Academy h20 lures discontinued?

[Drew03cmc]

4 hours ago, MAN said:

 

Yes, you will see it start trickling in the stores late October/early November.  Definitely take advantage on the great pricing on everything H20Xpress right now!!!  

May I ask the source of this info? Are you an employee or executive? I'm okay with a rebranding, as long as quality doesn't change. 

 

Went and bought 4 more frogs, 5 more cranks and another jerkbait at another store today, total, $10. 

[Log Catcher]

12 hours ago, fin said:

That's interesting. Were the H2O marked for clearance? That would be odd, a brand new store with stuff marked for clearance, but I could see it happening. I wonder if that store has the new branding/packaging?

These were not marked for clearance. The one I bought was a CRM model and paid $4.49 for it. These were still in the old packaging. 

6 hours ago, king fisher said:

I went on the Academy website, to see if I could get some good deals on H2O crankbaits.  They show only two hard baits, and they are the regular price.  I looked at other of brands hard baits, on their site, and was surprised to see the same thing.  Normal soft bait selection, but hard baits are no where to be found.  Strange that Rapala, and Strike King crankbaits were also being eliminated.  I hope this is a temporary situation.  H2O square bills are as good as any plastic crankbaits made.

I looked at Academys website today. It shows a lot baits out of stock even in the store here. I don't think they sold out of all those baits in one day. I really didn'y notice anything about Rapala or Strike King being eliminated.

[Log Catcher]

Our local newspaper had the story about Academy opening up here. It said this is one of 9 new stores they are planning to open. It did not say where the others would be located.

[Fishlegs]

I stopped by my local academy yesterday, and the aisle where the H2O Xpress baits are supposed to be was filled with gaiters. It made me think the lure brand might not be coming back, and that makes me sad. I hope I’m wrong.

[ChrisD46]

*I used to think my local Academy stores were having serious supply chain issues - now I question their commitment to fishing ? Prices in some cases are higher than the notoriously expensive other big stores , H2O and other hard / soft baits sell out and are not replaced - not sure what to think currently as we still have plenty of good fishing weather here in the South ? 

[Aaron_H]

I'm not worrying about it, MAN is a valid source for this info. My only hope is the Ultimate Jerk Shad isn't changed.

 

On 9/26/2022 at 11:38 AM, MAN said:

Its because you will see H20X in its place soon.  

 

On 9/27/2022 at 11:26 AM, MAN said:

 

Yes, you will see it start trickling in the stores late October/early November.  Definitely take advantage on the great pricing on everything H20Xpress right now!!!  

 

I would be surprised if the store wasn't making use of the shelf space in the time before the new product is stocked. Empty shelves are generally a bad look for a big box retailer.

[Lead Head]

It's normal for academy to clearance out stuff, then stock the area with something different for things they consider seasonal. Smaller stores do it more drastically than larger stores. If you have never noticed this pattern in the past maybe your store is one of the bigger ones. It's possible things have changed in the 10 years since I worked for them, but that's how it was back then. I wouldn't be too worried about it unless they still haven't showed back up by next spring.

 

It was my understanding that nobody at our location had any control over what was sent to us or stocked. We could have stuff sent to us from another store for customers but couldn't actually order anything in, so it's not surprising that the employees couldn't answer your questions. 

[wdp]

I’ve been noticing same trend in our area Academy stores: Olive Branch, MS; Collierville, TN; Starkville, MS. They are totally out of the H2O express hardbaits now. I asked an employee last night if they were discontinuing the baits & he had no clue. Says nobody tells them anything.

 

There are actually folding chairs stocked in the section now where the H2O hardbaits we’re located. ? Actually, stocking in the whole fishing dept is very lacking! I’m hoping this is just temporary as fishing season winds down. Guess we’ll see next spring if the inventory gets restocked. Really hoping the H2O hardbaits come back. 

[rboat]

Checked several stores in my area and all the H20 baits are gone. As everyone has said, I hope this is a temporary seasonal change. Dang, I was hoping to buy some H20 baits for myself for Xmas! ?

[Fishlegs]

I asked someone at my local academy about this recently. He said that they were just rebranding like someone mentioned earlier in the thread.

 

He told me that they were already starting to get some of the new H2O stuff. That made me very happy. ?

[steve carpenter]

Went to the Killeen texas store today. They had a number of H2 baits and others I have not seen before. The packaging is different. Crank baits, hard swim baits, and a number of others.

[BlakeMolone]

56 minutes ago, steve carpenter said:

Went to the Killeen texas store today. They had a number of H2 baits and others I have not seen before. The packaging is different. Crank baits, hard swim baits, and a number of others.

This is what we wanted to hear, I will check mine soon, thanks for the update! Did they appear to be the same quality/colors? Similar price?

[ChrisD46]

My Academy store just removed the H2O line (what was left) and replaced the whole aisle with miscellaneous fishing supplies ... Not a good sign as I see nothing making me think the H2O line is coming back any time soon ?

[MAN]

14 hours ago, BlakeMolone said:

Did they appear to be the same quality/colors? Similar price?

Yes, yes and yes. 

[Hook2Jaw]

Saw some H2OX stuff.  No idea why they would rebrand to such a similar name, but they'll probably be back running again soon and we can continue to enjoy some premium offerings for less than 5 bucks.

 

I wish they would clone Keitechs, Roboworm, Z-Craws, and some other soft baits.

[TnRiver46]

I meant to post this yesterday but I forgot 

(I believe the one knocker is out of place)

[Aaron_H]

6 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I meant to post this yesterday but I forgot 

(I believe the one knocker is out of place)

 

The new packaging looks clean. I'll be stopping by my local one here shortly to check it out. You notice any of the jerkbaits there?

[Jrob78]

@TnRiver46 beat me to it. New packaging and some cool new patterns. My store has shallow diving sq bill, med diving slim sq bill, shallow diving fat sq bill and some packages with a popper, rattle bait and sq bill.
 

[TnRiver46]

39 minutes ago, Aaron_H said:

 

The new packaging looks clean. I'll be stopping by my local one here shortly to check it out. You notice any of the jerkbaits there?

I didn’t see any jerkbaits, kind of looked like they just got these in

[BlakeMolone]

1 hour ago, Aaron_H said:

 

The new packaging looks clean. I'll be stopping by my local one here shortly to check it out. You notice any of the jerkbaits there?

Hopefully we get some cool new colors and the same old perfect action of ultimate jerk Shad. I tried the regular jerk Shad after I found them on clearence right after making this post and was not impressed with the action to say the least.

[steve carpenter]

Did see some jerk baits

[GReb]

Perfect cranks to take to those MS river oxbows full of gar 

[Fishlegs]

I haven't seen them in my local store yet, but the Academy website has H2OX brand senko style baits, trick worm style baits, creature baits, and paddle tails in addition to the hard baits. They don't have all the colors of the major brands, but they cover the basics.

 

I'm sure I'll give them a try after I use up the stuff I got at Christmas.

[wdp]

Our Academy has started stocking these new H2OX baits also. Kinda limited supply, but they are hanging on pegs where the old branded baits were located. Hoping as Spring approaches that even more inventory is brought in. I’m just hoping they bring back the house branded wakebait!!!!

 

 But I did see some jerkbaits. Best I could tell, bait looks exactly same as the old H2O express jerkbait, other than maybe some new colors. 

[Aaron_H]

57 minutes ago, Fishlegs said:

I haven't seen them in my local store yet, but the Academy website has H2OX brand senko style baits, trick worm style baits, creature baits, and paddle tails in addition to the hard baits. They don't have all the colors of the major brands, but they cover the basics.

 

I'm sure I'll give them a try after I use up the stuff I got at Christmas.

 

Yep, several new soft plastics under the H2OX line, new lineup of hooks, etc. The new packaging also lists the exact model VMC treble hook used as well as recommendations on what rod length/power/action/line combo to throw them on (excellent for a beginner or someone trying out a new technique).

 

The H2OX senkos are a few cents more each than the BPS branded ones I use, but I'll be trying them out soon out of curiosity. Seems like a great deal versus the Yamamoto at only $3.99 for a 10 pack.

 

36 minutes ago, wdp said:

Our Academy has started stocking these new H2OX baits also. Kinda limited supply, but they are hanging on pegs where the old branded baits were located. Hoping as Spring approaches that even more inventory is brought in. I’m just hoping they bring back the house branded wakebait!!!!

 

 But I did see some jerkbaits. Best I could tell, bait looks exactly same as the old H2O express jerkbait, other than maybe some new colors. 

 

I picked up a few of the refreshed jerkbaits. There are a couple of small differences, they updated the eyes with a logo on all their hardbaits, but also the scale pattern is reversed versus the old version. Makes no difference to me, I don't think the fish can tell.