Bass Pro/Cabela's

[vicrider 0]

From a fly fisherman's POV I've always thought Cabela's had a much better selection of everything than Bass Pro. BP is great for the bait casting and spin fisherman with huge selections of everything bass on the market. Cabela's also has the bass gear but their fly shop selection is way above BP. They even have a good feather selection and issue a fly fishing catalog. OK City had just gotten a new Cabela's in a market that already has two Dick's Sporting Goods, Bass Pro, and Academy Sports Authority along some fairly big smaller shops. How much money is out there for sports market to spend before saturation begins downsizing?

 

Too bad I didn't know Cabela's was for sale. I might have been interested. Old Johnny Morris has done pretty good for a guy driving a rented U-Haul trailer filling it with wholesale tackle and selling at landings along the way. Got back home and set up a corner of his Dad's liquor store to sell his collected goods and the rest is history.

[rstaight 0]

It seems around me that Bass Pro has a better selection for fly fishing. Cabela's keeps down sizing fly fishing.

[breambuster 0]

I think we must be in an area where there isn't much fly fishing. We have lots of hydroelectric reservoirs in this area and everyone who fishes, it seems, has a bass boat and all that goes with it. When Cabela's opened here, they had a pretty good selection of fly tying materials, for the first month, and then they cut it in half or maybe a bit more. You can find SOME things, but there is still a lot of stuff that I have to mail order. Their gear, ie, rods, reels, waders, etc. seems pretty good. But it is a bit more pricey than BPS. Still, it's by far, the closest game in town, and the store only opened about a year ago, and so I hope it stays open.

 

BB

[mikechell 0]

1 ... Cabela's had a much better selection of everything than Bass Pro.

 

2 ... Too bad I didn't know Cabela's was for sale.

1 ... Must be an area thing, like rstaight said in his statement below. In all my travels around the Country, I've never seen a Cabela's fly shop that was better then BPS' White River Shops. But, as I said, it might be widely different based on locations.

2 ... LOL Sold for a mere $5 billion and change. Pocket change for you, Vic?

 

It seems around me that Bass Pro has a better selection for fly fishing. Cabela's keeps down sizing fly fishing.

[mikechell 0]

Well, I got an E-mail today.

It's official. Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's have become one company.

[Guest]

Hate to run'em down but 1.5 hour drive to BPS and now an Orvis opened last year...Jackson,Ms. just not that many tiers in this area to warrant them I guess cuz they just don't restock very timely.... Tried to ccomplain but outa the hands of the clerks....I'm talking about 6 months to year and sometimes just never...So my visits are only limited stops mostly in winter times when I pass thru on the way to the Delta duck hunting....and thinking they got some more but nodda usually...

[Rocco 0]

It is not just a simple local Mom and Pop vs inet thing.

 

The inet/major catalogue shopping choice offers widest variety options in any given product, the ability to comparison shop, and instant access.

 

Smaller Mom and Pop inet purveyors often have specialty items and dedicated regional gear and useful up to date info but usually no broadly developed inventory.

 

The local Mom and pop shops let you see and touch what you are buying, mostly have limited variety, and, sometimes, have valuable advice to offer from knowledgeable staff. They are disappearing due to voracious landlords, inet competiition. and the drain of long hours and staffing problems

 

The big chain stores dotted about the landscape are OK for the tyro but a waste of time for the mid range to really experienced fly- tyer and fisherman. They too are prone to getting eaten in mergers and leaving empty big store fronts and abandoned M &Ps behind when they inevitably fold.

[flyty1 0]

Personally, I would like Cabelas and Bass Pro to take advantage of the areas where each is great and bolster the other with areas that are not so great. To me, Cabelas has excelled in trout fishing and hunting where Bass Pro has excelled in bass fishing and boating. Of course, both are faced with the dilema of having the "right" merchandise on hand for the particulare part of the country. It is very tough to have to re-direct a customer who thinks these super-stores have everything associated with fishing - like the customers coming into a southern store looking for gear for fishing in Canada - there might be some, but the stores closer to the destination will probably have a better selection.

[Rocco 0]

Cabela's just opened a store near me but it is a down sized imitation of its super stores and the fly fishing/tying section is a bad joke. The BP nearest me has a far better selection.

 

Rocco

[Kentuckysteve 0]

My local Cabelas sucks. The prices are very high.Customer service is help yourself. Selection of materials is poor and they very seldom restock. More than once i have found items online and it tells me the local store has several of the items in stock.When i drive to the store they don't have the item and have not had them in stock for a long time. Apparently communications between the warehouse and local store is as good as their customer service in the store. The last time i was able to talk to the fly fishing dept manager he told me several cabelas have completely closed out their fly fishing section because of lack of sales and ours would be closing soon if sales do not pick up. The store has only been open a few years. Bass pro is more of a bass fishermans supply store so i don't see the merge fixing the problem with the fly fishing dept's closing or changing anything as far as fly fishing in any of the cabelas.