Bass Fishing - UltimateBass.com

How much gear is too much? That's purely a personal decision, but I like to carry as much gear as I can without putting too much strain on my physical being, as I may have to transport my gear as much as three or four miles. My tackle bag is quite hefty, but I generally carry enough variations in lure styles to cover most situations, and I always carry extras of my "goto" lures. The alternative method is how little can you carry . . . this works for fishermen who are content to decide ahead of time what type of bait/s they'll be using for the day and stick with a handful of baits that may or may not be the ticket to success on any given day.

So what exactly is in my tackle bag? There's always four plastic compartmentalized containers in my bag (these can be selected from a multitude of similar containers previously organized for specific types of fishing situations). The four containers that I carry most often are: one with various size, style, and colors of large tube baits; one with various size, style, and colors of my most often used worms; one contains various surface baits - Bettencourt Baits Assassin, Bettencourt Baits Twitch - n - Go, Pop-R, Moss Boss, Super Frogs, Floating Rapalas, Long A Bombers, etc.; and, one container is filled with Snagless Sallys ( jointed, in-line spinners), large Rooster Tails, Beetle Spins, Johnson Silver Minnows, StrikeWorks Jigs, a few Thin Fins, some Crankbaits, etc. These four containers take up the mainstay of my bag.

There's a front pouch that holds a container filled with various types, sizes, and styles of worm hooks and trailer hooks; toothpicks, snaps, and a few fin-s type baits. On the top of the bag is another zippered pouch where I keep additional bags of plastic baits and a small container of tiny tender tubes. There's two zippered pouches on either side of the bag - one contains my safety-pin type spinners and buzz baits, the other a ten foot long heavy cord stringer and a length of rope for emergency use only.

The inside of the bag has additional pouches on the back wall and sides that are open pouches . . . in these areas I keep the following items: a compass, a Zip Lock bag with matches or a lighter in it, a tube of MegaStrike scent, a folding filet knife, a container of 100% DEET bug juice, a pencil and notebook, a variety of flippin jigs, a small container of bullet sinkers, a small container of various jigs for use with tubes, a couple extra spools for the spinning reels, some plastic garbage bags, and a line clipper.

I also do my best to leave some room for additional items, e.g., in the Summer I like to pack a bottle of frozen water, in the early Spring and late Fall a pair of gloves and a hand warmer, and I definitely leave room for a small camera, when I have one at my disposal.

You may choose to carry a few snacks along too, I recommend items that are hermetically sealed so you're not attracting any critters to your bag while it's on the ground . . . most common snacks might include jerky, dried fruit, granola bars, etc. Snacks to NOT bring along are anything that might easily crumble, or melt from the heat of the sun.

Sounds like a lot, but I don't want to walk over a mile to get to my fishin' hole and find out I didn't bring the type of baits that I needed for a successful trip.

How many rods? Generally I bring three rods along, this will cover most situations that I come across: a baitcasting rod/reel combo for casting large lures or baits into heavy cover where brute force may be needed to land fish; a medium to medium heavy spinning rod/reel combo for fishing tubes, worms, etc. where skipping under structure or casting against heavy wind or in situations where big baits are required but lighter line is the ticket; and, a super ultralite spinning rod/reel combo for a finicky, tight-lipped bass when the road to success means downsizing baits and line size to work with finesse.

A simple trick to employ when walking down deer paths to a less frequently fished location is to carry your rods with the reels forward and the rod tips trailing behind you . . . you'll snag far less vegetation transporting your rods in this manner.

Other methods for transporting gear. Some fishermen prefer to carry their gear in a five-gallon bucket; some use a backpack to haul in their gear (I used to do it this way); some use two wheel shopping carts and transport all types of "creature comforts" umbrellas, chairs, radios, grilling equipment, etc.; some just stuff their pockets with whatever they can and go as light as possible; some prefer to wear fishing vests; some throw their gear in a cooler. However you decide to transport your gear, do whatever is comfortable for you . . . while the bottom line for me is that I want to be as prepared as many possible situations that may arise when I'm working the shoreline and comfort isn't nearly as important to me as practicality, versatility, and function.

Something to remember. Respect nature if you pack it in, remember to pack it out . . . don't leave your trash on the ground for others to see; don't leave line stripped off of reels laying on the ground where birds and other animals can become entangled and ultimately die. If you smoke learn to field strip your cigarettes, the small amount of paper and tobacco is biodegradable, but the filters are unsightly and can take up to twenty years to break down - leave what's biodegradable if you must, but pack the rest out! Keep your water and woods clean!

Mark Toth (Fishaholic)