so, under the cover of a little white lie to get my lady down to milwaukee for a surprise bridal shower, i get to spend the day at bass pro shops (in illinois) and eat at buffalo wild wings. living the dream.

anyways, onto the meaty stuff, ill be at bass pro shop for the first time ever. i know there are some pretty neat things there and some store specific items as well. i know berkley flicker shads have some bass pro only paint patterns that are pretty neat.

so my question is what are the key things that i should look at that are only available at bass pro shop?

Ha! I was just at Bass Pro today! And furthermore it was partially cause of you Jax! ;).  

The #1 rule is figure out how much you can afford before you go in. I never do that and over spend every time. As a consequence I have literal piles of lures and tackle boxes that I probably couldn't use in 2 lifetimes. I used to fish a lot but now all I do is work. :P

#2 is give yourself plenty of time. I like at least a few hours. I go row by row, item by item. Handle the rods.......look at the reels. Check out the camping and clothing (although I seldom buy their camping or clothing).

#3 is don't go with your spouse or significant other unless they have their own credit card. During that couple of hours your walking around guess what? They are doing their own shopping! Waaaaaaa :'(.

#4 my only knock with Bass Pro is that the lighting could be better. I like to go during the day for that reason. The lighting at the Cabelas stores are much better.

Funny, the only thing that comes to mind BassPro specific is the soft baits. I was stuck on Yamamoto baits for some time due to diminished success with a few others I've tried, but the bass pro softbaits caught me with price and kept me with results. - The mounts and displays are really something. Everytime i go, i see something different. It's hard to soak it all in the first time through. Just the entry alone is loaded. oh yeah, Sawyer 24 oz. permethrin spray is 4.00 less than REI.

mastertangler wrote on Jun 2^nd, 2011 at 11:47pm:

The #1 rule is figure out how much you can afford before you go in. I never do that and over spend every time. As a consequence I have literal piles of lures and tackle boxes that I probably couldn't use in 2 lifetimes.

im going to ignore that rule, because piles of tackle sounds like a good thing to me! i balanced the checkbooks today, so im all set to go

mastertangler wrote on Jun 2^nd, 2011 at 11:47pm:

#2 is give yourself plenty of time. I like at least a few hours. I go row by row, item by item. Handle the rods.......look at the reels. Check out the camping and clothing (although I seldom buy their camping or clothing).

the trip is our manly get away when the girls are doing all their girl stuff. if that doesnt scream all the time in the world i dont know what does. when women get together, plan on 5 hours longer than they say it will be.


mastertangler wrote on Jun 2^nd, 2011 at 11:47pm:

#4 my only knock with Bass Pro is that the lighting could be better. I like to go during the day for that reason. The lighting at the Cabelas stores are much better.

thats actually a business technique ;) they save energy AND, heres the real reason, its like you are a fish under water! everything is darker, so what you see is more what the fish will!  ;D

as for the soft plastics, their triple ripple grubs are pretty nice. i got some as a gift many years ago and they are long gone now, but they did produce very well.

mastertangler wrote on Jun 2^nd, 2011 at 11:47pm:

#4 my only knock with Bass Pro is that the lighting could be better. I like to go during the day for that reason. The lighting at the Cabelas stores are much better.

i actually noticed this after a few visits. the lights in the fishing aisles are made from old metal minnow buckets. cool. not exactly very effective lighting, but cool.

well, sadly i didnt get to go. instead of going to bass pro, cabelas, gander, and buffalo wild wings, i had a surprise bachelor party instead. we went paintballing and i got shot up real bad. the 16 vs. 1 at the end was unnecessary, but i manned up and did it. it still was a fun weekend.

my brothers said bass pro was quite overpriced and not overly impressive. then again, they arent quite as into fishing as i am.

I too find BPS to be at the higher price point for the same stuff I can find at smaller stores.  The enormity of the store makes it fun.

Congrats on the bachelor party.  16 vs. 1 is definitely necessary.  It's a bachelor party.  There are hazing rituals.  Good of you to nut-up.

They still should have taken you to BPS & passed the hat for a little spending money.

In honour of your impending doom marriage, here's a little Tom Waits ditty:
all my friends are married
every Tom and Dick and Harry
you must be strong if you're
to go it alone
here's to the bachelors
and the bowery bums
and those who feel that they're the ones
who are better off without a wife

[CHORUS]
I like to sleep until the crack of noon
midnight howlin' at the moon
goin' out when I want to, comin' home when I please
I don't have to ask permission
if I want to go out fishin'
and I never have to ask for the keys

never been no Valentino
had a girl who lived in Reno
left me for a trumpet player
didn't get me down
he was wanted for assault
though he said it weren't his fault
well the coppers rode him right
out of town

[CHORUS]

selfish about my privacy
as long as I can be with me
we get along so well I can't believe
I love to chew the fat with folks
and listen to all your dirty jokes
I'm so thankful for these friends
I do receive

[CHORUS]

jaximus wrote on Jun 8^th, 2011 at 5:22pm:

my brothers said bass pro was quite overpriced and not overly impressive.

In Canada, they appear to be 5-10% more expensive than MEC for the camping gear I've checked. But they have lots of stuff I hadn't seen elsewhere. They seem 10-20% cheaper for fishing gear than The Fishin' Hole though.