Getting Organized for Hardwater - Lures and Plastics

Despite the warm temperatures making it feel more like late summer than late fall right now, winter will get here eventually. Now is the time when prepping for the season needs to begin to be ready for the first safe ice to walk out onto.

Most of us have been keeping the augers primed and ready or doing battery maintenance on our Vexilar units or other devices. Ice suits are being washed and hung up, shelters are being brought out of storage.

But the tackle can be a bit daunting, especially if you've acquired enough to fill a bigger tackle bag like I nearly have and then there's the plastics on top of that, each one in their own little baggie.

Over the last few years, different companies have come out with containers to help keep all our ice fishing tackle organized. I have used Clam Outdoors medium jig box and large soft plastics folder to keep them organized and separated.

These have worked extremely well. The jigs stay put, even when I'm moving around and the box is small enough where it fits into my Ice Armor pocket, so I have dozens of jigs at my fingertips and the folder holds dozens of different plastics and keeps them organized.

But up until recently, it was tough to keep spoons organized and untangled, as treble hooks are notorious for getting into. Time wasted untangling hooks just doesn't cut it so this year, I purchased Clam's new Spoon Box in the medium size to take care of this.

With its slotted spots, I can put over forty spoons into it and they stay tight and the hooks won't tangle. I'm looking forward to getting this box out on the ice and taking advantage of this allowing me to be more efficient out on the ice.

With all the prepping going on, it is important to not forget about your ice tackle. With a few specialty containers and a little bit of time, your lures and plastics will be ready when you are to hit the hardwater. We like to be efficient on the ice and keeping your tackle organized and tangle-free will go a long ways for bringing up more fish through the ice......whenever it gets here.