Road Trip Blues

Posted by Scott Hammer on Mar 9th 2021

By Scott Hammer

I bought a 21 foot tackle box with a 250 horsepower motor so that I could fill it with Yamamoto plastics and be prepared for whatever conditions I encounter on the lake. I really enjoy traveling and the challenge of new water and have no hesitation towing my boat across country to fish.

But what happens when it’s not my boat and I am going to water I have never fished? The process of packing enough baits with enough variety that I feel like I have all of the bases covered is … challenging. My traveling partner and I have a long-standing agreement: Whoever’s boat we take gets towed by the other guy’s truck. It just so happens our next trip it’s his turn to supply the boat and I will be towing it with my truck.

Sharing Is Caring

There are obvious advantages to both situations - for him, obviously he can load the boat with whatever baits he wants - but what about me? That’s what I call the road trip blues and here’s how I handle it.

First, I research the body of water I’m going to, especially if it’s out of your climate zone. I don’t mean specific spots, I’m pretty confident that I can read maps/electronics and find fish, but rather what the water is currently doing. Warming up? Cooling off? Pre-Post or middle of spawn? Current conditions, etc.

Second, once I know the water conditions and how I plan on fishing, I can choose baits based on what I think will work. Remember, it’s my truck so I have a lot of space to haul baits even if I only have one rear compartment in the boat. Believe me when I say I fill my truck up with baits.

The Master Packer

Finally, I pack a portable tackle bag with 3700 size boxes. I can get seven boxes in the bag and another couple of boxes will fit in the boat compartment with the bag. One box is terminal tackle; hooks, weights, jig heads, and anything else I think I might need. In my boat I may have a dedicated boxes for dropshot, Neds, jigs, hooks, etc., but now I have to put a little bit of everything into one box. Same goes for plastics, crank baits, jigs, and every other bait I may use.

I have nine boxes to divide everything up into. Plastics are the hardest because I normally have entire boxes dedicated to Senkos, dropshot baits (Pro Senko, Shad Shape Worm), Ned baits (California Roll, 3- and 4-inch Senkos and Baby Ikas), DShads, Chatterbait trailers (Zakos) and a multitude of other plastics.

But if I’ve done my research, I can narrow down what techniques I think I will be using and the associated baits. The most important thing to remember is that now I have a rolling Silverado tackle storage unit and can switch out what is in my bag until I find what works.