Deciding what to take with you!

This is getting tougher and tougher! I now have 3 satchel bags filled with all sorts of terminal tackle. And I've just won a slew of great stuff in the Crappie.com Contests, so now I'm wondering, do you just take everything with you? Or do you set up a plan for the day, based on conditions?

I now have a sachel of straight tails, split tails, tubes, curly tails, paddle tails.....and it goes on & on with variations on each style, not counting the multitude of colors and color combinations! Then there is the sachel full of jig heads of various weights and styles. UGH! I love it - but I'd like to know how you set up your game plan for the day and how you decide what to take on the water? Is there a method behind the madness!? Thanks! :Rofl

I bring what I figure on using based on style of fishing I am planning on for that day. But I am pretty set when I leave the house whether i will be longlining or single poling. So it is fairly simple for me.

I take everything I got haha I usually start where I think the fish will be and go from there!

After forty years of crappie fishing, I can honestly say all I really need is about a dozen jigs. About 75% of the time, I could get by with half a dozen.

3 hand ties 2 bags a plastics a few jigheads 4 floats and a bottle of crappie nibbles 99.9% of the time ....I decide what they want before I go and MAKE them eat it if I can ...drives my buds bonkers as well .........they are like you just know before you go what they want ....I said yep most of the time its one of the 3 baits ....
plan and execute ....and travel light ...last nights excursion was at least a mile in and a mile out ....

Don't matter what I take. I never have the right stuff.

Everytime I pack my gear,I think of all the different types of fishy's out there,and I end up taking a little bit of everything,just in case:pray:pray

I leave the crankbaits at home during the winter! You just never know when they are going to want that one bait that you had to have , but forgot you bought!

I'm the idiot that takes everything for every fish just because I don't know what's biting that day and what they want. Back seat of my truck looks like I just robbed BPS with all of the Plano boxes and 4 tackle bags. Lol

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When I came to that point I went to a 3' longer boat with a lot more storage. LOL Problem with me is not only do i love to crappie fish but still addicted to throwing crank baits and plastics for bass.

I take what will fit in a fanny pack, 3 mid size plano boxes, a small bag of bobbers, some misc soft plastics shoved in the pack in their original ziplocks, a jar of crappie nibbles, and a couple of stringers. That's it. Keep me, or me and the wife fishing for a weekend if need be.

One plano box of hard tackle loaded with weights, different size hooks and jig hooks, bober stops, bobbers, etc.

One box of hand tied jigs.

One plano box with a variety of plastics, bobby garland and tube jigs mostly that are in colors I have faith in. And the misc ziplocks of what I have recently bought to see if they make the cut to go in the plano for full time duty.

To start I either try a dark jig or a light jig (switch to opposite if no interest), then try a different size jig smaller or larger, and then decide if the fish are biting worth my effort. If they aren't biting good enough to get caught on any of that, then it's time to go weed the garden, LOL.

If I took "everything" I own for Crappie fishing ... just in baits & stuff, not counting rods/reels ... I couldn't take a partner (let alone their gear). :Rofl Not to mention that I'd have to have a bigger boat :Doh:

What I usually take is three long rods and two casting rods ... with the accompanying tackle suited to use with those rods. All that tackle is contained in one of those "push along travel luggage" deals, with the exception of a Plano box that carries my "jig & crank pushing weights". The "luggage tacklebox" weighs 20lbs and the Plano box of trolling weights weighs in at 10lbs.

Do I always "use" all that ..... uh, no. But, I've got it if I need it. :biggrin

You touched on a problem I have - TOO MUCH TACKLE AND GEAR!! I keep telling myself that I need to simplify. I get out on the water and confusion sets in. Should I cast to them?, use a bobber?, vertical jig?, spider rig?, long line?, crankbaits?, baby shad?, crappie magnets?, curly tails?, etc etc etc. I have them all and I am ready for everything but have no clue which one to use. LOL

I think I need to go back to simple.

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Originally Posted by tncrappiebass

You touched on a problem I have - TOO MUCH TACKLE AND GEAR!! I keep telling myself that I need to simplify. I get out on the water and confusion sets in. Should I cast to them?, use a bobber?, vertical jig?, spider rig?, long line?, crankbaits?, baby shad?, crappie magnets?, curly tails?, etc etc etc. I have them all and I am ready for everything but have no clue which one to use. LOL

I think I need to go back to simple.

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me too and I end up remembering only how to bobber fish. it's like my mind, what little there is, just goes blank when I hit the water. They say old habits are hard to break

Simplicity has its fine points for sure ......it don't have to terribly complicated it seems to me ....pack light I say ....lol

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

Simplicity has its fine points for sure ......it don't have to terribly complicated it seems to me ....pack light I say ....lol

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When my uncle was being my mentor back in the late 70's the only crappie jig colors at the local tackle store were white marabou and yellow marabou. The only rubber worms were green or purple, mostly the 4" ones with 2 hooks already rigged in them. We caught boatloads of fish back then. Granted, fishing pressure has went up 10,000% since then but I think sometimes the fish are less technical than we are. I'm speaking from a "hobby" frame of mind as I fish because I love fishing. Folks that earn their living off fishing have way more reason to up their arsenal. And yes, I have several boxes of jigs in all colors and styles lol

No matter how big your boat, the storage bins will always be full....I have plenty storage so I take a lot.....but if I go with a friend in their boat, I can get by with a gallon ziplok bag with what I will use.....and, in that case I will take one 10' jig pole and one bass rod....I say, if you got the room, take it....

keep track of what you use for a year and I promise you will give some youngun some nice tackle . I see jigs that are must have , but give away with never haved fish them . It is an addiction .:popcorn

I have a big glass boat and can easily carry 10 or 12 rods. In the box. Not counting what I can sit on the deck. As big as the boat is, you'll find that you have too much out sometimes. When trolling I have the rods being used and maybe one to cast at a rising fish. Lately I have been casting and single poling a lot. A trip in the canoe a while back showed me just how little we really need to bring. Could have carried it all, and some extra's in my shirt pocket. Most times I have 6 to 8 of the medium sized Plano boxes in one compartment with different styles and colors of bodies, and 2 or 3 rods out, mostly so I don't have to retie so much. I'm getting to where I buy more of what I use a lot and don't replace older plastics that change color or haven't seen a line in a long time. I have a box now that I'll be going through and thinning down. Somebody is gonna like me when it all goes away.

Since I fish from the bank and a boat I keep everything in a small backpack. I see no need to carry a bunch of stuff when fishing.

We may need a crappie bait anonymous forum for all of us with that bait purchase affliction :biggrin

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Originally Posted by Spaceman

We may need a crappie bait anonymous forum for all of us with that bait purchase affliction :biggrin

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I'm not sure there's a cure for the "Bait Monkey" :dono

I try to NOT take too much equipment or baits, but not for the usual reasons. It's just that as a member of Team Geezer Senior, my halfzeimer's causes me to occasionally leave things on the dock or bank.

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Originally Posted by huntinslabs

I bring what I figure on using based on style of fishing I am planning on for that day. But I am pretty set when I leave the house whether i will be longlining or single poling. So it is fairly simple for me.

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I think that's the smartest/best way to handle it.
I do have lots of storage on my boat, so the smaller stuff as a rule never comes off the boat.
But rods are a different issue.
I will have 3 or 4 jig poles all rigged, so I can switch off, or just grab another if I break off a jig.
I think a good topic would be, What would you take if you could take just (one). With a few extras of the same of coarse.