I like practical fishing products. I’m not the kind of guy who gets enamored by useless bells and whistles and high price points. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it’s just not my personality.
For instance, I always keep a pond-fishing kit in my truck at all times. Whenever I’m near a pond I have permission to fish, I’m always ready to make a few quick casts. Until recently, I’ve pretty much been using my truck door pocket to cram a bunch of plastics, hooks and weights into. But I have found out that my wife doesn’t like having to move a bunch of stuff when she hops in the truck. She has a point.
So when I recently got the Evolution Fishing Mossy Oak Elements Bait Binder, I knew exactly what I was going to use it for. I was going to consolidate my pond-fishing kit and clean up the mess in my truck. There’s nothing inherently fancy about this bait binder, to be honest. But its design makes sense, it’s reasonably priced and I flat-out love it.
Here’s what I like most about it.
Here’s what I started with
My wife’s car is our “going to town” car. That leaves my truck as the boat puller and hunting/farm truck. But the mess in this photo was even getting on my nerves. If I closed the door too hard, stuff would fall out and I got tired of digging through it all.
The next photo will show you the consolidated version of my pond-fishing kit.
Here’s how neat and compact it became
That’s my entire pond-fishing kit in one Evolution Fishing Mossy Oak Elements Bait Binder. The wife is happy that she doesn’t have to dodge fishing hooks in my truck and I’m glad I don’t have to look at that mess anymore. I can slide this bait binder underneath my back seat and it’s completely out of the way.
Now let’s look at the features I like the most.
Oversized zipper pulls
Yes, I know it’s a simple feature. But I honestly didn’t know how much I’d like these dang zipper pulls. They’re comfortable, easy to operate and I don’t have to pull too hard to zip it closed when the binder is jammed full of fishing tackle.
So far, they’ve held up quite nicely. No fraying to speak of and the rubber remains perfectly intact.
All sorts of room
I can fit everything I need for a day of pond fishing in this bait binder. I was even able to fit my Rapala digital scale in there, which is a huge help. It seems like every time I catch a giant, I never have a scale. I won’t have that problem anymore.
This interior mesh compartment is also where I store all of my hooks, weights, weight pegs and pliers. I’ve put just about as much as I can fit into this pocket and the Evolution Fishing Mossy Oak Elements Bait Binder still closes very easily.
8 removable sleeves
This is where I put all of my soft plastics. The sleeves are removable, so you can take a few out if you need a bit more room. I can fit two bags of plastics comfortably in each sleeve. You could maybe cram three in there, but I don’t know how well the binder would close.
You’ll also notice the metal rings on the sleeves. This ensures that there won’t be any ripping or premature wear.
The sleeves close easily
Every angler has been there: Your hands are slimy or wet and for the life of you, you can’t get the dern bag to seal shut. Fortunately, you shouldn’t have that problem with these sleeves. They open and close quite easily and they stay shut when they need to. You won’t have a bunch of baits falling out of them. They seem to be very sturdy and well made.
Final impressions
I will be ordering more of these this week. Jason and I were talking last night about these binders and we might actually start storing all of our soft plastics in these while we’re in our bass boats. I think it could save a lot of room and really simplify things for us. I’d give ’em a shot if you want to get things cleaned up and organized a bit.
You can find the Evolution Fishing Mossy Oak Elements Bait Binder at EODOutdoors.com.
