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Crappie jigs can be stored in the plastic bags that they come in, or in plastic tackle trays like those made by Plano and Flambeau. I prefer to store my baits in 3600 or 3700 sized Plano boxes, or Flambeau 4007 Tuff Tainers. Check out my storage method below for ideas of your own.
Why To Keep Crappie Jigs In Bags
I suspect that all tackle manufacturers would tell you to keep your jigs in their original containers, and for good reasons I suppose. This does provide some protection from the elements and thus helps keep them “fresh”. This is particularly important for realistic looking baits as opposed to crappie tubes. For example, you’ll want the very small tails of your pricey Bobby Garland baits to stay straight and flexible. Storing these in their original packaging does help them maintain their form to some degree, but is that the best storage method for everyone?
Advantages To Keeping Jigs In Bags
One advantage to keeping crappie jigs in their original packaging is that any scents applied to those baits maintain potency over time. The sealed bag also keeps the bait from drying out and losing it’s elasticity. Also, some baits really need to maintain their original form, however delicate it may be. The bags do help keep baits straight and hydrated so that they keep their intended profile.
Some Disadvantages Of Original Packaging
There are a few downsides to keeping baits in their original packages. First of all, if you have tons and tons of baits, keeping them packaged takes up a lot of room. More importantly, trying to find what you want by shuffling through 50 bags of bait is a real pain. This is especially true during the prime fishing hours around sunrise and sunset. Precious minutes get wasted while rifling through piles of typically oversized packaging. Manufacturers design their package to display and sell well in the store, not necessarily to pack down and store well on your boat.
Storing Crappie Jigs In Plastic Trays
My strong preference is to store my crappie jigs in plastic tackle trays made by Plano or Flambeau. You can see my chosen storage system pictured above. You’re able to create a much more organized bait system by using modern tackle bags with removeable plastic trays.
Advantages To Using Tackle Trays
Several huge advantages to tackle trays jump right out at me. Organization, easy access, and compact storage are all great benefits to a hard plastic tackle tray system.
Organization
First of all, the organization that they allow is amazing. You can coordinate your crappie lures exactly how you would like, and you can move dividers around to accommodate larger numbers of certain plastics vs smaller numbers of others. You can organize by color, by brand, by size, by fishing method, among others. The possibilities are seemingly endless.
Quick And Easy Access
Along with being organized comes the byproduct of quick access. Having your baits organized in a manner that makes most sense to you and your fishing style allows for quick and ready access to the precise items you want at a given moment. Being able to flip the lid open on a tackle tray and seeing a huge variety of baits allows efficient selection with minimal shuffling around of gear. Contrast this with digging through piles of jig packages, it’s easy to see that speed favors tackle trays over original packaging.
Compact Storage
Opening packages and emptying your jigs into the small compartments of tackle trays compacts a large pile of jig packages into a small space. This compacted down supply easily stores in a small tackle bag, backpack or in your boat storage. Speaking of boat storage, many boats have built in storage that is already designed to accept modern sized tackle trays.
Disadvantages To Tackle Trays
One disadvantage to tackle trays is that you may have to buy the tackle trays, so there is potential added cost. Also, without some care, your trays may potentially dry out and fade a vast number of your baits at once. With crappie jigs being so small, we tend to cram quite a few dollars worth of them into one tackle tray. So, there is potential of ruining many baits at once if you’re not somewhat careful. See the tips below on how to ensure you don’t lose baits to the elements.
How To Keep Your Crappie Baits Fresh
To keep your crappie baits as fresh as possible you should probably keep them in their plastic bags. But, let’s be honest, most people don’t like that system, especially those with many different baits in their arsenal. For those like me, that shirk manufacturers recommendations, there are still some ways to keep your crappie jigs fresh when stored in boxes.
Oil Your Crappie Baits
One thing you can do to keep your crappie baits in great shape while stored in tackle trays is to oil them. You can use generic mineral oil from the grocery store or “worm oil” that is specially formulated for use on soft plastic baits. This keeps them slippery and soft to the touch as if they just came out of the package. Oiling them not only helps them maintain original shape and form, but also protects the color of the plastic from fading. And we all know how important those bright colors are when choosing our baits in the first place. Unfortunately, I have piles of old crappie plastics that have muted colors because I didn’t used to take great care of my baits.
Protect Your Baits From The Elements
Besides oiling them, you should also make every effort to keep your baits out of direct sunlight and extreme heat. Don’t leave clear tackle trays in the direct sun between fishing trips. You should make some efforts to ensure that your baits don’t get repeatedly cooked in the sun.
Crappie Baits You Should Keep In Original Packaging
There are a few exceptions for me when it comes to taking crappie plastics out of their package. For example, I don’t remove Gulp baits from their packages until I’m ready to use them. I also keep some creature baits, such as cricket imitators, in their original hard shelled packaging. Pretty much any “normal” crappie jigs come out of the package for me, with a few exceptions for things that I either want to keep the original scent on, or things that I don’t anticipate using very often. Also, if I already have plenty of a particular jig in my tackle trays, I’ll keep any duplicate packages sealed up until it’s time to replenish that bait supply.
Conclusion
I’m personally a huge fan of Plano and Flambeau tackle trays for storing crappie jigs. Except for a few exceptions, I really dislike keeping fishing lures that I intend to use in the near term in their original packaging. Ready access is so vital because some days the bite just doesn’t last that long. You have to make every effort to take advantage to what sometimes feels like just a precious few minutes of a feeding frenzy. Digging through packaging is a real drag, and I make every effort to personally avoid that while on the water.
If you found this article helpful, perhaps you would be interested in one of my other crappie related articles linked below.
Best Colors For Crappie Jigs And How To Choose
Best Color Of Crappie Nibbles
Loop Knots For Crappie Jigs
Happy Fishing!
Augustus Clay
You might also be interested in checking out my video below about my Ike 400 Tackle Bag. This is a great compact tackle box for organizing your crappie gear!
