Filling a tackle box

[Ted Knutson]

I just read an article in Outdoor Life Magazine that asked the question from someone wanting to get involved in fishing about what they should fill their tackle box with.

That got me thinking especailly as Christmas nears-

What are the most effective lures - not just for those who are experienced but for someone new to the game without a ton of high end equipment.

The things that immediately came to mind for me were spinner baits, spoon type lures, minnow replicas (Rapala's), Jigs and curly tails, hooks weight and bobbers for summer fishing.

For ice fishing, the standard foam style bobbers such as the ice busters, ice ants, plain hooks in a variety of colors, ratsos, and some jigging spoons (glow devils, swedish pimples, etc.)

What would others of you recommend given the above criteria?

[Tubes]

Plastics for summer

[Andy Nyhus]

i think a spinnerbait is a must as well as smaller crankbaits. and then throw in a buzzbait just for the fun of it. :D

[IAcrankbait]

The old Mepps or Rooster Tails can be a nice catch-all type lure and easy for a beginner to cast from almost anywhere plus you can get anything that swims by having a few different sizes.
The Mister Twister lures can catch fish high or low from lakes or rivers.
Hooks, bobbers and sinkers are always good with a cooler of crawlers.
If it was on crankbait I'd lean towards a Glass Shad Rap, noise and vibration.

[ole1855]

First I'd ask what the person plans to target for fish, alot of guy's here are going to jump in with suggestions for bass fishing, being a walleye fisherman myself I would offer other suggestions.

Basics would be #4 and #6 salmon hooks, slip-bobbers, some that are lighted, others that aren't, split shot, slip-sinkers, good swivels, a few diving crank baits, Shad Raps as an example. You don't need to spend an arm and a leg to fill the tackle box of a walleye fisherman.....However, that hasn't stopped me!!

[Lance Bainville]

Very true Ole.

The Rattle Trap would be a good lure in for open water. Small teardrop jigs with some slit shot sinkers and a few bobbers and your ready to hit the ice. Don't forget a tip up!

[StinkyAlex]

I think a couple surface lures would be a great addition as well. Nothing beats a Smallie hammering a Jitter Bug, Skitter Pop, or Hula Popper.

[Haywood]

You need to add a few angel eyes for ice fishing.

As far as open water, a red/white, black/white, and an orange/gold spoon are all must haves. Chartrouse spinnerbaits (willow blades), Chartrouse, fire tiger, and blue/chrome cranks baits in different running depths, white Twister tails and a mixed color/weight of fire ball jigs and then of course you need a few flu flu style jigs in pink/white and all black.

[IAcrankbait]

No tubes for the river in that list?
I wish I would have included a few tubes in my list, good baits and they can be weedless and almost snag-free

[Terry Sjoberg]

Hey guys,
I make my living guiding on one of the best multi speices lakes in Minnesota. Over the years, I have tried a number of different baits and presentations
to put a variety of fish in the boat. I'm not going into live bait options here, I'm talking strictly casting/trolling artificials.

These are must have baits for what I do, they will cover any situation you come up against and they'll
catch fish.

Spinnerbaits, any color as long as it's white. For Smallies, 1/4oz to 3/8oz most of the time, however I will use up to a 1/2oz under some conditions. For Pike I'll use 1/2oz, all the way up to 1oz, however I throw 3/4oz most of the time. Largemouth will hit all of these, so it isn't really necessary to have a seperate collection for the green bass. Perhaps a few extra blades for different situations and you are set. Another great thing about spinnerbaits is you don't have to spend a ton of money to get them.

Crankbaits,
Here is where a guy could spend a lot more than he wants to, or has to for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of the high end cranks, but I use them primarily for trolling where you're not as likely to lose them. I buy almost all my Smallmouth cranks right out of the bargin bin. At most, I pay about $2.00 a piece for them and I catch plenty of Smallies. Then when your fishing partner can't keep your baits out of the trees or off the rocks you're not out $7 or $8 bucks. You can save a bundle each season by taking the time to check out the bins at any of the larger retail outlets. Most of the baits are just discontinued for one reason or another, it doesn't mean they won't catch fish. Believe me, I have a couple baits that have caught 100's of bass of both speices on and I think I payed $2 for them at GM a couple years ago.

Plastics,
There are so many plastic concoctions out there it is almost impossible to make up your mind on which ones to buy. For my money, there are only 2 I can't can't get by without and they are tubes and sencos.
Sure they're are a lot of other great plastic baits out there, but you have to consider just how much a multi speices fisherman is going to need a bunch of
different plastic baits. You can always buy more if you start fishing more for bass but for starting up a tackle box a few bags of tubes in a few colors or different sizes is plenty. The sencos are a great bait, that works when nothing else will catch fish.
Last spring I bought 10 bags of 4" sencos out of the bargin bin for a buck a bag, not a bad deal if I do say so myself.

Think about what kind of fishing you're going to do the most of, before you go out and buy a bunch of stuff you're never going to use. I'm sure we all have stuff that we thought was something we were really going to need, that's still lying in the bottom of some tackle box somewhere, I know I do.:)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

"Ace" :)

[Pig_sticka]

I am a crappie/walleye guy, but if I had to pick a few baits that were a must I would have to say:

Any type of Jighead, to add a minnow or waxie.
Smaller sized spinner bait, white/yellow.
Flu-Flu's.
And a stick/shad type rapala.

I dont usually stray away from those all season long.

[MinnesotaMuskie]

I would include Doctor Spoons...both sizes.

[lotwfisher]

Summer- 1000 1/4 oz jigheads, a X-Rap
Winter- A perch coloured jigging shad rap, a bargin box of panfish plastics

Robin