Preparing a Tackle Box? Don't Forget These Items

At some point, we all need to have a personal tackle box to organize our fishing equipment. While each box’s contents will be different depending on an angler’s needs and tastes, there are some items that can be deemed necessary or at least extremely important to any fishing trip. If you’re currently preparing a tackle box of your own, here are some things to include.

Tackle box necessities

It’s not a tackle box without the stuff you actually need. A good place to start is by choosing between live bait or artificial lure, or simply having both. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to that, so if you’re in a bit of a dilemma, check out this article comparing the two. In the process, make sure you consider exactly what fish you’re trying to catch, the water conditions where you’ll be fishing, and other stuff that could help you choose. If you do end up with live or plastic baits, though, have extra sinkers and bobbers.

Just to be ready, bring a knife, some needle nose pliers, different hooks, and extra lines as well. You’ll need the knife to cut lines, get hooks out of some fishes’ mouths (especially those that bite hard), clean fish, and many other situations. Meanwhile, the pliers are for fish with sharp teeth and the extra lines are there to ensure that you cast well throughout the trip. And the many hooks are simply for different types of fish. Other equipment you might want to bring are:

1. Stringers
2. Polarized sunglasses
3. A first-aid kit
4. Your fishing license
5. Bug repellent
6. Sunscreen
7. Clean rags or towels
8. Hook remover
9. Swivels
10. A poncho

Other tackle box essentials

If you’ve read our blog post about fishing at night, you know that a headlamp will have its uses, so it’s worth having as well. If not a headlamp, a flashlight would do. They would help you if you end up fishing until nighttime and need to navigate terrain or light up an area for fishing.

All pandemic-related concerns aside, a cloth face mask would similarly help, because sunscreen wears off by around two hours and would need to be reapplied, and not everyone is able to do so for various reasons. The face mask will protect you from those harmful UV rays. 

Our hoodies here at Baitium also come with built-in face masks and are UV-protectant if you want to check them out!

Two more important things are snacks and a multi-tool. You never know when you’ll get hungry, and it’s much more difficult to catch fish on an empty stomach. Meanwhile, the multi-tool could be useful to serve as a backup knife or to fix boats and other equipment on the go.

You’ll hopefully never get to use it, but a whistle would help in emergency situations as well to either catch people’s attention or scare wild animals away. Make sure not to forget these items while creating your tackle box!