Plano Angled Tackle System Review: A Season in a Jon Boat

I keep a Plano Angled Tackle System on the bench seat of my 14 foot jon boat from April through October. It has been rained on, bounced down gravel ramps, sat in the sun for a full Ohio summer, and been opened by my grandson Caleb more times than I can count. After a season of that, I have opinions.

This is not a pro-tour review. I am a 61 year old retired machinist who fishes Caesar Creek Lake, the Great Miami River, and a couple of farm ponds outside Dayton. I fish for largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and channel catfish, mostly from that jon boat, sometimes from the bank. I have been at it for about 45 years, and I have lost enough tackle to cheap boxes to know what matters.

How I've Used It

I bought this box last spring, before the bass moved up to spawn. It replaced a soft sided bag that had collapsed into a junk drawer. The bag was the kind that looks organized in the store and turns into a pile of spinnerbaits and hooks by June. I wanted something with a hard shell that would keep its shape and let me see what I had.

Caleb is 13 and he fishes with me most weekends. The rule is simple: you open the box, you pick one lure, you close the box, and you put the lure back when you are done. The angled trays made that rule stick because he could actually see the lures without dumping everything onto the seat. That alone was worth the switch.

I use one Stowaway box for bass hard baits, one for jig heads and soft plastics, and one for crappie gear. The utility pocket on the front holds my license, a small spool of line, and a pair of forceps. The whole rig sits on the bench seat in front of the trolling motor, and it stays there all season.

I also use it on bank trips. When I park the truck and walk down to a farm pond, I take the whole box or just one Stowaway box, depending on what is biting. The box sits on the tailgate while I rig up, and the angled trays mean I can see the lures without bending over. For a man with a 61 year old back, that matters.

One more thing about the layout. The three boxes fit in the main compartment without rattling around. That means I can label them by trip: bass box, crappie box, catfish box. When the catfish are biting on the Great Miami, I grab the catfish box and leave the rest in the truck. It keeps the boat from turning into a floating junk drawer.

One habit I got into: I empty the boxes at the end of the season and wipe them out with a damp rag. The hard shell makes that easy. The DuraView covers wipe clean easily. When I put the box away in October, it looks close to the day it arrived.

I will say this: the box has made me a more organized fisherman. I spend less time looking for lures and more time with my line in the water. That is the whole point of any tackle storage.

What the Angled Tray Actually Does

The main compartment presents the three Plano Stowaway boxes at a 15 degree angle. That does not sound like much until you have spent a season reaching into a flat box where every tray sits level and you have to lift the top one to see the one below. With the angle, the top edge of each box tips toward you, so the lures are already facing you when the lid opens.

The DuraView covers and doors are the part I did not expect to care about. They let you check a box without opening it. On a cloudy morning on the Great Miami, I can look down and see which box has the white jig heads and which has the chartreuse tails. That sounds small, but it saves me from opening three boxes to find one lure.

The three Plano 3560 Stowaway boxes are the heart of the system. They lift out as a set, or one at a time, and they are sized to fit the compartment without rattling around. When I am fishing from the bank, I can grab the one box I need and leave the rest in the truck.

I have used this box on the bank, in the boat, and on the tailgate. The angle works in every position. That is the reason I stopped reaching for the old flat box after the first trip.

A Season in a Jon Boat: What Held Up

The box is 18 inches long, 9.5 inches wide, and 11 inches high, and it weighs 5.7 pounds. That is heavy enough to stay put on a bench seat and light enough to carry from the truck to the bank. The hard shell has taken the usual abuse: a drop onto a gravel ramp, a bump against the boat trailer, a summer of sun on the seat.

After a full season, the trays still tilt up at that same 15 degree angle. The DuraView covers have no cracks. The boxes slide in and out the way they did in April. I did not baby this thing. It rode in the boat through thunderstorms, sat in the bed of the truck, and spent a week on the porch when I forgot to bring it in.

The 5.7 pound weight is worth talking about. It is not a light box. If you are walking a half mile to a bank spot, you will feel it. But on a jon boat, weight is a feature. The box does not slide around when the trolling motor is on high, and it does not blow out of the boat on a windy day.

The one thing I check now and then is the way the lid lines up. After a season of slamming it shut, the lid still sits square. I cannot say that about the soft bag it replaced, which had a zipper that gave out in July.

I will also say the box cleans up easily. When a soft plastic melts or a hook rusts, I can wipe out the tray and move on. The hard shell does not soak up fish smell the way a fabric bag does. That is a small thing, but it matters when the box lives in the boat all season.

I will be honest about one thing: the box is not pretty anymore. It has scuffs on the shell and a small dent on one corner from a drop on the ramp. None of that has affected how it works. In fact, I like a piece of gear that looks like it has been used.

The box has also survived a few trips it was not designed for. It rode in the back of the truck under a cooler, and it came out no worse for it. I would not stack a cooler on it on purpose, but it handled the accident.

The Things That Bug Me

No box is perfect, and this one has a few honest flaws. The utility pocket on the front is not big enough for a spool of heavy line or a pair of pliers with a sheath. It is fine for a license and a few hooks, but do not plan on storing much more there.

The 18 inch length means it does not fit under the seat of my jon boat. That is not the box's fault; the boat is small. But if you are used to shoving your tackle under a seat, you will have to find a different spot. I keep mine on the bench, where it is also a decent armrest.

I also wish the included boxes had a way to keep small hooks from mixing with larger lures. I solve that with small plastic bags. It is a small thing, but it is the kind of detail I notice after a season.

The other thing I would change is the size of the utility pocket. I already mentioned it, but it is worth repeating: it is a utility pocket, not a storage bin. I keep my license and a few hooks there. Everything else goes in the Stowaway boxes.

The last thing I will say about the flaws is that none of them stopped me from buying a second one for the truck. I keep one in the boat and one in the truck so I am never without a box. That is the highest compliment I can give a piece of tackle.

Alternatives I Considered

I looked at soft sided bags, flat utility boxes, and a couple of other hard cases before I settled on this one. The soft bag was easier to carry but it turned into a junk drawer. The flat boxes stacked level, which meant digging through the top tray to reach the bottom one.

The angled presentation is what sold me. It is not a gimmick. When you are on the water and the fish are biting, you do not want to be digging through a dark box with your fingers. You want to see the lure, grab it, and get back to fishing. This box does that.

I have also owned a couple of hard cases with individual compartments for every lure. They are fine for a specific trip, but they do not hold enough for a full day on the water. The Stowaway boxes hold more, and the angled presentation makes the extra capacity usable.

After a full season of rain, sun, and gravel ramps, the trays still tilt up at that 15 degree angle like the day I bought it.

Who This Is For

This box is for the angler who fishes from a jon boat, a kayak, or the bank and wants to see what they have before they reach for it. It is for the person who is tired of buying a new tackle bag every year because the zipper gave out or the bottom collapsed. It is for someone like me, who would rather spend time fishing than sorting hooks.

If you take a kid fishing, this box helps. Caleb learned to put lures back because he could see where they went. That is the kind of quiet win that makes a season on the water better. Plano has been making tackle storage for a long time, and it shows in the simple things.

If you are shopping for your first real tackle box, this is a safe place to start. It is not the cheapest option, and it is not the lightest. But it does the job without fuss, and it will not fall apart on you by August. That is what I wanted.

Who Should Skip It

If you only carry a handful of lures in a shirt pocket, you do not need this box. If you are a fly angler who keeps everything in a vest, skip it. And if you need something that fits in a backpack for a hike to a remote creek, the 18 inch length and 5.7 pound weight will work against you.

It is also not the box for the angler who wants a compartment for every single lure. The three Stowaway boxes hold a mix of lures, and that is how I use them. If you want a divider for every hook, you will want a different system.

And if you are the kind of angler who likes to keep every hook in its own labeled compartment, this box will frustrate you. There is no way around that. For me, the trade is worth it. For you, it might not be.

If you already own a system you like, there is no reason to switch. This review is not trying to talk you out of a box that works. It is for the person who is still looking for the right one.

If you mostly fish from a kayak and every pound matters, the 5.7 pound weight will bother you. There are lighter options that will do the job. This box is built for stability, not for ultralight trips.