Review of Sakura Meiho Lure Box - SK9243

Some of you may have read of my various attempts at trying to sort out the saltwater lure box problem on kayaks (see here for my review of the Savage Gear Hang Bag).  In fact, it's a series of problems.

1. You need to be able to fasten to the kayak.  If you roll, what happens to your expensive lures?  Will that lid open if under water?
2. The box should fit between the legs and be easy to open with one hand, and give quick simple access to the lures.
3. Ideally a lure box would be waterproof.  However, for most kayak anglers that presents a problem, in that you can't guarantee to keep salt water from splashing your lures.  When that inevitably happens, then you need to be able to easily rinse the lures in freshwater when you get home.  Removable trays, mesh-bottomed drainable tubes, I've tried them all.  Never found one that dried off properly afterwards.
4. It should allow a mix of lure types, soft and hard, to be carried along with small items like snaps.  If you use hard lures, then the box should have a tangle-free method of storage.

Simple, right?  Wrong!

Such a box doesn't exist.  Never mind.  

In the absence of such a box, we must make do with boxes that fulfil part of the criteria above.  Granted this  is lot easier if you only carry one lure type.  The easiest lures to find boxes for are soft lures and that's what I'm focusing on today.  

By virtue of their design (single hook, separate heads and flexible bodies), soft lures can pretty much fit into any box.  Because they generally have just one hook, tangled lures are rarely a problem and the jig heads or fully assembled lures can be laid flat in sections.  This means the only remaining requirements are whether you want a waterproof box or one that drains easily to allow rinsing the lures, some means of fastening it to the kayak and one-handed opening.  Size is a personal preference - I tend to go for the biggest I can get in the limited area between my legs on the yak.  Long and thin is an advantageous shape here, and the box should be too tall so that it remains stable on a choppy sea.

There are probably many boxes that meet these criteria.  But I wanted a heavy duty box, and one that would allow me to fasten it to the yak without drilling a hole in the box compartments.  This is what I found:

Very strong ABS, one handed operation possible with sturdy catch.

Internal compartments with plenty of options.

Comes with some odd stickers and pads for the bottom.  Suspect these won't last long!

There's some limited room to drill holes for a leash to attach the box to the yak:

But perhaps the box's best features are its simplicity.  Nothing to go wrong here.

The box has a pretty tightly fitting lid.  Certainly shaking it upside down I wasn't able to spread the snaps or hooks around into other compartments.  My only criticism is that there's no easy way to rinse the lures if salt water does get in, which let's face it, on a kayak is a certainty.  But the risk of hook corrosion is obviously less when you're using single hooks.  We'll see.  As always I'll post back how the box did after its first year.

Sure looks pretty filled with my two favourite soft lures of the moment:  Savage Gear Sandeel and Fiiish Black Minnow!

Now, trying to find a box that would work as well for hard lures is much more of a challenge.  Any suggestions please let me know.

Tight lines to those fishing.