New Bass Pro Shop opens today

[mattplapp]

Yes any and every bass pro shops will be bigger than a small store like ours as far as tackle goes. Boats, they can't touch us, especailly on quality of product.

Now does bigger mean better on the tackle end of it???? I don't think so, most chain stores purchase their tackle once a year and the same for every store nationwide. A small local tackle store orders only for their market, every week with the local anglers guidance. So if a roadkill camo with purple spec tube is hitting on Barren, then the local guy can get that it everyday of the week if need be. Plus the small guys have the ability to carry lots of local and regional baits that the big boys don't even know about. I would bet money that our tackle store would smoke any national chain 10 out of 10 times when it comes to putting in the anglers hands baits for the area, not just our store but a lot of local tackle stores around the state like Backwaters in Somerset or Black Hawk in Indy. Take those items and the fact that you will get expert advise every time at a local tackle store and you will find yourself bypassing the big box stores after the honeymoon.

Matt Plapp

[Dave Stewart]

Matt: Good point on the chain store vs the small business store. If we as anglers do not support the smaller tackle shops they won't be around for long....seems another BPS is opening every month. Just like Wal-Mart....there are 5 Wal-mart superstores within 25 miles of my house and I live in a rural setting. There definitely is a difference between dealing with a small tackle shop than with BPS. Last time I stopped in at the Nashville store I was asked by one of the employees working the fishing area if they could help me...I was wondering around looking some slab spoons....the guy asked me to describe what a slab spoon was....I told him if he didn't know he needed to go to work at Wal-mart...they don't know what one is either.

[mattplapp]

Time will catch up with Bass Pro and other Big Box Retailers. Now Wall Street demands new stores to keep increasing their cash flow, but soon enough there will be too many and it will start to go the other way.

Look at Krispy Kreme. They had a small presence in our market up here in NKY and Cincinnati back in 1999, by 2003 they had a store on about every corner, donuts in every gas station and grocery store and Wall Street Loved them. But then sales flattened and started to go down because the new-ness wore off. Now today there is not 1 single stand alone Krispy Kreme in this market and their presence is minimal.

It's the American way sometimes, but I think once all the dust clears, fisherman in every market realize what you get from a local well run tackle store versus the big guys.

Happy Turkey Day,
Matt

[MikeAxsom]

I don't get out of my home area much, but last summer I drove out west on a business trip and made my first stop at a BPS. I had stopped to see if they had a particular type of ultralight rod I was looking for. I had driven about 4 hours when I pulled in and was in a notable hurry to get to a bathroom before starting to look around. I was stopped about halfway through the store by a guy who was pitching a deal on cabin rentals at Gatlinburg, TN. He was as insistant as a door-to-door Bible salesman and by the time I convinced him that I really needed to get on about my business it was almost too late for that business. On the way back through I was stopped again by someone pitching something else and had to rescue myself in order to get to the fishing rod area. I did indeed find the rod and bought it, but I may never go back into that high pressure sales environment again. Are all the BPS stores like that?

[Topwater2004]

Mike,

I believe all their stores have this going on. I had seen the same thing in Cincinnati and Charlotte stores.

Its still better to put up with that, than to go the the Gander Mountain in Terre Haute. I like the Gander Mountain in Indy, so was excited to hear they were putting one in Terre Haute.

The fishing department is the most pathetic excuse for a tackle shop of that size, you almost can't believe it. Real short on Rattle Trap selection, Yozuri selection is small with most baits big enough to go great white shark fishing with. It looks like they fitted the store with baits that didn't sell anywhere else.

The only good selection is Rapala's and Bandit, and Yum plastics. Zoom plastics area is small, and not much selection. It is a major let down. I even tried to talk to the manager and asked him just set it up like the Indy store, and he didn't want to change a thing.

I will save my money and go to BassPro or just order it online and pay the shipping, with gas being what it is.

topwater

[Viper201]

Mike,i've never seen or dealt with any timeshare salesmen at a BPS outdoor world anywhere and i've been to 4 different locations.In your situation i would have been a little frustrated also but i wouldn't let that stop me from going back to the store,i'd simply blow the person off and go about my business next time.Awesome stores and apparently i'm not the only guy that feels this way or they wouldn't keep opening them.There is a new one opening this coming monday,november 28th just east of knoxville tennessee and only 5 miles from douglass lake,i'll be there next month to fish and can't wait to check out that new store.

[MikeAxsom]

Viper201, the store I was in at the time of the sales pitch was in St. Louis, MO. I agree that the BPS stores have a lot of great stuff and I'm sure my outdoor gadget addiction will find me in them again. But I was put oof with the come-on I was hit with that day. I have shopped at Cablea's stores for years and never pass one up while treaveling; and have never been approached like that in one of them. I do like shoppinhg in the outdoor superstores, even if my budget always leaves me wanting more than I can afford.

[crappie66]

Mike, you should have countered his sales pitch, by trying to sell him on a time share at West Boggs.

[MikeAxsom]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-28-05 AT 01:34PM (EST)[/font][p]LOL. I'll remember that next time. I suppose SOMEONE must buy from those sales pitches, or they would not keep doing them; but I don't know anyone personally who will admit to it. Maybe my lack of understanding on that type of sales is why I never seem to have enough money when I'm out shopping, do ya think? I have began using a new trick on the telemarketers who try to raise funds for the charities, like my persoanl nemisis the Indiana State Police Alliance. They call about once a week, and it is always a new person who can't answer any questions about the Indiana State Police. I have started telling them that I will give them a donation of $50, but they have to come and pick it up. If they can get an ISP car to come to my house, I'll write them a check. So far no one has showed up. I think I'll up my contribution offer to $100 since it is Christmas time.

[Topwater2004]

Dave,

You can get some information from the smaller tackle shops, but sometimes they too are a little short on providing it. Many times I have asked at a bait shop what the bite is or pattern and can't get too much info.

It is also true that the help in these large stores lack knowledge of the sport in many cases, but lets face it those jobs are not supporting a family on minimum wage so you can't have a true professional working for $6/hr in the store.

As in your case, you are a true professional and no matter what tackle shop you go to, I doubt that the help or owner even could keep up with you on fishing knowledge. I admit that I myself don't know what a slab spoon is, but I have a good idea and could find it quickly if I worked in a tackle shop.

My goal this year was to become a better crankbait angler. I actually was a better crankbait angler 15 years ago than I am now, and was trying to get some of the skill back. Went out and bought $250 worth of what I thought would work, and had some success but never tore em' up like I do on plastics.

So what did I do, I put the cranks down again and pretty much fished plastics. Got a big full box of shiny pretty crankbaits though, looks impressive anyway.

Good luck and let me know when that Kentucky Lake tailwater bite takes off in the spring. I want to give it a shot.

topwater

[Dave Stewart]

Jackson: Thanks for the kind words. The small tackle shops I normally frequent here at Ky Lake are pretty good about talking to folks...I know I follow up with some of my clients that I recommend a certain shop to get their baits and ask them what they thought of the shop and/or the folks there..mainly because if they don't treat my clients right I don't recommend them anymore. Haven't had much of that happen but I have had it happen and one in particular that I even suggest to my clients that they do not do business there....the folks there will tell you anything to get you to buy a lure....I hate folks that think they have to do business like that. Of course their business rep suffers in the end just as the one I mentioned has.

Sorry to hear about the luck with the crankbaits...I like to fish crankbaits too but just like all the other techniques..I have found that you don't need a whole lot of different patterns...just some of the higher percentage color patterns in different running depths. Took me years to figure that out and not go overboard on buying a lot of different baits...of course like most folks at that end of every season I will go thru my stuff acquired that year and weed out those lures that either never get thrown or don't produce on a high percentage basis...there are so many times a weird color will come out and be hot for a week or two then they never hit it again....If one looks at the lures they catch fish on most of the time they will see that a very high percentage of them have been repeaters for years and still sell well.

I don't keep up with the tailwaters bite much as I don't fish down there....not that you can't catch fish there..I just have too much lake water to cover on the other side. Hope when you come down you tear them up though and even better on some of those crankbaits you have.

[Topwater2004]

Dave,

Thanks for the info, I plan on fishing Kentucky Lake this next season. Bought a map and never went last season, every time I brought it up, nobody wanted to go.

I found a great lake up in Wisconsin to fish, and ended up going there all 3 vacations I had last season. Got hooked on smallmouth up there.

I did ok on crankbaits this year, just seems like the plastics are what I do best. Probably just a confidence thing. I do pretty well with spinnerbaits too. They are my favorite baits because many times I can see the strike as it happens, you get that extra adrenaline going when you see the strike a split second before you feel it.

I want to fish Guntersville, Pickwick, and Kentucky Lake all next season.

I know what you mean about having a lot of water to cover, I was studying maps of Kentucky Lake and Guntersville last spring planning a trip and it is intimidating trying to figure out where to begin. Big water on a map, even bigger when you get to that ramp and look out and take it in.