Custom Leathercraft Wild River WN3506 Tackle Tech Rigger 5-Gallon Bucket Organizer, Bucket Not Included

I purchased this about 6 months ago after looking at multiple different options for this kind of accessory to fit over a bait bucket that could help haul my gear around. Now I have been using this extensively for the last 4 months and here is what I can tell you now after putting it through the paces. I will provide details as to how I outfitted it to my needs and things I purchased to modify the overall bait bucket and how the Wild River Bucket Organizer works in conjunction with these items. The additional products I purchased are a Frabill Sit-n-Fish 6 gallon bucket that comes with a 2.5 gallon syrofoam inner bucket, the length of the bucket makes a huge difference for sitting position and how the Wild River Bucket Organizer fits securely. A Snappy Grip bucket handle, you can't believe how valuable this is when it comes to carrying the bucket or any bucket for that matter, an absolute must have for anyone carrying a bucket, do yourself a favor and look for one of these as it is cheap but makes such a dramatic difference in your ability to carry a heavy load without discomfort as the wider grip handle makes carrying 25 pounds seem like 8 pounds with the normal bucket handle, gold miners use these exclusively and they would know what works for making carrying a bucket easier. A Plano 5 gallon Bucket topper organizer that fits perfectly over the Frabill 6 gallon bucket, and 2 Key Baks that I use as Zinngers/retractable cords for clippers and other small tools. Key Baks out perform any other option out there when your looking for this kinda of device and most of if not all the ones I have found in fly fishing shops and tackle shops just plain do not compare in quality and sometimes are more expensive. Magic Bubbles Aerator, these are better than the Frabill and Rapala ones and cost the same and last twice as long and perform 10 times better all around. Foam Seat cushion that I have a velcro strap for that hangs off the bucket handle during transport, I place this on top of the plano bucket topper and the cushioning is better than most chairs I sit on. Sounds like a lot and it is but it is nicely consolidated and works very well albeit it can be heavy at times but I'm used to hauling a lot of stuff.The quality overall of the Wild River Bucket Organizer is much much better than similar options that are commercially available. The material is tough denier type nylon and can take a beating and there are plenty of pockets to store gear and webbing straps to hang gear on and thread bank rod holders through the inside of the webs to carry along with. (Sometimes when fishing in an area that doesn't allow for bank rod holders to placed into the ground like a stone surface or concrete you can keep the rod holders in the webbing straps and if your bucket is weighted adequately with water weight and tackle weight it can hold your rods in place but it will depend upon the rods being used and the exact fishing application your using them for). The stitching is of high quality and its built to last. The velcro rod holders perform very well and keep the rods secure during transport. I have been able to fit an 5.5 ft ultra light and a 6.5 ft light action rod into one rod slot and fasten the velcro strap to secure them and also a 7ft Med-light action rod in the other that allows me to bring 3 rods with me easily and securely. When dealing with longer rods like 8.5 ft and above its best to keep them broken down in 2/3/4 sections and put them together when you get to your fishing location. The longer your rods are the greater the tendency for them snap against each other and or lock as you walk causing potential damage to graphite rod blanks. It seems like the way you position the rods will affect the outcome of them banging one another, once you load this up you will see what I mean, although they are separated from each other they tend to come back towards each other at the tips when you carry the bucket. You can still have this happen with the 6.5ft rods but the shorter you go the less tendency this will occur. If trying to put 3 small rods of varying lengths position them properly and you will mitigate this rod movement. You can also use a Rod Butler strap to keep the tips together on the 2 rods placed in the same rod holder section. This keeps them more rigid and they move very little.There are two zipper pockets that are the same size. The one shown in the example shows the zipper pocket where the aerator goes. The only issue's I have found with this pocket is that first the battery pouches are a little too big and the D size batteries can and tend to fall out sometimes, not a big deal but oh well you will manage this very minor flaw. The other aspect that is more important is the air hose on most portable battery operated aerator's tends to be a little short in length for it to adequately fit into this pocket and properly aerate the water that is in the bucket unless you want to haul around 3 to 4 gallons of water. I personally use the magic bubbles aerator that uses 2 D batteries and the air hose tends to be a little short in my mind to fit in the pocket provided and adequately aerate the water. The solution is to get a Styrofoam minnow bucket/cooler that fits into a 5/6 gallon bucket, (this also comes with the Frabill Sit-N-Fish). This way you can place the aerator inside the bucket on top of the styrofoam lid to the minnow bucket. Doing it this way assures that the stone is deep in the water and provides the oxygen the minnows need to keep well and active, plus you can manage the amount of water you use and lessen the amount which will reduce the overall weight you ultimately carry. You can also purchase a longer hose if you wanted too which I did but I still place the aerator on top of the styrofoam minnow bucket. Now if you wanted to use the aerator pocket as intended you would then have to have a port hole that is in the top lid of the 5/6 gallon bucket to feed the air hose down into the area where the minnows are. My solution to this was to purchase a Plano 5 gallon bucket topper organizer that has this already molded into its design, and re-purpose the Frabill lid that came with the sit-n-fish bucket, (You could drill a hole into the Frabill lid and have a port to run the air hose through that way instead of getting the plano bucket topper). On top of having the port/hole to allow the aerator hose to run through into the body of the bucket this plano bucket topper allows you to double the overall storage space and you can easily bring much more tackle to your fishing location. The Frabill Sit-n-Fish lid does not have a port/hole to run the air hose through which is one small reason I purchased the Plano bucket topper aside from the additional storage. I also found that when using the plano bucket topper with the Frabill Bucket you have plenty of room to keep other live bait like worms in-between the styrofoam lid of the minnow bucket inside the 6 gallon bucket and the bottom of the plano bucket topper. I have found myself using the aerator pocket for the batteries and any variety of tackle like spare spools that I keep in a hard box and leader line. This is also where the protective pocket for the fishing license goes along with a lake map. This pocket is clear vinyl but it can be a fairly tight pocket that can be limiting in what items you place in there. It does protect these items very well but it can be a pain getting them out sometimes when you have the DNR asking you to get your license out.The second additional pocket has the same outside dimensions as the aerator pocket and provides plenty of storage for a multitude of items such as leaders etc. It has an simple accordion design with 2 sleeves that you can divide items between. You could also put an additional reel in there but I personally would keep an additional reel in a padded holder or in the plano bucket topper because you can bang the sides of your bucket against any multitude of things while out fishing and walking from location to location so its best to keep it protected.Now both of these pockets that I have described also have an outer mesh pocket that can fit a few thinner profiled items in, but the more you have the inner pockets filled the less you will be able to get into these outside pockets and when the inside pockets are empty the outside pockets are too loose to adequately hold certain items without a risk of them falling out. I have kept bags of worms here along with an Bass Pro Shops inline spinner wallet that fits in very tightly.Aside from the 2 3500 series utility tray holders that work flawlessly and are well tailored to fit tightly you have an additional 4 other pockets, 2 are small and 2 are a little larger and they can be used for any multitude of items such as hook removers, fish grippers, bait threaders, bank rod holders, bait net, small retractable landing nets, bait scents, flashlight etc. etc.I have used the web loops for attaching knife sheaths to it along with pliers sheaths to keep tools at the ready. There are a few other small web loops around the larger pockets that I have attached the key baks to with my line clippers, jig eye punches and hook sharpeners etc. etc.I did read the one review that stated the Wild River Bucket organizer ends up sitting on the ground when used with a common 5 gallon bucket. My suggestion is to go and get a taller bucket with the same dimensions as a 5 gallon bucket. When fitted on the Frabill 6 gallon bucket the Wild River Bucket organizer is on tight with little to no play in it, and the velcro strapping that is used to secure the organizer to the bucket does its job very well when the bucket diameter is wide enough to make it a very tight fit. Plus when using a 6 gallon bucket my Wild River Organizer sits 2.5 inches off the ground and never touches the mud/dirt etc. Another thing I did for added protection was to plastadip the bottom of the bucket in the same stuff you coat the metal handles of tools with to provide additional wear protection to the bottom of the bucket and lengthen the overall life of the bucket plus it cleans up easier when you have mud on it and provides a minimal amount of traction on slippery surfaces.I wouldn't even bother with the LED light that comes with some of these models, go and get a decent head lamp for about 12-25 dollars like an Energizer or Rayovac head lamp that construction workers use. They are more durable and work better for all your purposes than the light that would come with some of these and they are brighter and are always positioned on your work area as long as your wearing them properly.I hope this review helps a few of you out there looking at this item as I couldn't find that much in the way of reviews when i purchased this. I have found it to be one of the best tackle items I have for transporting gear and many people do ask about it and wonder were to get it but I'm the only one I have seen using it. Its got very good looks too and they way I have it pimped out makes other fisherman envious. I'll eventually try an upload a few pics to give you all a better idea of what you can do with this and modify it to your needs.

I fish the legendary Pacifica Pier once a month, and with dungeness crab season finally open, I knew I'd be out there more often. I usually throw all my gear in a backpack and trek out with 1 rod, but have since realized the value in managing multiple rods at once. Acquired another rod and more tackle and outgrew my usual setup and needed a new solution. Thought the pier regulars might have some tips, but after watching the old timers with their shopping cart-sized dollies, I knew there had to be a better way.And this bucket caddy is it. Slap it on a 5 gal and you have a well designed pier caddy that is big enough to store all your tackle, traps, and rods (rod holsters are surprisingly sturdy enough to store my collapsed 2pc 10 and 2 pc 11 foot surf rods) and small enough to easily throw in a car and haul down the pier. The dual Plano box holders allow for 2 3500 size Plano boxes, more than enough storage for pier-dedicated tackle.Paired this to a live bait flip top cover and Bubble Box and I have a tackle box/rod caddy/live well that's roomy enough to keep 8-10 keeper-sized dungies alive and kicking for 4 hours+, even without water changes. Just awesome.PS: I followed the advice of another reviewer and promptly ordered and attached a Snappy Grip handle. That thing is priceless. I can comfortably lift and carry a bucket draped in tackle and full of crab.Also, unlike some other reviewer complaints, this doesn't seem to be too tall for a 5 gallon bucket. Fits perfectly on a 5 gal HD Homer bucket with ample clearance, see pics.

When I purchased this, it said it had a light. It came with a tag that showed where the light mounts, and the tag DOES NOT say light not included. So there's that.It definitely doesn't fit all buckets. Lowes blue bucket is a no go. The bottom flarer lip is too tight. A Home Depot orange bucket isn't bad, but the handles are too high to naturally fit where they are intended to. I don't see it bearing much weight without sliding off, especially with two poles in the pockets.I'll return and update my review after I fidget around and take it out.*Update*So after playing around with the Home Depot bucket, I discovered you can sort of bunch up the fabric over the handles and that helps support the weight of the bag. It should break in with some wear. Adding a star

It's not a bad bucket holder although it fits a little funny around the wire handle. The rod holders are nice but it would be nice if it had more than 2. The pockets fit a plano box nicely, but it would be nice if it had a specific spot for pliers or scissors. That's just a minor nit pick though, and overall this is a well built and versatile product

This is a one of a kind itemWell designed & easy to,useImam pleased with it!

its was what i was looking for