tips for cutting down on competition box?

Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:01 pm

Lads Im wondering has anyone mastered the art of NOT bringing absolutely way too much gear with them when going to fish a competition.I have read here on a previous post that some anglers only ever bring 5 rigs with them but I am nowhere near that confident in my skills or that well practised to be able to leave out those 50/60 rigs which are purely "just in case" or "cover all angles". I have some idea of what to use to target certain species over certain types of ground etc but after taking out everything from my tackle box which im fairly sure i wont use, I end up putting practically everything back in :roll:
Does anyone else find this or is it just me?
Any help is GREATLY appreciated :? :? :?
Dave

Re: tips for cutting down on competition box?

Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:05 pm

Maybe post up the list of contents of your box that you are carrying for a competition.
Others may do the same in comparison or advise.

I can't really compare. I fish one competition in the year and for that the boat is a tacklebox :D

Re: tips for cutting down on competition box?

Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:23 pm

I suffer from exactly the same issue but in the end I settled on a compromise. I still carry the vast majority of all my rigs but instead of keeping them all in the box and having to work round them I put the ones I'm unlikely to use in a rucksack and throw it somewhere out of the way in the wheelhouse when I get on board. That way they are still there just incase but not in my way. I also put spare reels, the odd pirk/weights and any other spare bits and pieces in this rucksack to be stashed away - that way the box is fairly free'd up abit. The issue I have is carrying too many weights! Been competition fishing for years and I still carry far too many weights. At least they only have to be carried the distance from the car to the boat!

Re: tips for cutting down on competition box?

Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:59 pm

I dont fish comps but I have realised I carry too much gear in my box for sessions so Ive started to make good use of the pockets in my fishing jacket .Its a wading jacket I got primarely for river fishing but as its fully waterproof and warm in winter its being used for the beach too. its got twenty odd pockets so you can hold all your bits without the need for draggin a box about . As for rigs I use a rig wallet which is compact and holds everything ylu need .The rovex one is brilliant and cheap

Re: tips for cutting down on competition box?

Thu Jul 12, 2012 1:09 am

Slackliner- now that sounds like a plan. As simple a solution as it seems, it honestly never entered my mind. I reckon at least it would put my mind at ease knowing I have all those rigs etc that I'll never use .........on the boat....... Just in case, and I can concentrate on the comp :wink:
Cheers man

Re: tips for cutting down on competition box?

Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:02 am

dac69696969 wrote: 50/60 rigs

:shock:

if you are bringing that many rigs you must spend a lot of your day chopping and changing?

on the drift big tides = flowing trace small tides = 3 up, that's a very general rule of thumb, but it should help you to choose what rigs you'll need on a given day.

Re: tips for cutting down on competition box?

Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:10 pm

dac69696969 wrote:Slackliner- now that sounds like a plan. As simple a solution as it seems, it honestly never entered my mind. I reckon at least it would put my mind at ease knowing I have all those rigs etc that I'll never use .........on the boat....... Just in case, and I can concentrate on the comp :wink:
Cheers man


No worries mate, just don't forget to lift it when you leave the boat! Done that before :roll:

Re: tips for cutting down on competition box?

Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:17 am

Some days I do Paddy but a lot of those rigs are shop bought rigs which are nice and shiny and are very likely to catch an angler or two :oops:
Tbh there are a good few of them which made their way into the tackle box well over a year ago and have yet to come out of the packet :roll: You would imagine I could do without these but the problem is that I don't manage to get out enough to rule them out of my set up. My box also contains probably 30 of my own rigs as well which have worked before for me and then I try something a small bit different and that might work also so now I have two rigs which probably do the job exactly the same but which do I discard Lol. Vicious circle !!!
I'm going to give the rucksack a go and see how that works for me. I'd love to have the confidence to only bring out a handful of gear with me to fish a comp but sure maybe I'll get there some day. Thanks for all the help/ advice
Dave