In April 2024 my tackle lived in my dad's old metal box and a coffee can. I had fished Lake Barkley for close to 50 years, and I still spent the first ten minutes of every trip digging for a hook. That spring I bought the Plano Angled Tackle System with three StowAway boxes. I keep it on a shelf in the garage, and it rides in the jon boat every trip. What changed was not my casting. It was the time between deciding to try something and actually tying it on. An organized box does not put fish in the boat by itself. It removes the small delays that cost you the good light.
I ran a taxidermy shop out of a converted garage for 20 years, so I notice how a thing is built. The Plano is a hard-shell box, 18 by 9.5 by 11 inches, 5.7 pounds, with a utility pocket and no wheels. The main compartment holds the boxes at a 15 degree angle, and the DuraView covers and doors let me see the trays. That is the whole hardware story. The rest is what it does on the water.
You do not need another lure. You need to find the ones you already own.
The Plano angled system holds three StowAway boxes in a hard shell, with the trays tilted at 15 degrees and DuraView covers and doors. It is 18 by 9.5 by 11 inches and weighs 5.7 pounds. If your boat bench is crowded, this is the shape to look at.
Amazon See the Plano system on Amazon →You stop digging for the box you need
Before the Plano, my crappie jigs, bass plastics and hooks all lived in the same small space. I knew what I had, but not where it was. The first weekend I set up the three StowAway boxes by job: one for crappie jigs, one for bass soft plastics and crankbaits, one for hooks, weights and terminal tackle. The main compartment holds them at a 15 degree angle, so the tray tops face me instead of lying flat. That one change cut my rigging time. I was not a faster caster. I was just not digging.
You can see the jigs before you open the lid
The crappie jigs are the hardest thing for me to sort in low light. Small hooks, small heads, all of them look alike at 6 a.m. The DuraView covers and doors on the Plano let me see the tray through the lid before I open it. I still have to pick the jig out, but I do not have to open three boxes to find the right one. In November, when my fingers are stiff and the light is still gray, that matters more than another lure in the boat.
You stop buying hooks you already own
I used to buy a pack of hooks because I could not find the ones I already had. That is not a tackle problem. That is an organization problem, and it costs money. With one box for hooks and weights and one for plastics, I can see the gap before I leave the garage. I have not stopped buying tackle. I have stopped buying the same pack twice because it was buried under a crankbait. Fewer duplicates means more room for the things I actually throw.
You change baits before the drift ends
On Lake Barkley the wind comes up fast, and when it does, I want to change from a jig to a crankbait without a wrestling match. The Plano boxes sit by job, so I go from crappie to bass without opening every compartment. I can tie on a new lure while the boat is still drifting. That sounds small. It is not. The bite window on a windy bank is short, and the angler who is still digging is not fishing.
You can pull one box for a road trip
The hooks and terminal box is the one that leaves the boat. When Ray and I take a road trip, I pull that one StowAway box and put it in the truck with the telescopic rod. The rest stays home. That is the advantage of a system with separate boxes: I do not have to carry all three to fish a public bank for an afternoon. I take the hooks, weights and a few small items, and I leave the bass box where it belongs.
You know what to restock before you leave
I check the Plano before I leave the driveway, not at the ramp. A quick look at the hook box tells me if I am low on 1/0 hooks or split shot. I do not count every hook. I just look for the empty slots. That habit has saved me a trip back up the hill more than once. It also keeps me from carrying four packs of the same weight because I forgot what was in the bottom of the box.
You spend less time untangling hooks from plastics
Soft plastics and treble hooks do not belong in the same compartment, and most of my tangles came from ignoring that. The Plano gives me a place for crankbaits away from the plastics, and a place for hooks away from both. I still get a tangle now and then. I do not get the kind where a bag of worms has swallowed three crankbaits and a leader. Less untangling means more casts, and more casts is the plainest reason a box helps.
You keep the box from sliding around a small boat
The Plano has a hard shell and no wheels. In a 14-foot jon boat, that is what I want. It sits on the bench seat instead of rolling around, and the utility pocket holds a small item I want close. I do not need a box that is built like luggage. I need one that stays put while I stand up to net a crappie. The 5.7 pound weight is light enough to move from the garage to the boat, and it stays where I set it.
You fish one section without unpacking the rest
An organized box lets me fish one part of the lake differently without unpacking the whole system. If I am on a crappie bank, I take the jig box. If I move to the rocky point for bass, I take the bass box. I leave the third box closed. That sounds obvious, but it is not how I fished with one old metal box. I used to dump everything on the seat and sort through it. Now I carry less, see more, and spend my attention on the line instead of the lid.
You get out of the garage faster on a cold morning
The last reason is the one I did not expect. I get out of the garage faster on a cold morning. The Plano lives on a shelf with the three boxes already loaded, so I grab it, fill my coffee, and go. My dad's old metal box stays on the shelf. I did not throw it away. I just do not use it for every trip. A box that is ready before I am dressed removes one more reason to stand in the garage and think about it.
What I'd Skip
I would skip any plan that starts with a bigger box. The Plano is 18 by 9.5 by 11 inches, and that is enough for the fishing I do from a 14-foot jon boat. If you fish from a bank with one rod and a handful of hooks, a three-box system is more than you need. I would also skip the habit of stuffing wet soft plastics back into the box at the end of the day. Lay them out to dry. A box organizes tackle. It does not clean it for you.
The Plano did not make me a better angler. It made me faster at the part before the cast, and on a cold morning that is most of the same thing.
The best tackle box is the one you can read in low light.
Three StowAway boxes, a 15 degree angle, and a hard shell that sits on the boat bench. If you are tired of digging, see the current listing.
Amazon See the Plano system on Amazon →