Reviewed by: CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD
I’ve often written articles and reviews extolling the “wonderfulness” of the 3700 StowAway boxes from Plano. One clue that extols their perfection is the number of other manufacturers that make copycat products to try to grab a tiny share of the market.
When I visited the Evolution Outdoors booth at the ICAST show last summer, the rep I talked to didn’t hide the fact their Tackle Trays are based on the popular Plano StowAways. Their trays are the same size, just as solidly built, but with one easily notable difference. They come in colors!
That’s the reason I stopped by their booth in the first place. Evolution Outdoors had a variety of other products on display. I’m sure most of them are terrific, but it was the tackle trays that instantly caught my eye and instantly flashed through my mind about how handy the various colors would be on my boat.
I stow most of my crankbaits and other tackle in 3700-sized boxes on my boat. The lures and gear I plan to use on a specific day are put in an accessible storage area, but there are always others – the one’s I might use – tucked away in some other compartment where I can pull them out if needed. Unless I have them all labeled (which I usually don’t) I often have to pull out two or three boxes to find the one I want. When one of my fishing companions is looking for one of them, it’s worse.
With boxes in several colors, if I know the glow in the dark stickbaits are in the green box or the Flicker Shads are in the purple one, it gets real easy to find the right box. “Check in the hatch under your seat and pull out the pink box,” I can say. I get the right box. (I do admit to posting a cheat-sheet note in a couple places on the boat until I learned the color-code.)
Available in seven different colors, they are also available in 3600 and 3500 sized boxes. Check them out at www.evolutionoutdoor.com. They are available online and carried by Dunham’s stores throughout the Great Lakes area.
FISHING TOYS 