Fishing Tackle at a Boat Dealership

[Starchalopakis]

The boat dealership for which I work for has been around for quite awhile and is well known in the area, however the dealership has mainly carried runabout style family boats, pontoons, and tournament wakeboard boats for the past 15 years and has neglected the bass boat and fishing market. We are now however, a Tracker dealer, so we have Nitros, Bass Trackers, and Trackers on our show room floor now. Here is where you guys come in. Management has now asked me to put up a small fishing tackle section out in our accessories department ( I am the resident fisherman, albeit I have been bass fishing for less than two years). So my question to you all is; what type of fishing items if any, would you be willing to buy from your boat dealership? Since we are a Tracker dealer I will have access to pretty much anything Bass Pro has. Should I just stick with terminal tackle/ line?  What types of items do you think you might buy if you were picking up your boat for service/ or drop - off? Thanks in advance guys!

[K_Mac]

I can't imagine that any boat dealership is going to be able to sell enough to justify the inventory. Fishing related items like landing nets, life jackets, rain gear might work. I would not be too hopeful though. Just my .02, good luck.

Edited February 17, 2016 by K_Mac
Spelling

[WRB]

I would suggest you take a look at Anglers Marine in Anaheim, call and talk to Rick Glover owner.

Tom

[whitwolf]

27 minutes ago, K_Mac said:

I can't imagine that any boat dealership is going to be able to sell enough to justify the inventory. Fishing related items like landing nets, life jackets, rain gear might work. I would not be to hopeful though. Just my .02, good luck.

K_Mac, I would tend to agree with this but there are certainly exceptions.

The local boat dealership(Foothills Marine) has the best tackle shop In three counties and gets their fair share of business from all three counties simply because they are reasonably priced, will order most anything they don't have, and work well In tandem with the dealership on upgrades of trolling motors, depth finders, etc. Another Important thing they do, and this Is within reason of course, they have listened well and keep In stock what works In this part of the state. The two guys that run the tackle shop and each boat salesman are all fisherman and will never hesitate to try and help you catch fish or at the very least point you In the right direction. 

I'm certainly not saying It would work everywhere but I do know they do well and each section feeds off the other.

[blongfishing]

I think you should have different things from each category (crankbaits, jigs, topwater, etc.). Just have small amounts of each. Although, like someone said above, the demand for fishing baits in a boat showroom may not be big. Get something from a smaller company and try it out. 

[fishballer06]

I would just stick to the big seller items that everyone uses I.E. Rattle traps, 1.5's, DT's, and maybe a spinnerbait or two. 

[Last_Cast]

Way to much to list.
A little of everything.

[wnspain]

Never been in the sales business but if I were buying a boat (fishing) I would be looking for accessories that would be a necessity rather than baits and tackle. I'd stick to the higher end stuff like shallow water anchors, raingear, fishfinders and graphs, trolling motors, etc.   Just my .02 but if I were buying...I'd be looking for that type of stuff first...not baits and terminal tackle.  

[CJ]

I ran a local store for a while. First off, I agree with wnspain on depth finders. That's were the money is at. If the ownership would be willing to expand into installing upgraded units, it is sure going over good around here. The money is in the labor for installment. As far as tackle, that is location sensitive. While if it were on KY Lake, I would say start with the Strike King line of baits but in Cali I would look at what does best in your area.

[FloridaFishinFool]

I would suggest the basics... cheap mono line, hooks, sinkers, bobbers, and small selection of common lures. A setup like this is just to provide the basics and nothing more.

The problem with setups like this is that usually the prices are too high and sales will be minimal to non-existent.

[Starchalopakis]

16 hours ago, K_Mac said:

I can't imagine that any boat dealership is going to be able to sell enough to justify the inventory. Fishing related items like landing nets, life jackets, rain gear might work. I would not be too hopeful though. Just my .02, good luck.

That's more or less what I told my boss who happens to be a good friend. Also, there is also already a tackle shop about 15 miles away that is fairly new and has been doing pretty well it seems and has a lot to offer inventory wise, so I don't know if we would be stepping on any toes there or not, as they are nice people and have done business with us.  But I am with you,  it does not seem like it would make much sense $ wise.

Thank you all for the input I really appreciate it, I have been making of list of all of your suggestions. One of the other problems I see is the non fisherman salesman just being pretty much out of their element when helping people with specific fishing items, and maybe blowing off customers. The idea is has not been finalized yet, but you do give me a lot to think about. Thank you!

[Heron]

Roman made Mother, and Banjo Minnows

[TxHawgs]

25 minutes ago, Heron said:

Roman made Mother, and Banjo Minnows

Don't forget the Roland Martin Helicopter lure, yea buddy! Caught more fish on that bait then any other. Constantly searching ebay to keep me in stocked on them. Truth is its the only bait I need on the boat anymore. I have the most success fishing it around shear cliffs and letting it helicopter down weightless in 80 to 120ft of water, and hold on. The strikes are arm breaking. We also use it offshore trolling for tuna on one of those green sticks. Oh almost forgot it works great on Alabama rigs also.

[EvanT123]

The boat shop near the boat launch has a small tackle section.  They have things like flukes, senkos, keitechs, some jerkbaits and Zara spooks.  

I talked to the owner and he said he likes to talk to the guys fishing tourneys on the river and try's to stock what they suggest. 

If there is a body of water near you and any tournaments; might not be a bad idea to pick some of the anglers brains. 

[Fishinthefish]

I honestly struggle to find the tackle I need after visiting three major stores like Cabelas,DSG and Gander Mountian and always end up having to order different stuff online. So it would be very difficult if you're only allowed to allocate a small area for fishing gear. If I was you I'd have headlamps, scissors, pliers, scales, measuring tools, life jackets, nets, storage picked bags and boxes specifically that fit inside the boat storage areas you're selling. It'd be hard with limited space to set up a tackle selection worth visiting if you have any of the bigger outdoor stores anywhere near you.

[Murrica]

In my opinion a lot of it can depend on your location.  If you are right on the water and there isn't another tackle shop relatively close to the water where someone can dock and walk up to I don't think it would work too well.  If you are on the water just carry all of the stuff that works on the lake or local water.  If you are in town and you carry stuff other local places don't like the higher end baits IE: megabass, evergreen, other JDM stuff.  You might hit the market that way.  

[Rick Howard]

I am not a fishing retail expert, but I have some experience in a different retail industry.  The stuff that made money were the expendables.  In my case, golf balls, tees, gloves, blah blah blah you get the picture. I see the fishing expendables like lures being dead inventory for a boat dealer.  That is unless they are all in and draw people beyond boat sales making regular customers for those product.  Which is more risk that I would want to take on.  

If it were me, I would have rods, reels, tackle boxes, line, and a few expendables like bobbers, hooks, jig heads, and plastic grubs.  My efforts would focus on pan fish.  I think it is unlikely that you get a new angler who is one stop shopping for a $10,000+ boat and all the goods to with it.  I think it is unlikely that a veteran angler whom is purchasing a new boat will take the time to buy $10 worth of stuff he/she already has.  The customer you may catch are the folks buying a family boat and pick up a couple setups for the family to fish with on their outings (hence why I recommended pan fish accessories).

I would also focus on bigger items like depth finders, trolling motors, anchor systems and their installations.   

[contium]

On 2/16/2016 at 3:54 PM, WRB said:

I would suggest you take a look at Anglers Marine in Anaheim, call and talk to Rick Glover owner.

Tom

That's were I bought my boat and often shop there for tackle as well. Been buying fishing gear there for probably 25+ years. Not sure how profitable tackle is for them but in the long run, I bought a boat so you have to look at it from that angle as well. I would much rather buy a boat from a shop full of fisherman than just some boat salesman.

[SPECIAL ENGINEER]

1 hour ago, Murrica said:

In my opinion a lot of it can depend on your location.  If you are right on the water and there isn't another tackle shop relatively close to the water where someone can dock and walk up to I don't think it would work too well.  If you are on the water just carry all of the stuff that works on the lake or local water.  If you are in town and you carry stuff other local places don't like the higher end baits IE: megabass, evergreen, other JDM stuff.  You might hit the market that way.  

I agree with carrying higher end lures.

Initially, you probably will not make much money on the tackle.

I think you could use the lures and tackle to help draw customers in. I think targeting the higher end lures, especially popular lures that are not readily available locally will bring potential boat customers in the door. 

I don't think there will be much benefit in carrying a bunch of cheaper lures. Cheap lures require the same amount of floor space but generate much lower profit per item.

Plus we all know how hard it is to resist picking up a new bait that you have heard about but have had a chance to use. People dropping off or picking up their boats for service will probably take a stroll over to the lures and you may pick up some impulse buys.