in the bottom zippered sections.

I have a old towne pred. mx so my tackle pack goes behind my seat. Anything more than that and my kayak is overloaded.

In my kayaking days I tried to get it down to 1 3500 box for the day: floating the river and fishing 1-3 techniques I think will work for the day.

for me, I have 7 Plano 3700's in my black pack pro which holds everything i have. I then have 4 Trac Pak's (2 on each side of the seat) that hold an assortment of lures. the 3700's are my overflow and only get used if i lose lures that are in the Trac Paks. My soft plastics get stored in a large bag that resides in the short stak that sits on top of the black pack.