We've all been there. Bringing way too much tackle on a fishing trip. Don't make bass fishing more challenging than it needs to be. Alex Epperson aka Oklahoma's Worst Angler is here to help! His advice: STOP Over-complicating your tackle! Make fishing easy, by following these simple tips!

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Video transcript:

Alex Epperson:

Today we're just going to talk about simplifying a fishing trip. That's it. We're going to base today off of fishing a grass lake and how I would go about packing and attacking just that grass lake. That's all I'm going to be doing.

Alex Epperson:
What's up, guys? I'm Alex from Oklahoma's Worst Angler on YouTube. And like I said, today we're just going to be talking about simplifying a fishing trip. Now, what I mean by that is something that I struggle with is before I go out on the water, on my boat, on a buddy's boat, or even just going to beat the banks is I will sit there and think and overanalyze everything that I think is going to work on that body of water. And then by the time I get out there and I get to fishing, I've ended up bringing way too much stuff. I mean, in the past I would load down my tackle backpack when I was going out and beating the banks or bring five tackle boxes onto a buddy's boat with eight or nine rods, and I end up only using about three to four of them.

Alex Epperson:
So what I've been able to do is really analyze the way that I fish and think about where I'm going. And I've been able to condense down and simplify what I'm bringing, what I'm going to be fishing, and that's what I wanted to talk to you guys about today and hopefully help somebody out.

Alex Epperson:
So what I've got here is I've got my three main rods. So me, personally, when I'm going out down south, I'm going to want a braid rod. I'm going to want something for top water. I'm going to want something that can handle heavy vegetation, thick grass, pads, anything like that. And then I'm going to want just a good multi-purpose rod, something that I could throw any kind of moving bait on or Texas rig or jig. That's what I'm going to simplify down to. Spinning rod. Did I cover the spinning rod? Finesse techniques. Spinning rod, braid rod, multipurpose rod.

Alex Epperson:
So I've got my three rods. That's it. So I'm going to simplify that and just tell myself, okay, I'm only taking three. So I've got it down to where I can take two boxes. That's it. Only two boxes. I've got my terminal tackle box, which there may be stuff in here that I won't need, but it's all together. I've got flipping hooks. I've got weights. I've got drop shot weights. I've got nail weights. I've got beads. I've got pegs. I've got finesse swimbait heads. I've got shaky heads. I've got it all in this one box. So my terminal I know is covered for anything that I'm going to be doing, whether it be with the finesse rod, the braid rod, or the multipurpose rod. Everything I need is right there, one box.

Alex Epperson:
Next thing I'm going to do is ... I mean, it doesn't have to be a big deep box like this. It can be just a regular 3,700 size, but what I do, I take out all the dividers in that box. Now, this might be a little bit of an overkill for an example right here, but big, deep box right there. All the dividers are completely taken out. And what I'm going to have on this right here is I'm going to have a row that's dedicated for the techniques that I'm going to be using for that day. So I've got a top water row. I've got buzzbaits. I've got frogs. I've got poppers, spooks, anything like that. So I know when I go out there, even though I've got one rod, I can go out there and I can cover multiple techniques and figure out what is going to be working at that lake that day so I'm not sitting there saying, "Oh man, I wish I would've brought this. I wish I would've brought that," or I've got so much in there that I completely overcomplicate things.

Alex Epperson:
So I usually carry about two frogs, a darker color frog and a lighter color frog, buzzbaits, maybe one, maybe two. Again, lighter color, darker color. Poppers and spooks, same thing, a lighter color or a darker color. Whether it be something like a matte shad that's a little more natural or something like completely off the wall, bright gill colored.

Alex Epperson:
So my top water row is set. Not a whole lot of baits, just two frogs, two buzzbaits, two poppers or spooks, whatever it may be, depending on your style of fishing. For me, it's going to be poppers.

Alex Epperson:
Next thing, I'm going to cover my multi-purpose rod. So my multipurpose rod, this is one that I know that I can throw some jigs on. This is one that I know I can throw Texas rigs on. This is one that I know I can throw moving baits on. So I'm going to get a row and dedicate that row to moving baits, whether it be a ChatterBait or spinnerbait, scrounger head, whatever it may be. But again, going with the grass lake, I'm going with the ChatterBait, and I'm going to take spinnerbait.

Alex Epperson:
So I'm going to have a few different options of ChatterBaits and spinnerbaits as far as colors, size, being weight, and then blade differences, Colorado blade or Willow blade. That's what I'm going to do. That's going to be that row right there.

Alex Epperson:
As far as the finesse, the finesse is going to be pretty easy. I really don't need a row for that. So I've got two rows. Depending on what size tackle box you have, two to three rows that are completely empty. So you get a wild hair, you're like, "Well, maybe they're on moving bait." Don't want to complicate things too much. I'll throw a couple of square [inaudible 00:05:30] in there just in case.

Alex Epperson:
If I've been out there for hours on end and nothing's working, I'm going to want to try something different other than what I've just packed. So I want to have a contingency plan. That's what those extra rows are for. The extra rows are for contingency plans only.

Alex Epperson:
Now, back to the finesse stuff. So the finesse is going to be pretty easy. With the finesse, I've got my terminal tackle box, which is going to have wacky hooks. It's going to have finesse swimbait heads. It's going have shaky heads, and it's going to have stuff in there that I can use specifically on that finesse rod.

Alex Epperson:
So then what I do, I've got one bag of plastics. So two boxes, one terminal box, one box full of your tackle, and then one bag, whatever it may be or some kind of storage system that you have for your plastics. So my plastics that I'm going to throw in there, they're going to be anything from a Ned rig to a drop shot bait to a finesse style swimbait, anything like that that I can throw on that finesse rod. The other plastics are going to be a couple of different trailers for my jigs. So a couple of different craw trailers and variation of colors. Really just about two. That's all I'm going to take.

Alex Epperson:
And then I'm going to have about three different bags of different baits for Texas rig. That's what I've got in there. That's all that's in here is going to be finesse, Texas rig, and jig trailers.

Alex Epperson:
I'm telling you guys, if you do this, if you go out there the night before, really kind of break it down, think about the water that you're going to go fish, take your terminal box, set it aside, grab one box and just condense down to where you're not sitting there over-complicating everything that you've got with you, not taking a completely absurd amount of rods with you as well. Especially going out and beating the banks, carrying three rods is a lot easier than carrying four or five. It's a whole lot easier. And a lot of the time you can condense it down to just two, just two rods.

Alex Epperson:
So this right here has made it a lot easier for me. It's kept me from having to look in my tackle box being overwhelmed, thinking about, "Well, can I use this? Can I use this? What should I use? What should I do?" Anything like that. Or having so much with me and already being able to dial in the bite and then just realize that I brought entirely too many things and I don't need them, and they're taking up a whole lot of space.

Alex Epperson:
So this right here is it. That's all I'm taking anymore. Just this. That is something that you can fit easily into a tackle bag, a backpack, onto a buddy's boat without taking up a whole lot of space. Three rods, and you're set. That's it.

Alex Epperson:
So guys, I hope this video helped you out. I hope these tips helped you out. I hope that someone else struggles like I do, and I hope this helps you not overcomplicate things before going out and going to fish. Again, think about the water that you're fishing. Think about the techniques that you know are going to work. Think about the colors. Condense it down. Make it simple, simple to where you're not carrying a whole bunch of extra stuff and you're set and you're ready to go for anything that may pop up that day. And then most of the time, if you're with a buddy that's a better fisherman than you, like I usually deal with, and they're usually going to have what's going to work and they'll be able to help you out.

Alex Epperson:
So thanks for watching, guys. I do appreciate every single one of you. I'll see you next time on the water.