I am sorry if this has been discussed - I did a search and didn't find anything but I'm sure you guys have covered it. My buddy and I fish private water from a 10' plastic boat. Space is at a premium. Currently I use a tackle bag that holds 4 of the bigger plastic bins (ABU Garcia tackle bag from Academy). I only use 3 of the bins and slide two 1 quart bags full of soft plastics packages, side by side where the 4th bin should go. I've tried those little ring binder bags, not a fan. I bought a soft sided 6 pack cooler for $5 that works well for storing overflow. My issue is a) I'm a hoarder and I want to take 2 packs of every soft plastic I have in case they're hitting it so I don't run out. b) I have a lot of soft plastics, c) I suck at organizing. Curious what y'all do or would do when you need to fit everything into a small space. Thanks and again sorry if I missed where this was covered in detail.

I'd tell you it's time to rethink the misperception that you have to carry so many options and huge numbers of specific baits. I have always been the guy that has 25 rods, every color option of baby brush hog, 150 different square bills, 18 colors of craws, 5 dip colors, on and on. Make yourself only carry the 10% of your tackle that catches 99% of your fish! I now carry 2 square bill colors, 2-3 colors of brush hogs, 12 total rods and I'm simplifying that, 1 terminal tackle box, maybe 2 sizes of worm hooks, only a three sizes of weights, etc. Stick with colors of everything in which you have confidence. Get rid of the baits that looked awesome in the store. Talk about paralysis by analysis. I don't just think this stuff is true, I've proven it. I don't wonder if watermelon candy red is better then watermelon candy blue. I also know, if you put any color in front of a fish you can make them bite if they are going to react, and I've found I spend a pot load less time tying new combinations on. I spend the time fishing and CATCHING!

Then again, it's like being a meth addict, we just can't get enough!

Thank you! I understand and agree. My terminal tackle is pretty well just like you suggested. Depending on where we go, I customize the box we take on the boat. I just find my bags of soft plastics are growing. And it's not that I don't have space, it's that it's so poorly organized sometimes I can't find what I'm looking for without pulling every single thing out.

You can’t catch a fish with that little stuff. It takes 14-15 3500’s worth of “stuff” and at least 10-12 1gallon zip locks full of plastics.

1 jumbo ziplock bag of plastics
1 plastic box for crankbaits etc.

If it doesn’t fit, it stays home.

ForneySkeeter is spot on, ive tried hard to keep things painfully simple. 1 pack of brush hogs, two colors of senkos, 2 swim baits, and a few extra worm options. Pumpkin and Blue black jigs. And Shad or Yellow cranks in a few depth options.

Right!!?!

You asked specifically about soft plastics so in your case what I would do is have a small plano box that is made for terminal tackle in the soft side tackle bag and then leave the soft plastics in the original bag they come in. Most of them are a zip lock bag. Put in the baits that you either use most or whatever might work best on the place or lake you are planning to fish. If you need to change the type of bait of color you want for that day, its very easy to swap out.

Throw all that [censored] away and take you one big swimbait rod and forget about it I've fished out of a 10ft crawdad my entire life, we keep 90% of the stuff in the truck incase we need extras. One cooler for beer, couple jigs and trailers, one pack of senkos etc. If you run out of beer and or tackle go back to the truck and reload and go back out again.

I do agree and understand. Sometimes I like just taking a bag of Senkos and walking a half mile around Grapevine. But also I know there have been days when I saw opportunities to fish a different way - either to learn a new pattern or because you see something in nature around the lake to take advantage of. The smaller size of the same bait may outproduce the larger one 3:1 or vice versa, some days red shad is incredible, some days it's black/blue or green pumpkin. Ok every day is green pumpkin day, but I have my systems on what I like to carry, like everyone does.

I love simplicity, and to me my set up is simple. My question really was more pointed to organization tips on those bags of plastics rather than simply taking fewer options out with me. I make fun of my wife because she likes to put containers inside containers, but I think I may have to sort these out by style and do just that. Put them in quart bags inside the gallon bags. Unless one of you guys has a cool, compact worm bag made for this to recommend that actually works well I don't know what else to do?

Get this. Best $20 bill I've ever spent. This holds my plastics in my 8' pond boat and the big boat. It also holds my 5200 terminal box. Fits in the bag perfectly

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2...rOvVLstM5gaAv8_EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I agree with the above too.. Keep it simple. Literally no point in hauling around unnecessary equipment.

Pond fishing out of the bass raider, I literally carry one rod, maybe two. One with a crankbait, one wtih Texas rig. Even on the big boat on big lakes I only bring 7... Shallow crank, texas rig, topwater, deep crank, rattle trap, jig, spinnerbait.

This is my bag that holds all my hard baits and tools https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-4-box-tackle-bag-121353785?gmc_feed=t&campid=71700000050238199&adgroupid=58700004916746674&device=c&keyword=92700057163983502&Channel=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5uWGBhCTARIsAL70sLJrm31RQh7YbkeWCxQ_X0gde9dNfETJmf5tSYXp99q-EhafliI0dY4aAuIyEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#repChildCatid=7823043&ogmap=SEM%7CPLN%7CGOOG%7CSHOP%7Cc%7COUT%7C%7CNonBrand-Shopping-HighIntent-Outdoor%7COutdoor-Fishing%7C%7C71700000050238199%7C58700004916746674

Comes with 4 boxes.. One box I have for shallow/medium cranks, one box for deep cranks, one for topwater, and one for rattle traps. And 99% of the time I don't even have to open the bag.

This is my spinnerbait storage. Real simple https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/plano®-stowaway®-spinner-bait-tackle-box?gmc_feed=t&campid=71700000049898162&adgroupid=58700006358271436&device=c&keyword=92700057344670317&Channel=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5uWGBhCTARIsAL70sLLeSxHckUO9Ph4pTHLdJVovyBeJBAHce8Oor1r6Y56zgPST6EHWeZ8aAhbqEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#repChildCatid=12160&ogmap=SEM%7CPLB%7CGOOG%7CSHOP%7Cc%7COUT%7C%7CBrand-Shopping-Outdoor%7CAll_Products%7C%7C71700000049898162%7C58700004907637350

If you're not on tour fishing FLW and Bassmaster tournaments, there's no logical reason to have an insane amount of everything you can think of lol

Figuring out what to take has always left me in a quandary too. I bought three gal Zip-locs off Amazon. I stuff my plastics in their original bags into these keeping like baits in each big Zip-loc. If I'm walking the bank I stuff a pack of Brush Hogs, Senkos, & Flukes into my pockets and a couple weights & hooks.

You can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what to take.

Guilty.

Pare down, when I was boatless this spring, I only took senkos and craws. Pick a specific style you like and carry 2-3 colors of it (and nothing more)

That limits to approximately 6-7 bags of plastics. If you double up, choose one color you think will be your goto. How many times do you really dig through the bags of plastics to get something that different on a given trip?

I know it is limiting, but it also gives you the excuse... "If I only had XXX!"