Best Fishing Store You’ve been in

[papajoe222]

On a trip up to Leech Lake a few years ago, I stopped at Swanson's Bait and Tackle in Hackensack, MN. I wish there was a place like that within 100mi. because I'd be visiting there monthly.  I have a Bass Pro and a Cabella's both within an hour drive and maybe visit them once a year.

[Kirtley Howe]

Years ago there was a small drug store chain called Fays' Drugs. They had several (maybe a total of 20 or so?) drug stores spread around New York State.  The store in Ithaca NY (where Cayuga Lake is located) had the absolutely BEST fishing tackle selection, and great prices. I should point out that it was the ONLY store in the chain that sold any sporting goods.  The whole store chain sold out to Eckard Drugs, which in turn sold out to JC Penny, then was sold off to another drug chain. And then was shut down.  Unfortunately, after the sale to Eckard Drugs, the company gutted the fishing department, as they said it did not fit with their business plan.  To quote the company spokesman  "Who goes to a drug store to buy fishing tackle?".  Of course, when they did away with the fishing tackle, they lost over half of their customer base.....and I don't think the store ever turned a profit again through all the different owners.  I sure miss that store.

[Aaron_H]

Bitter's Bait & Tackle in Longwood, FL. Fantastic selection of lures, their own soft plastics in every variation and color you could want, as well as a great selection of rods and reels from low to high end. Great customer service and locally owned.

[Captain Phil]

4 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

Bitter's Bait & Tackle in Longwood, FL. Fantastic selection of lures, their own soft plastics in every variation and color you could want, as well as a great selection of rods and reels from low to high end. Great customer service and locally owned.

 

Bitters is one of the best in Central Florida.  Here in Eustis we have a small tackle shop that looks like it came out of a time warp. It's called Owens Bait and Tackle and it's on the north side of town.  This is the way tackle shops were when I was young.  Minnows and shiners are swimming in the tanks.  Crickets are chirping. Lures are hanging off every wall and they have a room full of rods. The place is so stacked with stuff you can hardly move around.  Prices are OK.  If you need something right now or you want to browse. it's a great place to go.

[ironbjorn]

I'm a Disney princess who has just fallen in love every time I walk into ALF

[The Bassman]

13 hours ago, FishTank said:

Unfortunately, we really don't have a good one near Indianapolis any more.

 

My favorite use to be Angler's World on the Indy's east side but it went out of business. They had all the best stuff and good prices. They would sometimes run sales on stuff that they probably weren't supposed to for their frequent customers.  I sure do miss them. 

 

Agree with all of that. Can't remember the owner's name but he would always send you away with "Have a phenomenal day". Other than Cabelas in Noblesville the only others I can think of are The Outdoorsman in Greenwood and Honey Creek in Bargersville. I never feel particularly welcome in either of those. They seem to be a bit cliquish with their regulars. Tackle Service in Moorseville is another but haven't been there in a good while. Selection is a bit limited.

[ironbjorn]

1 minute ago, The Bassman said:

Agree with all of that. Can't remember the owner's name but he would always send you away with "Have a phenomenal day". Other than Cabelas in Noblesville the only others I can think of are The Outdoorsman in Greenwood and Honey Creek in Bargersville. I never feel particularly welcome in either of those. They seem to be a bit cliquish with their regulars. Tackle Service in Moorseville is another but haven't been there in a good while. Selection is a bit limited.

I live in Mooresville. Selection is more than limited these days unfortunately. A few gems but totally meh.

[ironbjorn]

13 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

Agree with all of that. Can't remember the owner's name but he would always send you away with "Have a phenomenal day". Other than Cabelas in Noblesville the only others I can think of are The Outdoorsman in Greenwood and Honey Creek in Bargersville. I never feel particularly welcome in either of those. They seem to be a bit cliquish with their regulars. Tackle Service in Moorseville is another but haven't been there in a good while. Selection is a bit limited.

Oh and this part always make me laugh. So in person the store is janky little fishing shop with odds and ends. However if you go to the website it's all about guns. It's like the store is a front for arms dealers. Cracks me up and makes no sense but whatever.

[Phelptwan]

D&R Sports (VanDam Warehouse online) has generally been the best I've gone to.  Lot easier to find stuff now that they redid the store.

[Jmurphy87]

In my area I would say D&R sports center, I haven't ventured too far from Allegan, Kalamazoo County. Although I did stop at sportmans warehouse in Lansing while making a car payment, they had quite a bit of different rods that I haven't seen around here yet.

[DogBone_384]

There are two local shops I do most of my shopping at.  

• Sportsman's Den in Quincy, MA for guns, ammo, live bait, and salt water fishing gear.  Ron's a great guy and knows most of his customers by first name.
• MGC Fishing in Hanover, MA.  MGC is THE swimbait store around the area.  He stocks quality equipment and has a better selection than my local DSG & BPS.

[Steveo-1969]

For river smallmouth fishing the best store I’ve ever been in is Susquehanna Fishing Tackle in Columbia, PA.

[WRB]

What is or was so special about the mom & pop local tackle stores that specialized in bass fishing was the clientele. The store became a gathering place for local bass anglers to get together and share what going on. We often met for lunch at a local eatery to catch up on what’s going with our lives and bs about fishing. 

It was a special time that we all thought would last forever, unfortunately it didn’t. 

The isles of these stores were filled with local hand poured soft plastics, hand made big swimbaits, custom swimbait rods made locally, tackle that wasn’t wasn’t available in larger stores or big box stores. The customers included the local custom lures makers that would make to order whatever you needed. 

Who’s who in the top bass anglers would drop in to visit or go to lunch.

Then online warehouses like TW started up, the custom tackle was now available online and the Mom & Pop stores started to close. Today very few are around SoCal but the clientele no longer gather or go to lunch anymore, that era is gone along with the anglers.

Tom

 

 

[cyclops2]

Sadly You are so correct.  

 

Bigger faster  Less talk Higher prices faster.    Now I fish from my key board.     ?

[Jp_midwest]

in northern Illinois there aren't many good shops and especially ones that almost specialize in JDM but the ones there are, are really good. my two favorite two are Anglers international resources in palatine IL. and LEE'S bait and tackle elk grove village/shamburg. both are awesome and carry a wide selection. anglers international have a selection of a lot of  megabass, jackall and also "normal" bait brands (zoom, googan, ETC...) and LEE'S has more of that "JDM" feel they carry the more known "JDM" brands but then they carry brands such as Nories,deps,fish arrow, deps, gancraft. so if your more into JDM LEE's is the place for you. my favorite big box store is the bass pro shops in springfield MO

[DINK WHISPERER]

Bass Pro Shop in Orlando FL

[Trox]

TackleAddict @ Rayburn and TightLines in Killeen, TX near Belton and Stillhouse Hollow Lake

[Chris at Tech]

Hammonds Fishing Center off Lake Lanier sets the standard for Mom and Pop tackle stores as far as I'm concerned!

 

For any of you who watch Mikeybalzz's youtube channel, he's done a video walkthrough of Hammonds before.

[flatcreek]

34 minutes ago, Chris at Tech said:

Hammonds Fishing Center off Lake Lanier sets the standard for Mom and Pop tackle stores as far as I'm concerned!

 

For any of you who watch Mikeybalzz's youtube channel, he's done a video walkthrough of Hammonds before.

Hammonds is the deal

[SC53]

Another vote for Bitters Bait & Tackle in Longwood FL.
John Bitters, the owner who I’ve known for over 30 years, is a seasoned tournament angler. His brother is Jim Bitters.
He knows what works and stocks it. He has colors of plastics no one else has as he has his own brand and has created some unique colors. 
 

Tim’s Tackle in Orlando is another but no longer in existence. 
 

Tournament Tackle in Hollywood FL was a saltwater anglers dream store. It was run by Don and Barbara Ferguson who won a lot of offshore tournaments in their day out of a 23’ Seacraft. I doubt it’s still there though. 

[jlew]

Aberdeen Bait and Tackle- Aberdeen, NC

Okeechobee Fishing Headquarters- Okeechobee, FL

Fast Break Bait and Tackle- Okeechobee, FL

44 Bait and Tackle- Inverness, FL

 

Always something to buy...

[CM-fisher]

Scheels in Eden Prairie and Fleet Farm in Lakeville, MN get my vote for large stores. Sportsman's warehouse in Coon Rapids is solid and has a large selection also. On a local level, Prior Lake bait & tackle on lower Prior is a great small tackle shop, though the selection is mainly meant for supplying stuff you might've forgotten at home and not for actual shopping. Overall a good place, I mainly go there for ice fishing and they have many types of live minnows as well, which is nice. I used to go to Camping world in Lakeville because they had crazy cheap minnows and a decent selection of tackle, but lately they stopped selling live bait and their fishing shelves are almost bare.

[Jaderose]

Frontier Sports and Convenience Store on HWY 38 in Marcell Minnesota.    Out in the middle of nowhere in the Chippewa National Forest.  Used to go up there every year and always loved going to Frontier.  The Manager (since retired) was a great dude and taught me a lot about a fishing in Minnesota.  He got a LOT of money outta me, too.  Not the biggest or the best but I sure loved going in there when I was up there.

 

On 2/24/2022 at 4:32 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Roger's Sporting Goods in Liberty, MO was great at one point but isn't nearly as good anymore.

 

 

Was also gonna say this.  Last time I was in there, it was pitiful.  I mean, Pandemic and all but it was BAD and made me sad.  I think the best tackle shop in KC that I know of is that dude over in Smithville that sells stuff out of his garage

[2tall79]

Bass Pro Shops.....Las Vegas

[river-rat]

 

Bacon's Tackle in Shreveport, LA - been in business since 1926. Huge selection with very knowledgeable staff. Also, Mike Bacon has what is most likely the largest collection  of Smithwick Lures in existence.

 

Bitter's Bait & Tackle in  Longwood FL

 

Tackle Addict in Brookeland, TX