I am pretty proud of my boy. He is working to find his place in life. Like many recent high school graduates, he is finding that life isn’t quite like he imagined or the picture that was painted. Of course, he has a lot of me in him and there is a lot of dreamer in him. I get stuck in my toolbox fantasy where some day I am going to do this or that when I have the thing I need.

Last weekend he spent three solid days bushwhacking and trying to catch a steelhead. This is something that I always wanted to do but there always seem to be more important things, like excuses. He wasn’t successful but I think he learned a lot and I think that he will be back. That leads me to why I built this ‘tackle bucket’.

I started putting this bucket together in mid winter. At that point, I had visions of surf fishing this summer. I thought our house closing in February and then March was imminent and we would be all moved in and ready to go. A big motivator for me was I have other dreams as well, like digging for clams. I thought that maybe I could cast a device called a crab trap out and let it soak while we were digging clams. The bucket was a device to hold the catch.

This is one of those posts that I actually had planned to write in May before I suspended things. It just kept getting kicked down the line as I continued to add more tackle. Now that I am trying to get things more regular again, meaning more routine writing I thought that I would finally finish this thing that has been in draft state since April.

My bucket organizer obsession goes back to the turn of the century. I actually got my first bucket organizer as a wedding shower gift. My dad had one in the early 1990s and my first impression was how he used it. It was more like a carrying container. You put the tools that you thought that you needed and took it to the work. This is how I started as well.

I found out that as I had more than one project going, I wanted a hammer here as well as there and so I thought, I will build a dedicated tool bucket. That way I will have everything I need and I would still have other tools back at the house. These things get very heavy when you start filling them up with lots of steel tools. So, the heavier it got the more likely I was going to leave the bucket where the work was.

That worked pretty good until it didn’t. What I mean by that is my first bucket was a general carpentry bucket. But then as I started to do more electrical and plumbing, I wanted specific tools for that kind of work. I added more buckets (or bags) that were more task specific. My original thought was that these would be trade specific and that would augment my first bucket. But, what I quickly found out was that it would be a lot easier to buy another hammer rather than carry an 80lb bucket of tools containing a hammer.

Today, I have multiple tool containers. One is a carpentry bucket, one is an electrical bag, one is a plumbing caddy, one is for painting, one is for masonry and one is a supplementary fastener bag. They are all largely self sufficient. I have to say that one I reach for the most is the electrical bag. I use it for data as well as high voltage stuff. Sometimes I grab it if I want some tools because it is significantly lighter than my carpentry bucket.

If you are caught up in ogling my CLC Wild River organizer, you should know that I bought this off of Amazon at a reasonable price. I do believe that it “new” old stock as I cannot find any reference in the CLC catalog. Custom Leather Craft or CLC is another competitor to Bucket Boss. While I believe that Bucket Boss was the originator of the bucket style organizer, there are many, many competitors.

Fiskars purchased Bucket Boss in 1996 and significantly expanded their product line. They capitalized on fishing, gardening, automotive industries etc. However Fiskars sold Bucket Boss to a holding company in 2003. Since that point, their offerings have been significantly paired down to the most popular products. One current alternatives available on online is sold under the brand KastKing and marketed for ice fishing.

At this point, I do not plan on ever doing any ice fishing. I think that you can find some of that if you head to eastern Oregon but generally, it doesn’t get cold enough here. So, I added a Plano bucket cover/organizer. It has compartments that I put lead weight in but it also doubles as a seat. Home Depot sells an actual swiveling bucket seat. I bought it but I have not tried it. My thought is that I could put the seat on a second bucket when we really do go clamming. That being said, I would rather have the utility of extra storage rather than the more comfortable seat. However, if you look around you can find even thicker padding options than the Home Depot seat if comfort is more important than utility.

There is a place to add a bait or filet knife. There is pouch that is pictured as a pole holder but an ice fishing pole is two feet long, I don’t see strapping in a nine footer. I put a leader keeper in there. That way I can pre-rig my double hooks for the inevitable snag. There are two pockets for those clear tackle organizers of which I have added both. I keep hooks and swivels in there now. I have plenty of room for expansion but I kind of have a theory. What works in certain waters works. There is no reason to buy a bunch of lures without a clue about the effectiveness. I will simply add stuff over time based on what I expect to work by word of mouth or experience.

There is a carabiner on the side. I added my leader rolls but I think it is originally for a towel or gloves. My leader may end up somewhere else as a towel is a good idea, but I will have to battle test it first. And finally there was a pocket that is designed for a battery powered aerator (bait). I currently do not have anything in it but it would be a good place to put you phone or wallet.

One last thing that I added was a TEC products replacement bucket handle. I reused a bucket that has been sitting around. While buckets can be pretty tough, sunlight is pretty hard on that handle material. I recently put one on my primary tool bucket as well. It seems to help carry the very heavy loads more easily and it certainly beats a plain wire. These can be added with or without the original plastic sleeve on the handle. I have tried both.

End Your Programming Routine: Buckets and fishing are very frequently linked together. I don’t think that this is the best solution for every situation. For instance, this takes up a lot of space so I think there are better options for a boat. But if you were going to sit on the bank, instead of taking a chair, tackle box and cooler, this is kind of all in one. It seems like the bee’s knees to hold clams while you have a line out at the same time. Obviously I am speaking from theory here but it sure seems like it will work.