Tackle Tip: Lure Storage And Washdown Crate - The Fisherman

Tackle Tip: Lure Storage And Washdown Crate

crate
The DYI washdown crate will keep your fishing lures in pristine condition.

An effective way to wash down your lures after fishing.

After a day or night fishing the beach, it is a good idea to give your plugs and jigs a washdown with fresh water. With the prices of tackle getting higher, taking care of lures and making them last longer is a good habit to get into. Bucktail jigs start to rust, hair gets stained, and plugs can become caked with salt, eventually corroding hooks and swivels leading to potential failure when you’re hooked into a sizable fish.  Myself, like many others would simply hose down the surf bag and be done with it. I’ve come to realize that it wasn’t the best way to do it. My bag would not dry out and the salt would stay in. In time my lures would still begin to rust and cause me the same familiar frustrations.

So I came up with the idea of using a milk crate and plastic bottles as a rinse station. This setup can hold, at least, 25 plugs and countless bucktails. The bottles are cut and stacked into the crate, I use hot glue to hold them together, then I pile all of my wet plugs and lures into the tubes and hose them off. The openness of the crate allows all of the water to drain out and facilitates faster and more complete drying. These crates can also serve as lure storage when switching plugs out from your bag. The best part is that it’s easy to make! To get started here is all you need.

Materials Needed

– 1 12×12 plastic milk crate

– Hot glue gun

– 25 empty plastic water bottles (I prefer the ICE drink bottles because they’re taller)

– Hand drill and 1/4-inch drill bit or a large nail and torch in a pinch

ice
The author prefers to use ICE drink bottles to make the tubes for the crate due to their dimensions.

Start off by cutting tops off bottles and remove labels. Then drill several holes in bottom for drainage. You can heat a nail and use that to make the holes also if you don’t own a hand drill. Next, place a row of five bottles in the crate and hot glue them together. Make five rows of five bottles. This will fit neatly in the crate. Once you’ve done that, you’re done! I told you it was easy! It’s simple and inexpensive and will make washing down your lures a breeze. All the water will quickly drain out leaving your jigs and plugs ready to be put back in your bag salt-free and will remain in good condition for their next use.

Another variation of this washdown is to use plastic gutter pipe and cut them all to the same size. When bunched together in the same size craft used for the water bottles, they fit rather nicely and also do a nice job draining water out. The only difference here is you won’t be recycling water bottles.

You can even do this washdown at the beach if you want by using a cheap pump garden sprayer filled with water. Being that some of us casters essentially live out of our trucks during the fall run, this might be the way to go. You can use larger crates if you prefer but for that you will have to acquire more plastic bottles to fill the spaces. I think you will find this very handy for organizing and keeping your prized plugs and jigs in top shape!

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