5 Harbor Freight Finds That Will Boost Your Next Fishing Trip

Harbor Freight is often known for its wide selection of power tools and discounted prices, but the store offers a whole lot more. For example, anybody gearing up for a fishing trip will discover some nice finds at the store. Assuming you already have the essentials like a fishing rod and lures, you'll want to find additional things that can help your trip go smoothly. 

This can range from a variety of things, like a makeshift tackle box, to needle nose pliers. For beginners and veterans alike, you'll want to be well prepared on a fishing trip because coming home with a fresh catch isn't as easy as it sounds. While Harbor Freight doesn't specifically specialize in fishing equipment, nothing is stopping you from picking up supplies from there that will help you on your next trip. You can even buy something from the store and retrofit it into fishing equipment if you desire. The choices here were made with Harbor Freight user reviews in mind, and whether or not they recommend the product.

While the 10 Tray Utility Box sold at Harbor Freight stores your loose screws and nails, you can use it for fishing purposes. If you don't already have a tackle box to put your fishing supplies in, you can easily repurpose the Harbor Freight utility box into something you can do that with. This box can easily fit a variety of fishing supplies ranging from lures, hooks, and even some bait if you need it. With 10 trays to fill up, you have plenty of space to fit things, and the cherry on top is that it costs just $12.99 — two things customer reviews note as big selling points.

The utility box is small and light enough to carry with you onto a boat or when fishing on the shore. You'll easily be able to reach your fishing supplies, and when you aren't using it for fishing, you'll have a new container to fit your loose screws and bolts into. On Harbor Freight's website, we see that 94% of buyers have recommended the item, and it's really tough to go wrong with what's being offered for the price.

Needle nose pliers can come in handy at home when you need to trim down or cut wires. A pair only costs $3.99 from Harbor Freight, so there's a reason not to have a pair handy. As it turns out, having a pair of them can be important to have on a fishing trip. If you have to adjust your line, whether unknotting or shortening it, the pliers will come in handy. Another underrated part of having a pair of pliers like this will be removing hooks from a fish's mouth if you're lucky enough to catch one. Sometimes, removing a hook from a fish mouth isn't easy and could potentially cause you to hook yourself, so using needle nose pliers is a safer option.

The pliers are inexpensive enough that you can keep a pair exclusively for fishing if you don't want to have the same pliers that were inside of a fish's mount to be used for around-the-house things. Buyers note the inexpensive price and quality as two standout points. It's tough to argue, considering you're getting a solid set of pliers for under five dollars a pair.

If you're somebody who likes to do their fishing in the early morning or just after sunset, you'll want to have some lighting. You can easily use your cell phone for this, but you can opt for a lantern that'll allow you to converse phone life. The Braun lantern sold at Harbor Freight comes with a water-resistant build, so it's perfect for taking on a fishing trip. Reviews for this one in particular are nearly perfect, with a 4.9/5 rating on Harbor Freight's website.

There are a total of four different light settings — high, medium, low, and night — that will allow you to determine how bright or dark you want it to be on the water. This will be a better option than a phone, thanks to the 360 degrees of light, something a phone just isn't able to do. You can pick this up for $24.99, and even if you don't always use it for fishing, there are other ways it can be helpful. The relatively low price is a big selling point for many customers who left a review. A lantern is very nice to have while camping, for example, and Harbor Freight is full of things that will enhance your next trip.

A pair of gloves can be used for all sorts of things, but you might underestimate how helpful a pair can be while fishing. If you catch a fish, you'll eventually have to handle it with your hands. You'll want to have a nice pair of gloves to do that as they can be very slippery. Having a protective pair is even nicer, as nobody wants to get poked by a spiky fin or bit while handling their fresh catch. Harbor Freight offers a pair of Nitrile Dipped Nylon Work gloves that give you a non-slip grip while handling a fish. With these, you should have no problem handling your catch, and you can get a pair for just $1.99. At that price, it's easy to treat them as a one-time-use kind of thing if you're worried about them keeping that fishy smell forever.

There are three different sizes to choose from — medium, large, and X-large — so make sure you find the right size for you. While the low price already makes it worth it, 98% of Harbor Freight customers give these gloves a recommendation, with over 2,000 reviews on the website.

A portable power supply is great for ice fishing trips, and you'll be glad you brought one. An option that Harbor Freight shoppers recommend 97% of the time is the Jackery 400-watt power supply. While it's a bit pricy at $279.99, you'll find it's worth it as it can be used to power your phone, lights, air pumps, and more while you're out on the ice.

Buyers note it can hold a charge for months after it is charged, so expect it to last a long time if you don't deplete it to zero with a single use. If you're coming from a dead battery, it'll take eight hours to go up to full from a wall socket. A big bonus to this battery is the fact that it weighs less than seven pounds. This makes it easy to carry around, and there shouldn't be any concerns about setting it out on the ice with you. When the ice fishing season is over, there are a plethora of other scenarios in which you would use the Jackery, whether it be camping, on a road trip, during a power outage, or if you live the campervan lifestyle.