Winter Tackle Box Cleaning

Winter Tackle Box Cleaning
by gunner

Well there are many ways to approach this, but instead of calling it the “dreaded job” I think I will just start into it. Some of us enjoy going through their tackle box and I know a some that hate it. I hear “Cleaning that thing is to much like work” one of my personal favorites to hear is “If I clean it and change it around, it will loose the fish catching magic it has. So I think I will just pass on it this year”. Those are two of the things that one hears this time of year. Now at this time I will admit that to me, bigger is better. I have the Plano Phantom Pro, it is an older one I bought it around 1990 but it is a great box and big. I first clear off a table and will empty the entire contents out of the top and all four drawers. This is the time of it I enjoy most because as I remove things one at a time I can think back to the fishing trip I used it last. And sometimes the case may be I did not use it enough or at all. (Which I also make a note to myself that I need to use it in the upcoming season) Most of these memories of the fishing trips bring smiles and a few not so big of smiles… (Motor breakdown, lost a fish to a broken line and I did not even touch on the fact that with that broken line the favorite lure that is dangling around now underwater) Well enough on that, I will get back to the cleaning part of the tackle box.

Once everything is removed including the drawers, you want to use HOT water with a mild dish soap that is not heavy on fragrance. I take mine the kitchen sink so I can use the sprayer and a sponge. After the box itself is clean I repeat the process with each of the drawers. Rinsing it all off with the hottest water the house has to offer. Then let it air dry upside down for a few minutes then towel dry. (Hint – if you are married, do NOT use a good kitchen towel for that last part! It won’t go over well with the other half)

Next I move to the spinnerbaits. Same thing, hot water and kitchen sink. I try not to use any soap on these if at all possible. If the skirt is to bad I just replace it. But most time you can work wonders with extremely hot water and let the bait soak for about 5 minutes. The take it out and rub through the skirt to break free each strand.
Then a fast rinse again and air dry. Tip – an old colander will work great for spinnerbaits and jigs. You can rinse many baits at one time

Jigs are done about the same way unless they are the older type that has the feather type skirts. Then I just rinse them under warm water. I do not let those soak in hot water.

Crankbaits, (As this site goes on, you will understand that crankbaits or my favorite lure. I fish them about 90% of the time) not much to do on these unless they have marks on them from some plastic lure burning in them from the hot sun of the summer. So a basic hot water rinse and a good dry will be just fine. I also check for chipped or cracked paint at this time and then will repair as needed. I also use wooden crankbaits 95% of the 90% I fish crankbaits. Poe’s and Rapala are two favorites.

After everything is cleaned and dried, I then check the hooks of everything and replace or sharpen as needed. One good thing about doing this at this time of year, is some bait stores will have hooks and stuff on sale during the winter. So in some cases it was just easier to replace the hooks on crankbaits.

Then I take an inventory of the everything I have. Put that against the list of everything I had started with and I know what to get at the stores or through the mail. I know we all like to think, “Oh I can remember that” and then find out when we are in the middle of the lake getting ready for that favorite spot that we forgot “that” I am guilty of it, that is why the inventory sheet works for me! As I write down what I have and what I need I replace everything in the box and most times try to figure a way to arrange it to make it better… but that is for a later article…