About 100%.  I only have a small amount of baits.  Mostly soft plastics.  I only keep baits that I have confidence in and I know catch fish.  I do try new baits from time to time, but if they're not effective in my area, I move them on to other folks.  And with short shipping times, I don't keep inventory.  My inventory is "just in time".   Also only two rods (one spinning; one fly).

 

I don't want to sound judgmental with this approach.  People should manage their gear in a way that brings them joy.

I am also going to say 10%. It is out of sight, out of mind. I mostly throw what I have tied on or tossed around on the deck of the boat. Every once in awhile I will dig into the vault looking for something, find something else I forgot I had and it will wind up on the deck. Such is fishing. You buy that shiny new lure, cause it just might be the one. It ends up in the vault and soon forgotten.

7 hours ago, TLHSS said:

.  And with short shipping times, I don't keep inventory.  My inventory is "just in time".  

 

 

Excellent point..I also do the same.

 

However, I have run into supply issues, particularly color availability. Of course this is partially my fault for using JDM baits. 

 

Even so, this has been an issue for me with this method.

It’s a very small percentage for me. I’ve been fishing quite a long time and have lures for every occasion. I’ve got boxes for musky, lake trout, northern pike, walleye, crappies, stripers, white bass, fly fishing, and of course, boxes for large and smallmouth bass. Because my days of traveling long distance to fish are about over, I’m afraid 95% of what I have will never get wet again. I’d sell most of it but the amount of time and effort to advertise, take orders, box and ship isn’t worth the amount of money I’d get. 

11 hours ago, RRocket said:

Excellent point..I also do the same.

 

However, I have run into supply issues, particularly color availability. Of course this is partially my fault for using JDM baits. 

 

Even so, this has been an issue for me with this method.

 

Fully understand.  I'm a UL fisherman, and also used a number of JDM baits.  With tariffs, I've starting buying close replacements from domestic "mom and pop" producers, some of which will pour special color requests or scent requests.  I also McGyver close copies using common bait pieces, fly tying materials and Mend-it.  I've done the same with equipment beyond tackle.  My current spinning rod is a great copy of a JDM rod, but made in Michigan.  I recently needed a small chest pack.  Before tariff, I would have purchased it from a quality overseas manufacturer like Fishpond.  The pack I purchased was made in Ohio by ZimmerBuilt.  It found it to be better quality and at a very competitive price.

I would say about 40%.  Maybe 50.

 

I have stopped buying tackle for years now, other than items that constantly need replacing like line, weights, or plastics because they wear out.

 

Haven't bought a rod, reel, or a hardbait in years.  No need.

 

What's the point of stock piling a mountain of tackle if you aren't going to use it?  I asked myself that question years ago and couldn't come up with a good answer.

21 minutes ago, gim said:

 or a hardbait in years.  No need.

 

 

I just bought a couple different lure retrievers so hopefully that will help.

 

I'm still SOL if I sling them into the trees. LOL

 

No joke I thought about buying the below.   

 

@HawkeyeSmallie - I could have used that thing a few times this summer ! - Several times this past summer I wielded my oar like an axe to knock down branches to get the lure back

 

I am learning what does and does not work as far as lures go - for sure I have purchased some lures that looked great/sounded great but just do not work well in my area (so I will look to sell them or give them away) - and my hope is in the next year or two to be similar to @gim and using 40/50% of the lures and just replacing things that are worn out/broken/stole by Mr. Pike/ect..... 

 

10% would probably be too high. I use 2 different style of worms in 2 different colors. I use 2 brands of crankbaits in the same model with 2 different colors. Do I throw anything else? Yep but not much.

Still buying!!! That monkey will not let go.

 

I use less than 20%. I caught more bass on Yum Dingers and Whopper Ploppers this year than any other lures by far. Some days I could have simply taken two rods.

Probably 10%. My problem is I'll find something and try it or only have 1 package of a soft plastic and try it for a day and hammer them. Then the next time I'm in a store I stock up and grab some other colors. I'll from then on out skunk out on that lure forever. I also won a $200 certificate to Zoom Baits at a shooting match that loaded me up with a ton of stuff I still havent even cracked open yet. 

 

My rule at this point is if it cant fit in the boat, something has to go. Either to my nephew or donated. Just gave a gallon sized bag of lures and plastics to a girl at my in-laws lake community. If she is there, she is fishing, and well into the late night. She earned it. 

If you were to send me out on the water without my Spybaits, Chatterbaits, Ned rigs, Shakey Heads and Flukes, I'd be lost. I can't remember the last time I caught a fish on something else. Oh wait, last spring I caught a 3 pounder on a Carolina rigged black grape lizard. 

I'd have to say close to 85% in a given year. The remainder are things I've just not gotten to yet, left over stock from learning techniques that I stopped pursuing, or duplicates like extra soft plastics. 

 

I'm pretty cautious when buying tackle and really only get what I feel a real need for. Stuff that is gathering dust because I've moved away from enjoying them (right now spinner baits and dropshot supplies) will eventually get fished until I lose them, because I hate clutter of old tackle.

When I sold off my excess soft plastics 1 shipment weighed 42 lbs!

Tom

Please don’t make me think about all the lures I have, … that I don’t use.

On a regular basis, I probably use less that 10% of my baits.  I do try to go through the pile a couple times a year and find a bait that I think will work.  However, if that bait doesn't work it goes back in the pile when I get back home.

I am in the process in thinning the herd. Have too many lures that don’t catch fish and I’m cutting down to fewer lures that don’t catch fish.😂

Seriously like most I’m carrying way to much tackle including rods and reels that I never use.

On 11/26/2025 at 1:32 PM, RFSims said:

I am in the process in thinning the herd. Have too many lures that don’t catch fish and I’m cutting down to fewer lures that don’t catch fish.😂

Seriously like most I’m carrying way too much tackle including rods and reels that I never use.

Buying is part of fishing and a hard habit to quit. It’s even harder to thin the herd, you look at a lure and think you like it like a friend.

Tom

7 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

Buying is part of fishing and a hard habit to quit. It’s even harder to think the herd, you look at a lure and think you like it like a freind.

Tom

I'm glad I've never felt this way!! 

I have been buying lures for over 50 years, probably have over 400 hard baits. Half of those are retired and/or on display. Most were bought on sale, many in colors i don't particularly care for, but will repaint. Someday.  I usually only bring around 100 in the boat, and could get by with only a full 3700 box on any given day.  After all - you only need phillips or slotted screwdrivers in so many colors and lengths.  

On 11/19/2025 at 11:05 PM, RRocket said:

I'd say close to 100 percent. But I'm a devoted minimalist influenced heavily by Okappari style fishing. (And I only have 4 rods, total. And I'm also a JDM enthusiast. So I'd say I'm a definite minority in these regards.

 

I established my baits and gear by first doing a "world series of bass rigs" to determine which rigs best suit my fishing style, conditions, etc etc. This took several seasons to accomplish, as I insisted every rig a minimum of 40 hours but most were fished for about 100 hours in real time. Some much more.

 

Once my preferred rigs were chosen, for baits I always sought out those regarded as "the best" for that particular rig. For example, for the Free Rig, the Dolive Beaver is considered the "best" in its creature/craw class. I start there. Then I test others as I go along or as they're introduced to see if it can dethrone my current "best".  And so it goes. Even this process can take a long, long time. I'm currently testing worms for the Neko Rig, so this is proving extremely time consuming as the are probably several hundred worms on the market. But I persist..

 

Once you have all of the "best in class" baits determined, those are what I stock (and only in a few colors). All other baits that didn't make the cut get donated to members here, local kids clubs, friends, etc  ..

 

This system allows me to keep tackle and baits at a minimum while still fishing the absolute best baits and best rigs available to me.

 

I feel if I can't catch fish with 4 rods rigged with the best techniques using the best baits....the fish aren't going to be caught that day on anything.

 

Here's my current stock boxes and rods.

What else beyond the do-live beaver tops your list? 

 

Re the original question:
Heck I don't even use 20% of my rods in the boat on a regular basis. Long post incoming, I guess I hadn't really thought about this much. 
 

Hard tackle - Tough to say, I'm on a new lake that I haven't really gotten the vibe for the hard bait in 12-25ft zone yet, and it's a lot of grass. So the 15 mid-depth and 15 deep cranks mostly sit in the box. But for flatsides, very little, and the hybrid hunter style grass cranks don't work too well. 

 

Soft plastics- craws, straight worms, rage bugs, etc - maybe 1% - far too much experimenting with brands. Same goes for strolling trailers. Probably should have just bought drift fry and sakamata shad and stopped. I bet I have 50 bags of big worms. 

 

Swimming trailers/small swimbaits - 80%+ and climbing- I feel like I have this dialed in on color and brand pretty well. As an example, there are two colors in two brands that make the cut on the a-rig. 6th sense divine in ghost pro and in a natural color, and jackall if I need to get more 'wag' as they are softer. And as time goes by I may not replace the jackall when they are gone - I haven't yet seen a case where I felt like I needed it during the whole warm season this year. Same deal for chatter bait trailers - just two now, the Zako and the new z-man chatter blade. I may not buy zakos anymore unless I need a color I can't get in the z-man as they seem interchangeable. 

 

Big Soft Swimbaits - 20% and falling - I'm in the 'try everything' mode here... still learning. Biggest thing so far is I very much prefer top-hook line-through baits - landing percentage is way higher. 100% of the time there will be a 6-7" soft swimbait on the deck. Colors are down to 'white-ish' and 'natural-ish'

 

Topwaters - 20% and I wouldn't miss most of the rest of it. Frog, buzz bait, spook, popping frog that's enough. The rest of it just doesn't seem to produce enough. Trying big wake baits now though.

 

On 11/19/2025 at 3:41 PM, HawkeyeSmallie said:

If you were to put all of your stuff together in a big pile. What percentage do you think you actually use on a regular basis?

I'm still working on putting all my stuff in a big pile.  I started at 15;50 on the 19th!!

When I'm done, you want me to calculate what percentage of it I actually use??

You're a math teacher, aren't you?

29 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

When I'm done, you want me to calculate what percentage of it I actually use??

 

You're a math teacher, aren't you?

Correct.

 

You can round to the nearest whole number if you would like.

 

CPA.

 

But some days I feel like a math teacher while talking with clients. LOL

2 hours ago, txchaser said:

What else beyond the do-live beaver tops your list? 

 

Anything specific or for a specific technique or application?