I’m a big stickler for organization. I like to have everything in my boat in its place so that I know where it is when I need it, without having to spend 20 minutes digging through stuff to find it.

Have you ever caught a fish in the last few minutes of a tournament, or maybe even on the last cast of the day? It happens to us all. Think about all the lost minutes you spend looking for a lure or hooks or something else when you could have been fishing. That’s why I keep all my things organized in Plano boxes that I have labeled. When I open a storage compartment lid and look inside, I know where my hooks are, where my shallow-running, square-billed crankbaits are, and so on. I carry just the items that I think I’ll need for that particular lake and that time of year, so the compartments aren’t just crammed with a lot of things that get in the way.

Develop your own system, but get organized and stay organized. Use your time efficiently, because time is something a fisherman always needs more of.

— Goodwill pro Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minn.