Storing terminal tackle might be one of the more difficult and differently-solved problems for fishermen of all experience levels. I chat back and forth constantly with guides, professional tournament anglers, every day anglers and occasional anglers on how they store their tackle. I’ve gone every direction from ziploc bags to specifically itemized compartmental boxes with labels. My OCD obviously makes it harder on me. But I might have finally stumbled upon a solution I like with the Flambeau Terminal Tackle File (4150FB) with Zerust protection.
Specifications
The Flambeau Terminal Tackle File is a serious tackle storage system. The box is rather large at 15 inches by 8 inches by 6 inches. And inside of it are eight 6 1/2-inch by 4 3/4-inch by 1 1/4-inch boxes with one compartment each as well as 3 large dividers. You can actually buy the large box without the smaller boxes in it (which is a great way to store bags of plastics by the way). This, however, is the complete terminal tackle filing system. Made using Zerust-infused polymers, the dividers of the Flambeau 4150FB Terminal Tackle File with Zerust emit a harmless vapor, which forms a protective barrier around metal surfaces to prevent rusting.
The box has a nice big latch and handle for easy locking and carrying to and from your fishing spots or your fishing boat. Each smaller box has a simple attached clasp to close it. The way the closures work, you have to be careful not to overfill the smaller boxes or they won’t stay latched shut. But with 8 of them, I didn’t find that to be much of a problem.
The other nice thing is the dividers can be removed and you can actually slide some other loose bags in there too.
How I use the terminal tackle file
After 30 years of being an avid angler and professional in the sport of fishing now for a living, I’ve amassed a lot of “tackle components” that I feel like I always need in my boat. Split rings, pegs, bullet weights, drop shot weights, nail weights, beads, rattles, various hooks, jigheads, shaky heads, swimbait heads, clips, clasps, o-rings, toothpicks, and more can get lost in your boat and take forever to find.
You can store them in one box, but water, decay and other factors can ruin and shorten the life of components that make fishing a little easier. It can be costly always having to replace tiny little parts because you lose them, misplace them or they get rusted, chipped or in other ways diminished.
In recent years, I’ve become a craft bag guy. Not sure I like how that reads having wrote it, but nonetheless, it helps with my fishing tackle OCD. I put all these little pieces and parts in small little craft bags, label them and then store them together in like boxes of the Flambeau Terminal Tackle File.
For example, I have a small box of hooks with multiple bags for flipping hooks, offset hooks, EWG hooks, superline hooks, weighted hooks, drop shot hooks, and more. The same for bullet weights, split rings, and jigheads.
I store each box in the Terminal Tackle File. And store the whole box in my boat. When I fish with other anglers in their boats, I just grab out the few boxes I know I will be using on that trip, and throw it in a bag with my other tackle.
It makes storing hundreds, maybe even thousands of little terminal tackle parts very simple and modular.
You can find the Flambeau Terminal Tackle File at TackleWarehouse.com as well as other retailers that carry Flambeau storage boxes now.
