Winter Rigging and Organizing

Winter has been a bit boring around here this year. Deer season is long over. Right now, I’m playing in a rec volleyball league, but that’s about it.

So what do I do to pass the time? I get ready for spring.

Off and on the last couple of weeks I’ve been organizing and rigging walleye tackle. Truthfully, I don’t get many chances to walleye fish anymore. Mostly, I’m covering bass tournaments and fishing waters absent of walleyes. But when I do go walleye fishing, I like having everything I need (and a bunch of stuff I don’t need) perfectly organized.

Last night, I finished putting together a live-bait rigging tackle box, which is the end of a trial-and-error process to find a suitable system. Previously, I stored most of my live-bait rigging tackle in one large terminal tackle box, along with all the terminal tackle used for any other kind of walleye fishing I do. But I wanted something more specialized, something just for rigging.

I started with a Plano 2-3701 Thin ProLatch StowAway, which is the super-shallow StowAway that is divided into five rows. This is an awesome model, and it’s the model I’ve been using to store my bass terminal tackle. It’s shallow enough that you don’t have to reach your entire finger down into the compartment, which makes it easier to grab just one hook or component. I divided it up into its max compartments (34, I think) and put a dab of hot glue under each divider so hooks and swivels can’t sneak underneath them.

That worked well enough, and I was satisfied until I saw the Double Sided StowAways Plano makes. I checked them out at a local store and thought about swapping, since the Double Sided models have a small footprint and could potentially fit in a hoodie pocket.

I didn’t end up buying one, since I figured I didn’t want to lug around a bunch of lead weights in my hoodie, but the concept of developing another system was enough to make me pursue other options. For one thing, I realized that it would be nice to have some leaders pre-tied and stored right alongside hooks and sinkers. Neither the Double Sided models nor the 2-3701 can accommodate them.

I stopped at the local hardware store and picked up a few pieces of foam pipe insulation in different sizes to wrap my leaders around so they won’t tangle. The smallest piece of insulation they had, which is about 1 3/4 inches in diameter, fit perfectly in the tray of a Plano 3700 ProLatch StowAway. And that has become my final live-bait rigging box.

I cut the insulation to length and carved a shallow groove around the circumference of the piece every 1/2 inch or so. I then wrapped the leaders in those grooves and secured the leaders by piercing the hook point into the foam. I’ve yet to see if wrapping leaders around such small-diameter pieces of pipe insulation will cause the leaders to hold coils once unwound. I’m sure they will to some extent, but with the 6-pound-test fluorocarbon I use, I don’t think it will be too bad.

The 3700 has four rows, and each can be divided into 12 spaces (because of the latches, the front row can only be divided into 10 spaces). I used two rows to hold the leader tubes. One tube has leaders with both red and unfinished No. 2 hooks. The other has leaders with red and unfinished No. 4 hooks. Both foam tubes are divided roughly into thirds, with one third of each used to hold 4-, 6- and 8-foot leaders. I wrapped thin pieces of tape around the tubes between thirds, and labeled the leader lengths so I can keep them straight.

The remaining two rows in the tray are divided into their maximum number of spaces. Right now, they are far from full, but I saved spaces for traditional slip-sinker weights and Wing-It Quick Swap Slip Sinker weights ranging from about 1/4 ounce up to 1 1/2 ounce. There are also extra hooks of various colors, shapes and sizes; various floating jigheads; multiple sizes and colors of beads; No. 10 Spro Power Swivels; pill floats; CQ Clips for the Wing-It system; and a small zipper-lock bag of bullet sinkers.

I’m sure there are things that will eventually be added (maybe some small spinner blades, barrel weights and split shot), and some that might be taken out. However, this system looks as if it will work well. I’ll find out this summer.

I’m also going to make it a point to check out how the pros organize their rigging gear. I like the idea of being able to place one tackle tray on the deck of the boat with everything needed for a technique, that way there’s no time wasted digging around in compartments when a tackle change is needed. My system accomplishes that, but I’m sure there is a pro or two out there with a very simple system that works better than mine. If and when I find it, I’ll report back on it here.