Hello,

I am revisiting in my mind the fishing gear I have brought, and what I wish I had either remembered to bring or excluded from the list..... so, what do you bring in the way of tackle? What has worked? How much do you bring? What do you pack it in?

Thanks!

Matt

This was way too much....I pack these small Plano boxes into a zip up folding case.
It was a good cross section of what you need.

I take one of those plastic sleeve tackle boxes. In it are jigs, hooks, sinkers, leaders, spinners, hula poppers, a slip bobber, a buzzbait, Mepp's, and a bunch (15?) of Rapalas, mostly size 7 through 9. I write the running depths of each Rap on the lip of the lure to make sure I know where I'm fishing.

Even that could get cut down.

I have come to the conclusion that i bring way to much tackle. I will be cutting back about half as much.

We pack light and get into the back country of Quetico, but I take this tackle box stuffed with everything I might need.....Who's vacation is it?

That might be one of the SWEETEST canoe country tackle boxes I have ever seen. I thought I had it all covered in my two plano 8" boxes with lindy's and jigs, but boy was I wrong.

Hoy18

I'm with pdidy. Over the years I have been bringing waaaay more than I need.
I took an inventory of what I used and what I didn't, and will weed out those items.
I bring a few crankbaits, flashy spoons, but mostly we make our own little joe type spinners and tip them with a gulp minnnow or leech.

This is what we bring, which is of course WAAAAAAAY too much. I always say I'm going to cut back every year but instead bring more.
What you don't see is the amount of plastics we bring along which takes up a another whole large tackle bag. I'll never admit to how much of it never gets used.



Dave

I have been taking rapala original minnows, husky jerks, and a few deeper running baits. A spinnerbait, Jitterbug, hooks, weights and floats, jigs, grubs and soft plastics. Thats about it.

The two years I have gone up, all I have used is jigs with gulp minnnow and a shallow dive rapla and have had great luck. Budy of mine brought a hula-poper?? with. He did realy great with that. I have had the best luck by keeping fishing simple.

I take too much too. Never have time to throw all. End up using leech and hook/jig 90% of the time. IF you take any live bait, I'd say 6 of your favorite proven lures should do.....and maybe a couple new ones to test! :) That's where I always get in trouble; too many. Everytime I pass a clearance tag on nice stuff, I say,"I wonder how that would work in the BW?". When it comes time to pack and actually go.... it's like, "How can I take it all?"

Cut back somewhere else...food, clothing...anything but tackle...or booze :)

At Last! Some folks that haul in more tackle than I. I do take 5 rods and 5 or 6 reels though - just for me. Cut back somewhere else.

I respectfully question how anyone can justify bringing five fishing rods and five or six reels on a canoe trip. Perhaps you can elaborate to help me understand what I have been missing all these years (besides carrying all that gear).

And for the record, we go up there to fish. Always have.

Thanks for being respectful, Jackfish. Since I am a serious bass fisherman, five rods is a step down for me. When I am fishing by myself at home in my medium size aluminum bass boat I usually have from 7 to 9 rigs ready to go. Most of my trips have been solo and fishing is a priority. My rods are hauled in in a rod tube that will hold 5 rods. Since rods only weigh 4 or 5 ounces, a couple more doesn't add much weight and a spare spinning reel and casting reel are packed also. My normal procedure is to fish with 2 open face spinning rods and two casting rigs. The 5th, spare rod and reels are left at camp. The lighter spin rod is rigged with a jig and grub and the heavier rig with a bottom dragging type jig and plastic or a Sluggo type jerk bait. One of the casting rigs will have a topwater and the other a spinner bait, spoon or crankbait. All the lure choices are dependent on conditions and mood of the fish. The rods are layed out on the thwart and secured with a bungee when not used or traveling. I think the bungees would hold the rigs in during a turnover but haven't tried that yet. The advantage of having 4 choices of lures ready to throw at any time without having to retie is really nice. I am sure I could live with a couple of rigs but this works for me.

Ok... I get the rationale. You like to have lots of options at the ready.

A couple questions:

1. How far do you travel on a typical trip? Do you normally base camp or do you move everyday? Going solo and portaging with all that gear makes your answer of even more interest to me.

2. Fishing out of a solo canoe is, obviously, a far cry from fishing out of an aluminum bass boat back home. Wouldn't it be easier to spend just a little more time tying or snapping on lures than carrying all those different rods? Granted, you might not have that absolutely "perfect" rod for each situation, but I think you'll agree that some rods can be "good enough" if one is trying to reduce weight, bulk and clutter.

Jackfish, since you go for the fishing, maybe I can convince you to fish with 2 or 3 rods but probably not 4. It probably won't surprise you to find out that I always base camp. My last 6 trips have been base camping on Minn or McAree Lake and fishing those two plus Brewer and Pond. Zup's fine tow service from Crane Lake to the Black Robe portage makes a pretty easy paddle to my base campsite. I triple trip on the initial portage and double trip portages when fishing. I do have ambitions to someday go further in to Darky, Wicksteed or Argo and if I do I will definitely cut back on tackle. Agree that some rods can be almost good enough for everything. My 4 rods are all different lengths and actions that are fairly specific to a limited range of lures. I am comfortable with the set up and the "clutter" doesn't bother me. However,if more travel is planned, modifications could be made. Set in my ways but not too hard headed. My canoe is an older Mad River Tahoe. When solo, I paddle from the front seat and fasten my rods to the yoke (not the thwart as previously mentioned). A 9 foot kayak paddle is the main propulsion with a standard paddle for fishing. It's not too heavy at 48 pounds but it is not so good for covering lots of miles.

In our group, we all carry two rod and reel combinations each - one to jig with and one to troll/cast. Seems to work fine for us.

I could probably live with 2 rigs while fishing with a partner. You could at least have 4 different lures tied on to use until you figured out what the fish wanted to bite. Would still like to have an extra rig back at camp. Two fishermen and 8 rods and reels in a canoe would definitely be some serious clutter!