Build a tacklebox - Murray cod edition

[happyfriggincamper]

I try to manage my tackle by having bunch of single "goto" boxes (large single tray planos, this is my main style - https://www.anacondastores.com/fishing/ ... BP90090188) that i can pull out setup, packed and ready for a trip that are based on species and fishing type (eg: cod landbased, cod boat based, cod land/boat based). I was curious how others would build theirs out if doing the same, limited space so some constraints on what you can pack in there.

If thread is of interest to others and gets some participation, was gonna do the same for some other species i target. Could be a good potential sticky reference thread for newbies to the sport, species or style of fishing - or food for thought for others to tweak theirs.

General guidelines to build your box -
Terminal tackle - jig heads, hooks, sinkers, swivels, beads, clips, all the small stuff, etc. You can have upto 6 different pieces, and you can have multiple variations of sizes, typesand weights under the one type of terminal tackle listing

Main components - hbs, blades, spinnerbaits, vibes, soft plastics, surface lures, etc - all the big and expensive stuff. You can have up to 6 different pieces in your box - but only variations on colour (lets say 4 colour variations max) - differentiations to size, weight, diving depth would take up 1 of your 6 available options for main components (eg 5" paddletail w/ 4 colour options is 1/6, 3" curl tail sp w/ 4 colour options is 2/6).

Can keep the description generic just listing the main attributes, or mention preferred brands + if you want a description of why you have selected these


So to start off, here is mine:

Species - murray cod
Style - landbased + boat for rivers

Terminal tackle
1) Sinkers - for bait fishing, barrel and bean style, size 4-6. Tend to prefer these styles as they mitigate most movement via river flow when bait fishing
2) Hooks - for bait fishing, circles and baithoders size 3/0 - 6/0
3) Jig heads - 3/0 - 6/0 1/4oz - 3/4oz, fixed weedless and snake head style
4) Lure Clips - any type, mixture of size 2-4
5) Swivels - any type, mixture of size 2-4
6) not used - cant think of anything

Main components
1) HB 15cm+, 5m+ diving. Like to have a big body lure for either tempting lethargic feeders or big ones + depth may be overkill for most rivers but big bib helps get it down fast and navigate snags better imo. Colours would be 2x natural colours (selecting between greens, silvers, golds) for clearer water + 2x unnatural colours (selecting 1 of a fluro orange/green and 1 of a black/purple) for murky waters
2) HB 10cm, 3m+ diving. Something a bit smaller and usually the first go-to size for HB. Same colour variation as above
3) chatterbait - 1/2oz - same colour variation as above
4) spinnerbait - as chatterbait above
5) walker style surface lure, 15cm+ 3pc - colour variation 1x fluro, 1x natural, 2x black
6) SPs paddletail 5" - 2x fluro, 2x natural

How would you build your cod box and what styles would it cover?

[Sebb]

I see you're already in the cod mood good topic.

I'm kinda in mind to reset my whole tackle pantry. Yes I have a pantry full of fishing stuff and it's a mess atm.
But lure boxes wise, currently I have general fresh water box, general saltwater box, bait fishing box, bunch of soft plastics in a bag and two dedicated cod/yellowbelly boxes (two coz they're big lures generally).
Used to have a box of different varieties of jig heads too, but not anymore.
Atm, I just grab the whole thing and often more than what's needed with a mind of 'better have them all, who knows which one is working'.

I'm thinking now have a spare 'empty' box to use for the day instead of taking the whole lot. Now that I have a kayak, the less is better. Only take what's needed.
Just imagine tackle shop walls with their categories. But it's boxes instead of walls. And this 'empty' box becomes the 'go to' box.

For example, to fish for bream on a yak, I'd take my 6ft rod and 2000 reel. And put the top four bream lures to be put into 'empty' box, be something like:
• Two of 2.5 inch zman grub with 1/16 jig head on it
• berkley gulp pumpkin seed worm with 1/8 jig head
• small cranka crab
• ecogear sx4
• strikepro micro vibe

Leave the rest of salty/fresh box behind.

For the cod (for this topic), I'll probably still bring the dedicated cod/yellowbelly boxes to to the car, but will still carry only one go to box with the lures I most confident in for the day.

Clear and slow water on sunny day, something small and natural (my preference):
• gold willow blade spinnerbait 1/4 up to 1/2
• purple willow blade spinnerbait 1/4 up to 1/2
• green/yellow stump jumper size 2 and/or 1
• black jitterbug or any dark'ish surface walker

During cloudy slightly dirty water, I like to use bright colours and bigger, something like:
• green/yellow/orange big colorado blade spinnerbait maybe 3/4 to 1
• orange stump jumper size 1 or 0
• I dont colour matter much during lowlight surface fishing, all they see is a silhouette. So still stick with dark surface lures.

[happyfriggincamper]

Fwiw, used to keep all tackle in a single mega box and pick what i needed for a trip. In theory its fine, but when you are busy - finding time to build a box before a trip was hard, often resulting in bringing the whole damn thing or having a really rushed and crappily thrown together assortment usually missing really obvious things you should have grabbed had you time to think.

After that there then is the time needed to unpack and put away. This wasnt happening either and just made the whole managing tackle and preparing for trips a mess and really time consuming.

That's why i moved to species/style based tackleboxes - its not perfect, but has made a huge improvement to the prep and pack up process for me.

[Sebb]

True.
In my case, it's the other way around. I started with species boxes. One box for trout, one box for bream, etc.
As a normal passionate fisho, I keep buying lures! Those boxes dont fit anymore.
Also, some lures are good for more than one species. So in the end I still mix and match and grab what I need. And yes, in the end I end up with few mega boxes full of mixed lures, lol.