Terminal Tackle Storage

How Stetson Blaylock stays organized

The No. 1 key to organization is your tackle box. Bass Mafia has the best options for me, and the company’s boxes are the most durable and the best at keeping it all together in a certain little spot. Sinkers, beads, rattles and little swivels are hard to keep up with, but the Bait Coffin has so many little dividers that you aren’t taking up a great big space with just a bunch of little bitty swivels. It’s also nice because I don’t have to worry about it flipping upside down. Whatever happens to that box under the deck lid, I know that when I go to get it out everything is going to be right where it’s supposed to be.

Keeping it the way you want it can be the tricky part. I get in there and check it pretty often. The way I have it, it’s easy to see what you have and check the quantities. All my sinkers are labeled, and my hook box is the same way. I don’t necessarily have my hook sizes labeled, but I have all the different styles labeled.

I’ve had a lot better luck keeping my hooks from rusting by keeping them in the package. I don’t use the original package most of the time. I’ll take the original card with the brand and style and size and stick it in a little tiny Ziploc that is just big enough for the hooks. Then it’s watertight, and you can add hooks to it or remove hooks from it. To me, it’s a whole lot better then having them just loose in a plastic box. If you drop the box and spill it and hooks go everywhere you have to sort it all out. Having them bagged up eliminates that totally.

I don’t keep anything in the box to keep rust out. With those Bass Mafia boxes, the only way any water gets in is if you leave the lid open, and if that happened I’d take everything out and let it air out. If I have a hook that I’ve used all day and have worn the finish off, I never put it back in the box because I know it will want to rust those other hooks. If I do decide to put a hook back in the box, I always let it sit on the deck to dry completely first.

What I carry in the box is what I carry. I don’t want to be on the water and forget something. I want everything to be there when I need it. If I don’t have enough of something or I’m running low on something I either make a note of it on my phone to order it or just order it right there on the water so I never run out.