Tacklebox starter kit

[Eric M]

I am building a tackle box for each of my grandkids and my boys for Christmas. Besides the weights, swivels, etc. I'd appreciate some input ontrout lures for western washington. I have had some luck with a few different rooster tails, but is anyone willing to share favorite lures? Thanks.

[Dhoey07]

Triple teaser, super duper, wedding ring, panther martin, flatfish, mini hot shot.

[M_ray]

Triple teaser, super duper, wedding ring, panther martin, flatfish, mini hot shot.

Geez give someone else a chance! 😆 yep those are all good for sure but I’d still add a couple spoons like a crocodile both weighted and non- weighted as well as a little Cleo and a castmaster.

[jeffro]

Dick nites, gang flashers, flies(Wooley buggers and bead heads)
pre tied leaders for worms and power bait.
Dough and soft plastic baits plus jig heads and bobbers.
Buzzbombs
Rapalas/Crankbaits

Licenses
Life jackets
UV glasses

You for got to mention target species/ location

[HereDuckyDucky]

I would throw in a couple 3.0 mag lips (MJ and Dr. Death are my personal favorites for trout).

RW

[birdshooter1189]

My "go to" lures for western WA trout are roostertails (1/8oz or 1/6oz) and kastmasters.

In the past couple years I've had a couple outings where I've outfished the roostertails and kastmasters with a KVD 1.0 crankbait in "sexy shad" color.

[syoungs]

I wouldn't be caught at any freshwater fishing location without a couple of Jakes spin-a-lur's in my box.

[Crunchy]

Hmm no one has mentioned the old tried and true Red Devil spoon.  Put a little trout catching history in that box.

[Henrydog]

Wedding rings, and rooster tails

[Buckhunter24]

Wedding rings, and rooster tails

These are the two that I immediately thought of. A jar of potskys too

[Stein]

I would throw in a gift card and then take them to the store so they can pick out their own stuff.  From my experience, young kids like fishing with what they want to fish with as opposed to what we think works best.  Of course, they want to catch fish and we can help with that, but the more involved they are with every aspect of the process the more they will like it.

[duckmen1]

Kastmaster is a must. It can be used from shore or boat. They work amazing.

[Fl0und3rz]

My "go to" lures for western WA trout are roostertails (1/8oz or 1/6oz) and kastmasters.

In the past couple years I've had a couple outings where I've outfished the roostertails and kastmasters with a KVD 1.0 crankbait in "sexy shad" color.

Yep.  Panther Martins, Roostertails, and Blue Fox are my go tos.   Typically white/silver, yellow/gold.  Preferably with a feather.  Years ago, Blue fox made a white/silver with white feather, but I think that they got sued by Roostertail or something.  I have several in white/silver with the white feather, and they are my go to in rivers, when not bottom fishing.

That said, for kids, bottom fishing the pools is where it is at in rivers, until they can learn to cast and retrieve without losing gear every cast.  So hooks, weights enough for staying in light current, and maybe a tip bell to catch their attention would be my choice as they will inevitably want to goof off and not watch their poles.

Otherwise, stringer, bobbers, marabou jigs, and other tackle box trinkets like pliers and/or hook remover and maybe one of those fishing knot tying cards to help them learn to tie proper angling knots.

[JKEEN33]

I would also recommend a nice filet knife. My grandfather did what you are doing when I was 8 years old. At 53 I still use that knife and think of him every time. Wish he was still here. He was the best fishing partner ever besides my dad.

[cavemann]

pliers or cheap small multitool..  Hook remover.  I hack pool noodles about 5 inches or the packaged pre-tied lures come on the foam rolls..  Great for keeping/storing hooks already tied for future use

Pool noodles are cheap and make a ton of them for under a buck.  I slice an incision in them for the line to thread.

[Eric M]

Thank you everyone. These ideas should fill the boxes nicely!

[RugerRay]

Those little aluminum, telescoping rod holders for bank fishing with bait are handy to have. You could always shove a forked stick in the ground, but they sure are handy to have on hand to keep sand out of the kids' reels.

[Ridinshotgun]

Slip sinkers, power bait, leaders tied with #8 egg hooks 4lb test and a fish stringer.

[fast60eddie]

Color matters
Panther martin in pink&white
Roster tails in tiger fire
And yes on the Red Devil
Not to big though!

[rainshadow1]

Trout fishing Western WA...

High lakes: Casting bubbles, lite leader, flies.

Low Lakes: Bait; Heavy splitters, baitholder hooks, powerbait. Artificial; #2 Blue Fox vibrax (gold or silver).

I'd never go trout fishing low without #2 blue Fox vibrax spinners. (#4 or #5 for salmon in the rivers. Awesome lure.)

I'd never hike to a high lake without casting bubbles, 2-3lb leader, and flies.

TONS of fun to be had with those simple rigs!

[Eric M]

I feel like this thread is a gold mine. You guys are awesome. Im buying mysf some stuff now too Haha

[grade-creek-rd]

 a multi tool or a swiss army style pocket knife...great for cutting line, removing hooks, gutting fish and of course just whittling on sticks to pass the time between bites...they have those small ones for like $5 at the big box outdoor stores...

Grade

[Stein]

If you really want them to catch trout, buy a worm threader, hooks, sinkers and bobbers for lakes.

[gaddy]

Not a lure but, we always had a little Ziploc bag full of the little circus marshmallows in our box's and a jar of pautzke's green label eggs. Pink and red were our favorites, Yellow next. You get to eat half the mallow before putting it on the hook before the eggs. We also carried a slice of bread or two in Ziploc's for trout, wad a bit up in your mouth and put on the hook. Then it was Rooster tails in Black/silver and brown/gold. We had a few small popper lures for around cattails and treed banks or dead fall areas. A couple of small jig's and bobbers. The poppers and jig setups kept us occupied and focused instead of just casting and reeling if they weren't biting. Once we got a bit older we had a hypodermic needle to pump the worm tails with air to get them to float off the bottom and wiggle around. We were basically set up to fish most anything fresh water with a minimum amount of gear and a small box.  Most of the fun was trying all the different stuff to see what worked. And yes, We caught a bunch of fish with the simplest stuff. Fun memories.

[Jolten]

I've had a lot of luck with various wiggle wart lures

[Alchase]

Slip sinkers, power bait, leaders tied with #8 egg hooks 4lb test and a fish stringer.

I was going to say the same but with long shank #6 hooks, and rainbow Powerbait.

[Eric M]

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to filling some tackleboxes this year! I think im building one for one of my boys also.

[AL WORRELLS KID]

To make any of those lures work properly, I keep one of these within easy reach. If you use one of these on your hooks first, you will feel "The Bite" and keep them on your line longer. 
Doug

[troyspinetar]

https://mysterytacklebox.com/

I signed up for this for my 11 year old. Not sure if it’s for beginners but getting a mystery box every month will sure get them excited.