If you had three or four 3600-size tackle trays (roughly 11x7 inches), how would you fill the trays for year-round fishing for bass from the bank? Ignore spinner baits and soft plastic, but please share the.types of hard baits you would take with you in these tray. Thanks.

Square bill crankbaits, SK Hybrid Hunters, SK Red Eye Shad or RatlTraps, Pop R bait, Walking topwater like the SK Sexy Dawg or Zara Spook, Whopper Ploppers, Swim Jigs and Flipping Jigs,

Above is a good start.

I'd add to that one box with baby brush hogs, finesse worm, and terminal tackle for t-rig or c-rig.

Truthfully, it’s crankbaits I would tend to ignore, and anything else with treble hooks. You’re on the bank and retrieving hung baits won’t be happening.

For year around pond hopping.

Tray 1 - Topwaters - frogs, poppers, and walking baits.
Tray 2. - Crankbaits and Jerkbaits - square bills, shallow divers, and suspending jerkbaits.
Tray 3 - Jigs and Terminal Tackle - basic skirted jig, bullet weights, worm hooks, misc. terminal tackle.

Rest of the space in your bag - Pliers, plastics, and your scale, don’t forget your scale

You did not say lake or pond fishing.

1/8 and 1/4 ounce buzzbait
1/4 rattletraps chome blue and firetiger
Small soft swimbaits like storm or berkley 2-3"
Pop r
H&H spinnerbaits single Colorado blade black/chart and chart/white
1/4 Oz roadrunner
3/16-1/4 weedless casting jigs
Baby Zara spook
Small rooster tail spinners

Lake I would add a few 4" soft swimbaits and maybe a wake type bait.

Your Bank Fishing...take a couple of something you want to learn or something you have confidence in and fish it. Dragging around extra boxes of tackle and several rods is a thrashing. Use the pond experience to learn new gear, keep yourself unencumbered and have fun out there.

Spinnerbait, buzzbait, Square Bill, jig, and plastics will get you bit in a pond or just about anywhere else.

If you have to take hard baits then stop at Academy and get some H2O CRUL square bills, a couple of H2O Top Water Poppers and a couple of Jerk Shad Minnow style baits and you'll have a pretty good starter kit.

Backpack with tackle box containing

1. Chatterbaits 1 black blue 1 green pumpkin, 1 white.

2. Swimbaits

3.Top water usually a frog and popper

4. jigs and trailers

5. Senkos or favorite stickbait.

6.Tiny container for tx rigs, wacky rig and neko rig.

7. Pliers, sunscreen,bug spray ,sunglasses, scale.

8. One spinning rod

9. One casting rod



If I want to go really light weight.

1. Tiny back back

2. Two chatterbaits 1 black blue & one green pumkin

3. Stickbaits GP and Black Blue

4. One Frog

5. Tiny container for hooks and weights

6. Bug spray, sunscreen, sunglasses, pliers.

7. One baitcasting rod to handle all applications

I find when I go light I have more fun when I'm not carrying too much gear.

My backpack with 1.5 liters water. Tackle box, hand pruning sears (To make pole stands), Various other stuff.


Comes in at 10 pounds. Just the backpack. Not including pole(s) weight.

Squarebills in various sizes and colors around shad and bream patters mostly smaller ones. A Pop-R or two and some lipless crankbaits, 1/4 ounce tandem willow leaf spinnerbaits in white or white and chartreuse 1/4 ounce. Throw it all on a bait caster, a shorter medium action rod to work in tight spaces and a reel of your choice.
I'd carry a spinning outfit set up for finesse with 8 to 10 pound line, medium light shorter rod and throw Texas rigged 4inch and smaller soft plastics with a 2/0 offset worm hook and 3/16 once and smaller weight. I'd also set this up weightless or just clamp some split shot weight about a foot up the line from the hook creating a small Carolina rig.
The main thing to remember is since you are fishing limited water you need high reaction lures, smaller is usually the key.

Bag of senkos with a couple extra hooks inside the bag. That’s all ya need. Sling em weightless.

Yes keep it simple. No treble hooks. No weight and weedless. Much less headache walking the banks.