REVIEWS

SPOON BOX FROM SpoonCrank Box

About a thousand years ago I won a spinner-bait tackle box in a raffle. I am not an avid bass angler so I didn’t need a box just for the few spinner baits I owned but I did have dozens and dozens of trolling spoons I needed to keep under control. The spinner bait box did the job well enough it’s been on my boat ever since, despite my trying numerous versions of spoon storage “options” from several companies.
It wasn’t perfect, however, just better than the others. So when frequent Basics and Beyond contributor, Doug Morash, mentioned he had started a new business producing and selling tackle boxes specifically for the Great Lakes market, I wondered if he was on to something or being overly optimistic. Competing with the established lure storage “big dogs” is like opening a general store next to a Walmart.
What Morash had, however, was a good idea and the experience to know Great Lakes trollers tackle storage needs are much different than what works for inland lake guys fishing for bass, pike or panfish. He now has two sizes of boxes, the shorter one converts to a crankbait and/or spoon box, the taller one is perfect for walleye trollers using extra long, “deeper-diver” models.

Both are built on the “ammo” box design with the hinge on one end and a secure closure on the other. Inside are 10, hinged-at-the-bottom dividers – each divider with nine hook slots so you can dangle 90 spoons inside (more if you want to double up). The hinged dividers allow the user to flip through the selections like flipping through folders in a file cabinet and easily remove a selected spoon. Genius!  
Add five bucks more to the bill and get a stack of partitions which snap firmly on the dividers creating individual cubicles to hang up to 50 crankbaits and never tangle hooks or end up with the lures getting more scratched from being stored than from catching fish. Many people will be able to use the partitions on some of the dividers, leave them off of others and put all of their trolling lures in one container.
The original SpoonCrank Box will hold magnum (five-inch) spoons and/or cranks and stickbaits to 6.75 inches. The Deeper Diver box has the same footprint but is deep enough to hold lures like the Reef Runner 800s, deep running Bandits and other, similar lures up to 9.5 inches.
I tested the smaller box and ended up using it just for my spoons assortment. It passed all the tests.

Test one: It held 90 spoons and made them easy to find – easily beating my old spinner-bait box.

Test two: One of the knuckleheads fishing with me managed to drop the full box of spoons upside down onto the deck. On my old box, that would have resulted in a mess requiring a half hour and several curse words to fix. When the Spoon Box was righted and opened, all of the spoons were still in place. The foam lined lid pushes down on the top of the dividers keeping the lures in place.

Test three: My old spinner-bait box is permanently retired.
“But wait, there’s more!” as any infomercial salesman would say. The lid opens to reveal an additional storage area to hold tools, terminal tackle or other items. That’s where I keep a Tackle Tamer with pre-tied slider leaders.  

To see more about or purchase Morash’s Spoon, Crankbait or Deeper Diver Boxes go to www.spooncrankbox.com.

Captain Mike Schoonveld
http://www.brother-nature.com/