TexasKayakFisherman.com

With rain forecasted for today, it seemed like a good time to reorganize my tackle. My brother bought me a Plano 3700X tackle bag for my birthday and I have managed to fill it twice over. Most of my lures are great at catching fisherman. I purchased them after hearing that someone slayed the trout or caught a mess of flounder on them. Some have never even been used, others have been tried without much success on my part. So now I have my kayak tackle boxes out and have decided to only put in lures that I have confidence in and that I have consistently caught fish with. What I have ended up with is a 3600 Plano box full of Mirro lures. Most of these are Catch 2000's, Catch Jr., Catch 5, 51MR, and Top Pups . The colors are bone, bone and chrome, bone and chartreuse, mardi gras, chrome and blue, black with a chartreuse head, green back and white/chrome and 808. All of these lures are battered and beaten and had the hooks replaced, but over the years I have consistently caught fish on these. The only non Mirro Lures in my box are a Cotton Cordell Jointed Redfin in Chrome and Black, and a Chrome and Blue Rattletrap.

For Soft plastics I have TTF Trout Killers in White/Chartreuse tail, Plum/ Chartreuse tail and Mirro Lure Provoker in Pumpkinseed/ Chartreuse tail, Little Johns in gold/red glitter, and TTF Red Killer Purple/ Chartreuse and TTF Killer Flats Minnow in Morning Glory/ Chartreuse. The plastics and the crank baits all fit in 2 of the Plano 3600 boxes.
I also carry some Cajun Thunder Popping Corks, Speck Rigs in Yellow and white and Pink and white and Gulp Shrimp in new penny.

What lures are in your boxes that have consistently caught you fish?

What I've been throwing lately(this summer basically) is mostly topwaters, super spooks to be specific.

Always thrown bass assassin too.

Recently been trying some wake baits and spoons and have liked them so far.

This is all I really throw, and most of the time I have gulp under a cork ready to go.

Super spooks
Fat Boys
Skitterwalks

BA Touts on jig head (CoC, LSU, TX Roach, natural) Straight tail, paddle tail etc....

Spoons

Rattle traps (Pink, silver, gold)

Gulps under PNC or jig

2 sticks dynamite
Old time crank phone with leads wires

Yep... forgot to list my Johnson Silver Spoon, not because I have ever caught fish on it, but because along with the broken back red fin, my dad told me to always carry one. If I sorted my lures by the colors I use most, I would be able to fit everything in one 3600 box with room to spare... but what fun would that be? ...LOL

Spook jrs
One knockers
Floating rattle traps
Catch 5, catch 2000
Corkies

Zman shrimpz
Zman pogyz
Gulp swimming mullet
Cocahoe minnows
Pearl lil Jon xl
Popping corks

Bunches and bunches of hard baits & some Corkys that I rarely use stay in a huge tackle box in a closet. Then my wading box - two of those Planos w the blue latches bolted together with a shoulder strap - gets loaded per trip. Usually with a couple of each of the following:
Super Spooks, SS Jrs, a Pink Skitterwalk, One-Knockers, Catch 2000s, Corkys (3-4 of these), wake baits, spoons, maybe a Rattletrap and then a container of jig heads and 4-5 bags of plastics in my shirt pocket.

Soft plastics
ZMan ShimpZ, PogyZ, CrabZ,PaddlerZ,MinnowZ, Diezel MinnowZ, Jerk ShadZ, Pop ShadZ and Chatter Baits. All in gold rush and one lighter color.

Hard baits
Shedog, spook junior, skitter walk, and hunchbacks.

Gold and silver spoons- mostly weedless.
Top Dog Jr and She Pups
Super Spook Jrs
Badonk-a-Donks
Mann's Tidewater Waker
Skinny Water Arsenal twitch tail or shrimp tail'
Corkies
Catch 2000's
51MR's
various plastics by TTF, Chicken Boy and Norton
Gulp shrimp and mullet

What I carry with me depends on the actual conditions that day.

Spook Jrs in Speckled Trout

TTF Flush tops in Hologram Speckled Trout

Thumpin Mullet in Chicken on the Chain

Plumtreuse Flappin Devils

Purple Smoke Medium Hunchbacks

Lots of Rockport Rattlers in 1/16 oz Black and Chartreuse

Lots of other lures depending on season, condition, target species etc bug these are my go-to all around lures

Pretty soon it will be Fatboys, Brokenback Fatboys, Top Dogs, Thumpin Mullet but 99% of the time Pearl/Black or Pink Glitter Fatboys.

So how many Plano Boxes is everyone taking with them? I try to keep mine to two 3600 boxes of hard baits and two 3500 boxes of plastics with jig heads, hooks, and various other terminal tackle in the box also. In my PFD pockets I have leader line and popping corks. I have the 3600 boxes on either side of my seat in my Slayer 12 and the 3500 boxes are in a small tackle bag in between my feet with a couple of bags of gulp and a couple of speck rigs in the bag also. I don't use a Crate as I carry a soft duffle bag style cooler in my tankwell with drinks and snacks and would not be able to reach into a crate as easily. I have short T-Rex arms.
I am thinking about getting a smaller cooler bag that would fit into a crate and trying that out though. It would be nice to have a place to carry my fish grips, net and pliers, rather than wherever they slid in the cockpit.

One plano for hard baits. Gallon freezer bags for bags of plastics and jigheads stay in their packages so they dont rust. I carry a soft zippered tackle bag

Topwaters
She Dogs and She Pups for Redfish in a variety of colors
Pink Skitterwalks for trout

Soft Plastics
Chicken Boy 4" Shrimp in morning glory, new penny, chicken on a bone, and white with a chartreuse tail
Bass Assassin Sea Shad in similar colors
Bass Assassin Die Dapper in similar colors

Hard Baits
Manns 1-minus
Strike Pro Hunchback

Other
Corky
Buggs (Hydra, Curl Tail, and Beastie Bugg)
Popping Cork with Gulp (Midcoast Evolution)

macjank7 wrote:One plano for hard baits. Gallon freezer bags for bags of plastics and jigheads stay in their packages so they dont rust. I carry a soft zippered tackle bag

That is my ultimate goal to have 1 box for hard baits and one for plastics, that would be one box on either side of the seat, but since I have all those other baits I still like to carry a few to try out.... I'm doomed to be a lure junkie

gonefishin wrote:

macjank7 wrote:One plano for hard baits. Gallon freezer bags for bags of plastics and jigheads stay in their packages so they dont rust. I carry a soft zippered tackle bag

That is my ultimate goal to have 1 box for hard baits and one for plastics, that would be one box on either side of the seat, but since I have all those other baits I still like to carry a few to try out.... I'm doomed to be a lure junkie

If you have fished for any number of years and don't have more than a hand full of lures you are a rarity. I try to keep my box light but it is tough. I have the mother load at home, my seasonal bag for the yak or boat and my wading box with just what I think I need while away from my kayak. Yeah we get out of our yaks and wade a lot if at all possible.

I finally have it narrowed down to one box:
1 Bone SSjr
1 Redfish Skitterwalk
2 popping corks (18" and 24" leader)
1 Buggs
1 pack Chickenboy 4" shrimp (color vary by location)
1/8 oz weedless spoon silver
1 pack Gulp Ripple Mullet white/chart tail
1 pack 4" Gulp shrimp white
Offset shank EWG hooks 2/0
1/16 oz jigheads
1/8 oz jigheads

I have plenty of other stuff in the garage, but have found that majority of fish I catch is on what's listed...depending on location and time of year I will switch a few things out, but this is what I normally carry.

macjank7 wrote:

gonefishin wrote:

macjank7 wrote:One plano for hard baits. Gallon freezer bags for bags of plastics and jigheads stay in their packages so they dont rust. I carry a soft zippered tackle bag

That is my ultimate goal to have 1 box for hard baits and one for plastics, that would be one box on either side of the seat, but since I have all those other baits I still like to carry a few to try out.... I'm doomed to be a lure junkie

If you have fished for any number of years and don't have more than a hand full of lures you are a rarity. I try to keep my box light but it is tough. I have the mother load at home, my seasonal bag for the yak or boat and my wading box with just what I think I need while away from my kayak. Yeah we get out of our yaks and wade a lot if at all possible.

I too have the mother lode at home, just trying to carry on the yak just what I will use for the day. That's the reason I picked out lures that I have confidence in, just wondering what everyone else has confidence throwing. You are right that trying to lighten the load is tough and it is hard not to load more than is needed, especially when I have the whole saltwater aisle of Academy sitting at home...... including a Badonk a Donk in Toxic Mullet just because it was on clearance Is there a 12 step program?

M T Stringer wrote:I finally have it narrowed down to one box:
1 Bone SSjr
1 Redfish Skitterwalk
2 popping corks (18" and 24" leader)
1 Buggs
1 pack Chickenboy 4" shrimp (color vary by location)
1/8 oz weedless spoon silver
1 pack Gulp Ripple Mullet white/chart tail
1 pack 4" Gulp shrimp white
Offset shank EWG hooks 2/0
1/16 oz jigheads
1/8 oz jigheads

I have plenty of other stuff in the garage, but have found that majority of fish I catch is on what's listed...depending on location and time of year I will switch a few things out, but this is what I normally carry.

Wow, you did good, I'm impressed

I have enjoyed everyone's responses and I have whittled my lure load down to two 3600 Plano boxes, 1 for hard baits and the other for plastics/ jig heads, hooks etc. I also have a 3500 Small Plano bag that will carry my gulp and popping corks (also good for wading). Has anyone else noticed that the more confidence you have in your favorite lures, the less lures you carry? Just wondering Now I am ready to go fishing and hopefully catching. Then I may decide to work on a crate

Coachsmills wrote:Topwaters
She Dogs and She Pups for Redfish in a variety of colors
Pink Skitterwalks for trout

Soft Plastics
Chicken Boy 4" Shrimp in morning glory, new penny, chicken on a bone, and white with a chartreuse tail
Bass Assassin Sea Shad in similar colors
Bass Assassin Die Dapper in similar colors

Hard Baits
Manns 1-minus
Strike Pro Hunchback

Other
Corky
Buggs (Hydra, Curl Tail, and Beastie Bugg)
Popping Cork with Gulp (Midcoast Evolution)

I love the Strike Pro Hunchback. Haven't tried Chicken Boy Shrimp yet. Nobody around me has ever carried it.

Paddle Tail Box - TTF killer flats minnows
-East beast
-Glow/chartreuse
-Morning glory
1/16, 1/8, and 1/4 ounce jig heads

Shrimp box - I use chickenboy shrimps
-Chicken on a bone
-Limetreuse
-Holo passion pink

Hard Plastic box -
-Skitterwalks SW08 in hot pink and silver mullet
-Spook Jr in bone
-Mann's tidewater waker in croaker and gold/black back

Buggs Box-
Bought a bargain grab bag a few months ago from Hippel but haven't had a chance to use them yet

Misc Box-
Pro cure gel in shrimp and mullet

A weedless johnson silver and gold spoon

Spinnerbaits - Redfish magics and marsh works bayou thumper (discontinued unfortunately)

Midcoast popping corks

Bucket of gulp

All my soft plastics are kept in plano soft plastic binder. My hard baits are in small plano container. All of my hooks, swivels ect. Are in an extra small plano container. All of this is in small soft tackle bag along with my procure and a popping cork.

Just hooks, assorted weights, barrel swivels, popping corks, fluoro leader. I have some kelley wigglers and some hard baits but rarely use them. Just don't have the patience for artificials.

I've narrowed it down to the only thing that I catch fish on

Cajun Thunder popping cork
3" gulp shrimp

RajunCajun wrote:I've narrowed it down to the only thing that I catch fish on

Cajun Thunder popping cork
3" gulp shrimp

That works. But no gulp swimming mullet on a tandem rig?

What with the rain last week and my brother being rushed to the hospital this week with blood clots in his lungs, I have not been able to get out on the water. Since I am now stuck at home playing nurse to him I took another look at my boxes. My final Plano set-up is one 3600 box with my go to lures and plastics. This comes out to 5 crank baits and 4 soft plastics. My Crank baits of course are my Mirrolures MR's and Catches This still left me room for some jig heads, hooks, weights, and a few speed clips. If I had to, I could just grab this box and feel that I would have a productive day. I have lures that will cover different water columns as well as for different water conditions.

My other 3600 is full of lures I bought but never tried or haven't tried very much. This box, will be ever changing as I try different lures from my huge arsenal at home.
Then of course I have my Soft Tackle bag, which is a very small Plano 3500, but it holds a Plano Gulp container and some gulp bags as well as popping corks and a small 3500 box set up for wading.

My brother is recovering, and I am hoping to get out and try my new set-up sometime next week

I've got it narrowed down to two boxes.

Box #1:
DOA CAL 3" Paddletail: Copper Crush, Red/Silver/White, Purple/Chartreuse Tail, Pearl/Chartreuse Tail, Rootbeer/Chartreuse Tail, & Morning Glory
H&H Original Cocahoe: Pumpkinseed/Chartreuse
Hooks: 1/16 oz & 1/8 oz standard jighead, 1/16 oz & 1/8 oz weedless hooks, & 3/0 worm hooks

Box #2
Heddon Super Spook Jr: Silver Mullet, Foxy Momma, & Spectrum
Bandit Footloose Crankbait:Chrome/Blue Back & Black
Johnson 1/4oz Sprite: Gold
DOA 3" Shrimp: Gold glitter & copper crush

I'll toss in something new every now and then as well, but those are the main stakes.