How do you organize your fishing gear?

[ctwiggs1]

My fishing gear organization has evolved so much over the last 20 years, it's ridiculous.

First, as a teenager I bought a huge tackle box because I realized I couldn't get all my gear into one little box my dad bought me.

Then, I stuffed most of my gear into plano organizers and went with a tiny little cordura bag that could be backpacked into areas for trout, as that was my main focus.

Eventually, I wanted it all to look organized and bought one of these things:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DDM18M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
FYI the concept is great but the actual rod holders are garbage.

Since then, I've started fishing more for other species (bass, perch, walleye, carp, salty fish, etc) upgraded some poles and now have three kids, all of whom love to go fishing with dad.  I think I could easily justify 20-30 poles right now, and of course all the odds and ends when it comes to tackle. 

None of this includes my fly gear that rarely makes an appearance anymore because lets face it - who has time for fly fishing?

My goal is to get everything organized in a manner that
A) Doesn't take up too much space
B) Is easy to reference and get the gear I need for a specific trip
C) Keeps rods safe (because dang those are expensive)

Just curious to see if anyone else on here is borderline OCD and has a super organized fishing gear section?

Thanks in advance

Curtis

[Southpole]

I too am curious. I have all my lures more or less segregated in types and styles but they’re all piled up on each other, tangled and chipping paint off of some. It’s a terrible mess.

[CP]

I like this ceiling rod rack:

https://www.amazon.com/RackEm-7009-Overhead-12-Rod-Fishing/dp/B00A16NQTU/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Rack%27em+Overhead+Fishing+Rod+Rack&qid=1636646559&sr=8-2

Keeps the rods safe and out of the way.

[ctwiggs1]

I like this ceiling rod rack:

https://www.amazon.com/RackEm-7009-Overhead-12-Rod-Fishing/dp/B00A16NQTU/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Rack%27em+Overhead+Fishing+Rod+Rack&qid=1636646559&sr=8-2

Keeps the rods safe and out of the way.

I like that 

[JJB11B]

Most of my gear is organized by species then by tackle type, like all my walleye stuff is in snap top organizers or on leader spools to keep the tangles out, when I go with someone else in there boat I just grab one of those fabric grocery bags and slip the cases in there. Rods are organized by length and stored on 3 gun racks plus 8 or so in the boat. My bass gear is organized similarly then steelhead and salmon as well. I also have a couple bags specifically set up for fishing from the bank for salmon/steelhead or bass/catfish

[7mmfan]

I like this ceiling rod rack:

https://www.amazon.com/RackEm-7009-Overhead-12-Rod-Fishing/dp/B00A16NQTU/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Rack%27em+Overhead+Fishing+Rod+Rack&qid=1636646559&sr=8-2

Keeps the rods safe and out of the way.

I like that 

I have that exact rod rack on my garage ceiling. In fact I have 5 of them  . They work well. I think storing them on the ceiling is the best option, followed by the wall if you have the ceiling height.

As far as the tackle (lures, flies, terminal tackle, etc...) thats a tough one and depends on you and how you fish, how much time you like to take preparing for a trip. I used to have all the specific types of lures paired together, and would sort out what I needed for that particular trip. I don't have time for that anymore. Now I have separate setups for all my target species with their own boxes of terminal tackle and lures, even if some of those lures overlap with other species (I.E. same jigs, plugs, spinners for steelhead or salmon, they each have their own boxes with identical lures). Man that has saved me so much time. I can just grab my steelhead bag and hit the road, or my silver bag and hit the road, or my Yakima fly fishing bag and hit the road. There is a lot of duplication, it was expensive for a while creating that duplication, but it took a lot of room for error out for me. You have to have a space to store all those combos though and I;'m finding that I'm running out of space  I see the natural progression as I do less fishing and get into other kid activities reverting back to a bulk storage of some form and pulling out what I need for that day.

[Blacklab]

Made these ceiling rack

[Blacklab]

Pvc rod rack

[ctwiggs1]

I like this ceiling rod rack:

https://www.amazon.com/RackEm-7009-Overhead-12-Rod-Fishing/dp/B00A16NQTU/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Rack%27em+Overhead+Fishing+Rod+Rack&qid=1636646559&sr=8-2

Keeps the rods safe and out of the way.

I like that 

I have that exact rod rack on my garage ceiling. In fact I have 5 of them  . They work well. I think storing them on the ceiling is the best option, followed by the wall if you have the ceiling height.

As far as the tackle (lures, flies, terminal tackle, etc...) thats a tough one and depends on you and how you fish, how much time you like to take preparing for a trip. I used to have all the specific types of lures paired together, and would sort out what I needed for that particular trip. I don't have time for that anymore. Now I have separate setups for all my target species with their own boxes of terminal tackle and lures, even if some of those lures overlap with other species (I.E. same jigs, plugs, spinners for steelhead or salmon, they each have their own boxes with identical lures). Man that has saved me so much time. I can just grab my steelhead bag and hit the road, or my silver bag and hit the road, or my Yakima fly fishing bag and hit the road. There is a lot of duplication, it was expensive for a while creating that duplication, but it took a lot of room for error out for me. You have to have a space to store all those combos though and I;'m finding that I'm running out of space  I see the natural progression as I do less fishing and get into other kid activities reverting back to a bulk storage of some form and pulling out what I need for that day.

I love and hate that idea all at the same time man ;-)

What kind of tackle boxes are you sporting for these?  Oh wait sorry... "What tackle system are you running for this?"

[Alchase]

I have separate tackle boxes for Kokanee, Trout, Steelhead, and Salmon. I use pool noodles cut in 6" to 8" lengths to wrap my pre-made leaders, lures, and flasher strings on. This is so I can switch out to something different in seconds.
My salmon and steelhead poles and gear are in storage in the attic. I store my Trout and Kokanee poles on the wall on those cheap foam pole holders. I think I paid a couple $$ at most for them, as you can see we work well.

Forgot the pic

[jackelope]

Back when I was a kid, an old guy told me that anything over $20 was a fishing rod. Under $20, a fishing pole. It’s always stuck.

[Angry Perch]

I use Plano boxes and a Cabela's bag that holds 5 of them. I mix and match, depending on what I'm after. For crank baits, the B & B boxes are awesome.

This is a stock photo, not mine. Mine's full. Thanks Skillet!


 

[ctwiggs1]

Holy crap, that's sweet!  There is no way I'm going to copy it due to space constraints but it's a sweet setup 

[JJB11B]

Let’s just say that I have a 12’X12’ room in my barn dedicated to mainly fishing gear  As an ex tournament bass fisherman I’ve been a gear hoarder for 45+ years. 🤣. Rod racks on the ceiling (rods stored on the floor tend to get knocked around and broken) metal shelves for tackle, electronics, plastic and lead pouring equipment. I started out with those giant Plano tri fold tackle boxes but have switched to the smaller boxes that fit in a carrying bag. Much easier to organize and down size for specific species and techniques. They also stack nicely on a shelf.

and most modern boats have storage built to hold them.

[Stein]

Organizing my fishing gear got much easier when I got rid of the 90% that never gets used.