Cutting Weight Through Winter

Well I been accused of carrying my weight in gear over the past season whether it be on a boat or my kayak. I load for battling beasts as I’m always afraid of running out when the bite is on. Well since I’m making the cut I figured I would document my process of elimination.

First I started out by looking at my kayak fully set up ready to fish. What do I absolutely need to function? There is a lot you can argue with yourself on this way. Fish Finder, Nets, Batteries, Cameras…ect. This I leave up to you as your set up is your set up and not all kayaking is the same. I personally looked at each piece individually and the ergonomic of it. I then moved to the front hatch. Me I saved off a solar charger, dry storage bag really with nothing in it but rain gear that already were in bags, some back up to the backup batteries and a small backup tackle bag. Total weight maybe 3lbs.

Rods and Reels well I did not make any effort there as I have battled that debate over and over. I carry six rods normally and do skinny up for river trips with four rods but pack on the other two for lakes. This also brings to light what kind of fishing you are doing mostly. You can arrange and make your gear suited to fit those parameters.
Now to get heart to heart. Tackle, As I laid out all my gear and looked at it as a whole it became a bit easier. You can see in the first picture the bulk. I went through box by box, bag to bag shedding ounces. I went with the approach of if I haven’t thrown it and caught anything its going out. Was able to eliminate two whole box doing so “treating” myself with very few ones with high hopes for still. I took the other lures I chose and put in the empty box with a note say one in one out. The second picture is what had been removed and the third is what I will be carrying until I repeat this process next winter.

Also a little helpful tip that has made an ease of finding equipment is generalization labeling. My Boxes are labeled and so are my bait bags. I used for my bait binders worms for stick baits and well worms. Swim bait for all the swim baits, Crawfish and neds and my last bag Finesse which has my drop shot baits and small worms. For my tackle boxes I did Jigs that have footballs, bladed jigs, and other jig hooks and terminal tackle, Top water for frogs, spooks ect… Large cranks/Jerk baits for the deep divers and bigger crank baits and jerk baits and then a small one.
Hopefully if you are like me and pack heavy and are looking to organize and shed some gear this little bit will lead you in the right direction.

– Adam Judge