Supporting Mom And Pop

[Montanaro]

Went to a local outdoor store yesterday after work as I was bored.  I haven't been there in a couple years since it opened and wasn't blown away.  But yesterday...well I blew an hour without realizing it and spent 50 bucks.

 

They had every koppers live target product, almost all of the strike king KVD crankbaits, and a very large assortment of rapala lures.  High quality lines, rods, reels (rods were mostly spinning though, not many baitcasters).  Also a nice selection of soft plastics and are willing to order what you request. 

 

I had to pay a little bit more than I would have on tackle warehouse, but supporting a local business and getting the bait monkey off my back instantly feels good.

 

Does anyone else prefer their local shops over large chains (Cabelas, BPS, Gander Mountain) and online stores?

[The Young Gun]

Yes, nothing against TW (there products are just as good) but I love helping out a local mom and pop shops.

[basshavoc]

^ Agreed

[Fishes in trees]

I can't help it, I'll shop them all, and I'll buy from all of them.  I think that here in the KC Metro area we are blessed,  with 2 BPS stores, 1 Cabelas, multiple Dicks outlets and an outstanding independent tackle store (Rogers Lures in Liberty, MO).  Together they keep each other fairly honest, price wise.  At different points during the year, each one of them have decent sales.

["BRB"]

Yes, I normal go to my local outdoor shop. I like to interact with people verous just ordering over the internet. Plus to retrun something is so much easier than having to mail it off. I am at the point know that i know all the guys that work there and a lot of time they will cut me deals on some products. It is one of the places when i feel i am ready to try and get sponsor i should not have any problem with them. I pay a little more, but it is extremely handy to have a place in my town that carries quality equipment if i need it today.

[Bankbeater]

A lot of times the small mom and pop places will have carry products and colors that BPS, Cabela's, and TW don't carry.

[roadwarrior]

Gray's Tackle Shop  Sheffield, AL

 

Big Red's Bait & Tackle  Lakeview, AR

 

Arkansas Rod & Reel  Little Rock, AR

 

The Cabin Bait and Tackle Kuttawa, KY

 

Fisherman's Headquarters  Benton, KY

[TRYTOFISH]

went to a new one yesterday in derby. they are getting few and far between at least around here. spent about 30 min just talking to old guy and buying some home made jigs. I really enjoyed the atmosphere. kinda like it was when I was a kid remembering and seeing all the bait tanks from crawdads to frogs and every live bait in between. I hope he can stay in buissnes cause they don't seem to last very long around here.

[smalljaw67]

That is how I prefer to shop but where I live the mom and pop stores got hammered by both a Cabelas opening in 2003 and a Bass pro shops in 2005. I do use mostly custom soft plastics made by small manufacturers and I still frequent 2 local tackle shops but when I need a rod or reel I need to go to TW.

[Primus]

Yes, nothing against TW (there products are just as good) but I love helping out a local mom and pop shops.

 

X2, unless you are getting gouged buying local is good for the community. That said I will use the online retailers for stuff the local retailers don't carry.

[CDobber]

My local Mom and Pop is a family chain of hardware stores tied in with Ace.  They just closed their store on the NE side of town (very close to our largest lake and one of its most popular launch sites), though I have heard it wasn't run well.  The one I stop at isn't really by any lakes but the entire basement is fishing.  I have spent too much money there in the last 12 months or so as I've gotten into the hobby but do feel good about helping out the little guy.  We have NO BPS in the entire state, 2 Cabela's that are each 90 min/2 hr away, no Gander Mountain's closer than 30-45 min away, and Dick's seems expensive and is definitely limited in color selection/brands though overall has a decent selection.  Its strange to me, we have 4 good sized lakes within the metro Madison area, plenty of whitetail deer hunting and various other factors with central location and such, and yet we don't have any of the big dogs in the market.  

[AK-Jax86]

The mom and pops around here are just bait shops basically. They carry little tackle so I have to go to places like Gamder Mountain, Dicks, and Academy. We have this place strike zone that I went to they had some good prices and a lot of stuff that the big chains don't, not sure of they are a mom and pop though

[J Francho]

I get my trout fishing stuff at Fat Nancy's in Pulaski, NY. Otherwise, very few small bait shops have what I need, aside from the odd bag of hooks or plastics.

[WRB]

Twenty years ago we had several local tackle shops supporting bass anglers with state of the tackle. Today the local bass shops are gone with the exception of a few general tackle shops catering to both salt and fresh water fishing. Mom & Pop can't compete for your $$ with mail order.

If you want to touch and feel a Loomis NRX rod for example, the local small tackle shop can't afford to keep several models on hand, they may have a few, most don't.

We have knowone but ourselves to blame.

Tom

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I get my trout fishing stuff at Fat Nancy's in Pulaski, NY. Otherwise, very few small bait shops have what I need, aside from the odd bag of hooks or plastics.

I like this shop too. It's upscale for an independent, plus Nancy's an eyeful!

[tholmes]

I wish there was a bait & tackle shop in my area. The ONLY place in town that has anything at all is Wal-Mart. I'd have to drive 2 hrs. to Wichita to find a decent shop. A large part of my tackle purchases are via the interwebz.

 

Tom

[CountBassula]

I recently started to buy from the sponsors here (Siebert Outdoors and Rage Tail baits). I don't know of any mom & pop shops in S.E.FL that have much if any bass fishing equipment, it's all geared toward ocean fisherman here...

[MarkH024]

Lee's Bait and Tackle in Elk Grove Village, IL and The Salmon Shop in Palatine, IL are the only two I visit on a rare occasion.  I have a Cabelas in less than a 10 minute drive and a Bass Pro 30 minutes away. Even DSG and Wally World doesn't have much offerings because of the competition.

I am turning more to an online guy anyway including a few of our sponsors.  More offerings with low rate shipping. It's just easier I guess.  I'd love to support more of the mom&pop shops but they seem to be dying out around here.

[J Francho]

Catch and Release, Northstar, Siebert, Megastrike, PMBB, Hawgtech, and DVT are all family run businesses, and they support this great forum. They also happen to sell the best in class products in the industry, which makes supporting them even easier.

[SudburyBasser]

Ramakkos in Sudbury, Ontario. Love it and way too many entries on my credit cards and bank statements have that name as a debit.

 

That said, there is some stuff they don't carry -- Megabass lures, for example -- so I do occasionally hit BPS or eBay for stuff I can't get and Gary Yamamoto doesn't deal directly with Canadian stores so finding Senkos outside of a few limited colours is impossible locally so I will order from out of town for that stuff.

[tomustang]

My local M&P's are all trout related, trout are a magnet too strong for other species here. Even my local bigger box stores have a weak collection of bass gear.

 

 

 

Catch and Release, Northstar, Siebert, Megastrike, PMBB, Hawgtech, and DVT are all family run businesses, and they support this great forum. They also happen to sell the best in class products in the industry, which makes supporting them even easier.

 

It's a good thing I can get Megastrike at DSG

[Quitlimpin]

Any of you guys in the DFW area should check out Anglers Pro Tackle in North Richland Hills. It's as good a tackle store as you will find anywhere. If they don't have it, just let em know, and they'll get it.

[bigbill]

I spend $40/$50 dollars every time I go in. I buy a lot of clearances lures and give it away to the kids.

I also share the wealth at our sponcers here too besides cabelas, Bps and brannans in Texas. Everyone has to eat too.

I'm disabled and can't walk too far so I mail order most of my stuff.

I fish not far from the car. I'm blessed to have hotter places to fish closeby.

[flyfisher]

I support the local whenever i can which for me is mainly Surf Side Bait & Tackle here in Mechanicsville outside of Richmond Virginia.  They have a pretty good selection of tackle although i do wish they were a St. Croix dealer but i am pretty set for rods for a while.....

 

My fly fishing stuff i order pretty much everything online except for the things i need right away then i head to Bass Pro.  

[Paul Peixoto]

I guess  I'm gonna be the negative one. There is a place by my job in Parsippany, nj.  The place  is on 46 and let me tell you they were trying to sell there stuff for 175% Msrp. Jitterbugs were somewhere around 9$ . PLACES like this I can't stand being a frugal fisherman and all.  I just cant pay that much when I know I can get  almost 2 for the price they are charging