Tackle
The best tackle boxes and bags for a first system
There is one decision here and it is not which box. It is which footprint, because that choice constrains everything you buy afterwards.
By Sawyer V. · Last updated · How we pick
The short answer
Buy into the 3700 footprint — roughly 14 × 9 inches. It is the size the industry standardized on, so bags, backpacks and boat lockers are all built around it. Buying 3700 boxes means everything you add later fits everything you already own. The specific box matters much less than the footprint.
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Quick picks
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No photo Best complete system Plano Guide Series 3700XL Tackle Bag 20 x 11 x 14.5 in with ten StowAway boxes included, in 1680 denier fabric with backpack straps. | Buying storage once and being done | |
| 2 | No photo Best single box Plano Guide Series Two-Tier StowAway 3700 14 x 9 x 2.75 in in the standard 3700 footprint, with 13 to 45 adjustable compartments across two tiers. | Everything you own, in one box |
The footprint is the whole decision
Utility boxes come in numbered footprints. The two you will encounter are 3600 (roughly 11 × 7 in) and 3700 (roughly 14 × 9 in).
3700 is what the industry has settled on. Tackle bags advertise how many 3700 boxes they hold. Boat lockers are molded to 3700 dimensions. Backpacks are built around it.
The consequence is that this is the only storage decision with lasting effects. Buy 3700 boxes and anything you buy in five years will fit them. Buy an odd proprietary size and you will be replacing it.
One useful detail from the published spec: the Plano Guide Series 3700XL bag holds seven 3750 boxes and three 3650 boxes. Those are depth variants within the same footprints — a 3750 is a deeper 3700 — which is why a well-designed bag carries a mix. Deep boxes take spinnerbaits and crankbaits; shallow ones take terminal tackle.
Bag or box?
| You fish | Buy | Why |
|---|---|---|
| From the bank, walking | A bag with backpack straps | Hands free, and a shoulder bag is miserable after half a mile |
| From a kayak | One or two 3700 boxes | A full bag will not fit and will get soaked |
| From a boat with lockers | Loose 3700 boxes | The lockers are already sized for them |
| From a jon boat, no lockers | A bag | Keeps everything together and off a wet floor |
| Occasionally, few lures | One two-tier 3700 box | It is genuinely enough, and cheap |
How to organize it, which matters more than what you buy
By technique, not by lure type. This is the single most useful organizing idea and almost nobody starts with it.
The instinct is one box for crankbaits, one for soft plastics, one for terminal tackle. That sounds tidy and it means that whenever you decide to fish a Texas rig you are opening three boxes: worms in one, hooks in another, weights in a third.
Organizing by technique means a box that contains everything for one way of fishing. A “bottom” box with worms, stickbaits, worm hooks, bullet weights and jig heads. A “moving” box with crankbaits, spinnerbaits and spare trebles. You grab one box and you are fishing.
The rust problem
Hooks rust, and one rusting hook in a closed box rusts its neighbors. The cause is almost always a wet lure put back in a box that was then closed for a week.
Two habits fix it permanently: leave boxes open overnight after a wet trip, and keep a silica gel packet in each hard-bait box. Both are free, and together they are worth more than any rust-inhibiting feature you can buy.
What to skip
The classic hinged tackle box with the fold-out cantilever trays. It is what a tackle box looks like in your head, the compartments are the wrong size for modern soft plastics, everything migrates between compartments when you carry it, and it fits into no other system you will ever own.
Anything under about $15 with no brand. The failure mode is the latches, which break and dump your tackle across a boat floor. The boxes themselves are all plastic and largely alike; the hinges and latches are where the money goes.
The picks, in full
Every card below lists the specs we could read off a published page, the URL they came from, and one honest reason you might not want it.
1. Best complete system
Plano Guide Series 3700XL Tackle Bag
Plano
20 x 11 x 14.5 in with ten StowAway boxes included, in 1680 denier fabric with backpack straps.
Ten utility boxes included — seven 3750s and three 3650s — is more storage than a first-season angler will fill, and buying them separately would cost a significant fraction of the bag price.
The published construction is what justifies it over a cheaper bag: hard-backed 1680 denier fabric that holds its shape, a molded HDPE base with non-skid TPR pads so it does not slide around a wet boat floor, and oversized molded zippers.
Practical touches Plano publishes: a magnetic Dropzone on the lid for hooks and tools, laser-cut MOLLE webbing, integrated rod holders, backpack straps, a padded removable shoulder strap, side handles, a waterproof phone holder and a license holder.
Backpack straps matter more than they sound if you fish from the bank — a shoulder bag full of tackle becomes unpleasant after half a mile.
The drawback
At 20 x 11 x 14.5 in it is a genuinely large bag, and in a kayak or a small jon boat it takes up space you do not have. It is also considerably more storage than most people need in a first season, which means paying for capacity that sits empty.
Published specs
- Exterior
- 20 x 11 x 14.5 in
- Boxes included
- Seven 3750 + three 3650 StowAways
- Fabric
- Hard-backed 1680 denier
- Base
- Molded HDPE with non-skid TPR pads
- Carry
- Backpack straps, padded removable shoulder strap, side handles
- Extras
- Magnetic Dropzone, laser-cut MOLLE webbing, rod holders
Specs read from Tackle Warehouse — Plano Guide Series 3700XL Tackle Bag.
2. Best single box
Plano Guide Series Two-Tier StowAway 3700
Plano
14 x 9 x 2.75 in in the standard 3700 footprint, with 13 to 45 adjustable compartments across two tiers.
For a first season this is often the entire answer. A single 3700-footprint box that opens into two independent tiers, holding thirteen to forty-five compartments depending on how you set the dividers.
The two-tier design with independent latches is the useful part: soft plastics in one tier, hard baits and terminal tackle in the other, and you open only the half you need rather than exposing everything to rain.
Published at 14 × 9 × 2.75 in in what Plano calls the classic 3700 footprint — which means it drops into any 3700-compatible bag or locker you buy later.
The drawback
One box means one trip's worth of choices. Once you own more than about forty lure types you are constantly repacking, which is exactly the problem the bag above solves. It also has no handle or strap of its own.
Published specs
- Exterior
- 14 x 9 x 2.75 in
- Footprint
- Classic 3700
- Compartments
- 13 to 45, adjustable
- Design
- Two tiers, independent latches
Specs read from Tackle Warehouse — Plano Guide Series Two Tier Stowaway 3700.
Questions people actually ask
What size tackle box should I buy?
Whatever fits the 3700 footprint, roughly 14 by 9 inches. It is the size the industry standardized on, so bags, backpacks and boat lockers are all built around it and anything you add later will fit.
What is a 3700 tackle box?
A utility box in a standard footprint of roughly 14 by 9 inches. Depth varies — a 3750 is a deeper version of the same footprint — which is why a well-designed bag holds a mix of shallow boxes for terminal tackle and deep ones for crankbaits.
Should I get a tackle box or a tackle bag?
A bag if you walk the bank or fish a boat without lockers, because it carries everything together and backpack straps make a real difference over distance. Loose 3700 boxes if you fish a kayak or a boat with molded lockers already sized for them.
How should I organize a tackle box?
By technique, not by lure type. A box holding worms, stickbaits, worm hooks and bullet weights lets you fish a Texas rig by opening one box. Organizing by lure type means opening three boxes for one presentation.
How do I stop my hooks rusting in the tackle box?
Leave boxes open overnight after a wet trip and keep a silica gel packet in each hard-bait box. Almost all rust starts with one wet lure put back in a box that was then closed for a week.
Read next
Sources
Prices on this page come from the retailer at request time and change without notice. If we cannot get a live one we say “check price” rather than show you a number that has gone stale. How we pick.