So who shops here and can tell me why they dont ever restock their shelves

I think they do, but their employees buy everything before it gets put on the shelves. That is just a wild guess anyway!

LOL I think that way too gottageta199.

They get a truck in every Thusday from what I have been told but most new baits don't make it to the shelves til Friday afternoon. Maybe the guy that works there and posts on here can answer your question.

Jody

They have not re-stocked their Zoom Baby brush hogs since they opened.

i second all of that. ithink the inventory they carry is terrible

they got ice fishing & walleye stuff !!

here, here can't wait till Academy opens, I have had a terrible time in the archery shop with refletched arrows and they never have the baits/colors I am looking for, good thing I go to Lufkin (Academy) about once a week...

I am looking forward to Academy opening!

I've noticed about Gander Mountain, well at least the one where I live is that they have a better selection on your hard baits, spinner baits, plastics (colors are a problem), etc... But stocking wise I would agree that they suck.

Academy has better sales and their products are normally thoroughly stocked unless they have had a large sale, but they normally stock it pretty soon after the sale. When it comes to selection, they normally carry the favored colors of the area. Quite smaller on the selection especially if your trying to find something new. Other than that I normally find what I need at Academy. They hold their own.

Way over priced! Academy is the way to go!

I agree

Well, for those of you who know me, I have a full time job, but only work like 10hrs a week so I thought, for fun, I would get a job in the Gander Mountain fishing Dept. here in Tyler. If I do ill let you all know and I will assure you there will be a difference!!!

HAHAHAHAA!!!!!

I go to Gander Mountain on those evenings when I really feel the urge to look for, but not find, COMMON lures and fishing tackle that any so-called outdoor store should stock. You know, those nights when you just really want to get good and frustrated, and feel like you wasted an hour and several dollars of gas driving over there.

LOL.

Their refusal to order...and put on the floor...even the most common and popular fishing items is unbelievable.

I will never set foot in that store again as soon as Academy or some other viable alternative store opens.

If y'all don't like the way they do things, why do you still go there and shop? It's easy to go online and find anything you need. That's what I have to do.

Wow this sounds just like Cabelas!!

Hey Bassalicious, it is the only place we have here in Tyler well other than Wal-Mart. Sometimes you just want to see that new reel or rod or take a look at some of the new products that hit the market in person not just a picture. We are happy to have any outdoors store here in Tyler. Academy will be here soon and Gander will have to compete especially since it will be right next door... I end up going to Longview to the Academy there every once in while and sometimes will go to Bass Pro Shops in Garland if there is a special need but both mean a lot of driving and with gas the way it is. That makes my tackle even more expensive...

Jody

Bassalicious...remember online sales and cataloge sales are over 50% less common than on site sales....its called delayed gratification...and I dont have it...lol, when I shop I want it NOW!!!! I hate spending money and not having it right then and there. Plus this is one of the largest retail outdoor suppliers in the country...they have to get their act together!

Not to mention the fact that they don't even have a catalogue or online store.

My uncle, from Tyler, has given me Gander Mtn gifts cards for Christmas the past three years. The intent was there but I live in Dallas. No big deal, I thought, until I realized there was not an online store.

Luckily I had three $25 gift cards so the trip to Gander Mtn in Corsicana was worth it. I was not about to drive that far to spend $25.

Same problem with the new Dick's Sporting goods in Rockwall. I have yet to buy a thing from them but i go in there ocasionally just to remind myself how much they suck compared to Academy. Not just on their fishing department either. Their baseball/softball dept sucks pretty bad also.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/
great place to get everything you need, free shipping on orders over 50 bucks and no sales tax + grat prices.

I deal with most of the large chain stores and Gander Mtn is unique in that each store orders much of their tackle directly from the manufacturers. Their philosophy is that the store should carry what the local customers want. While it sounds good in theory, the problem is that you have some good managers in the stores that keep good stuff in stock and you have some not so good managers that don't.

All of the other chains have centralized buyers that make those decisions and have computerized reordering systems that keeps things stocked.

My suggestion is to ask the Gander Mtn staff for your favorite products and if they get enough requests, they will get it.

Hey FishinSteve when I asked a Gander Mountain employee he said that they get what Corp sends them they never know what is going to be on the truck. If it is the way you say it is then our Manager here in Tyler thinks that we fish for walleye,pike,and grouper a lot.....


Jody

I heard the same story when I asked Jody.

Where (and when) will the new Academy be open? I also hate going to Gander MTN for the same basic reasons. Been to Longview (Academy) and also BassPro in Garland - both within the past 6 weeks.

Well, like I said that is the way it's supposed to work in theory. The fishing manager there orders our lures directly from us, as do all of the other Gander Mtn stores in Texas.

Hey Transplant, it will be between Gander Mountain and the red light for Cumberland Rd. I believe they got permission to put an entrance on Cumberland Rd. as well as HWY 69. Don't know when it will open but September has been said.....

Hey FishinSteve, do you do a lot of business with the Gander Mountain in Tyler?

Jody

My brother and I were a truck driving team for a few years and went to many Cabelas and BassProShops all over the country. Liked Cabellas best and BassPro second. Stopped at an Academy south of Houston on the way to Galveston pier and found exactly what we though we needed for salt water


Only on time did we ever stop at a Gander Mountain and that was in Detroit if some little shopping mall. We walked around for maybe a half hour and decided it was a sports clothing store not a hunting and fishing store. Never been to another one since.

Only gripe I have about Academy in Longview is that they don't open early enough. I get off work at 6am and means I have to kill 3 hours on week days and 4 hours on a Saturday. I don't need but one item and they are the only ones that have it. It's funny. I can sit on the bank for hours waiting for a bite, but I can't sit still long enough to wait for the store to open.

Not really, they stock our flex series of swimbaits. We do a lot more business with the Gander stores in the Houston area, Florida, and up North with our muskie/pike lures.

Thanks, I as wondering since most of your product was Northern Fish Based. Some of those cranks look good for bass though. Also, very nice website you have there. Good Job.


Jody

I have been to Gander a total of 7 times and one was to exchange a rod i broke on a fish. That was beyond hell. but the prices are the highest out there. Academy is the only way to go. Gander looks like they have more in the fishing area but alot is not for Bass fishing. So pointless to shop some of the rows they have. But the price is so much higher than Academy. Glad to see someone did find a person to wait on them at Gander. i went to get a GPS 520c while our academy was out of them and waited over 30 minutes and went to the main check out 3 times to see if someone would help me. Live by Longview and i drove to tyler to gander and then to BPS and got it there. i really dont see how the doors stay open at gander in Tyler.

It is unbelievable that a city the size of Tyler, in the heart of East Texas fishing country, does not have a decent fishing tackle store. Yesterday, I drove almost an hour from where I work just north of Tyler to get to Porter's on Lake Palestine. Other times, I have driven to Mack's in Lindale.

I think someone who opened a tackle shop that focused on bass fishing lures, equipment, and supplies...and actually kept it open on a daily basis, including evenings when most of us can get there after work...would do very well.

Of course, it would help if whoever was running the store and doing the ordering had a CLUE about what bass fishermen in East Texas use, instead of having a huge section of fly fishing gear and 80,000 packs of blue fleck Power Worms with fire tails.

i was looking for a good rod so i went to gander mountain, they carry some good equipment (kistler, falcon, etc) but they only a limited selection of each and half of them were priced wrong from being part of a combo set .. seems to me that no one there really cares about the customer.

I hope nobody is hurt in the mad rush to the front door on the day that Academy opens in Tyler!!!

They aren't moving fast enough to suit me!

I have wondered for years why Academy has not built in Tyler but I will say that if the response to new Academy is the same as the response to the opening(finally) of a Taco Bueno in Tyler then I wish I owned an interest in Academy!

Gander Mountain does seem to have a lot of items that just have no market in East Texas. I looked at an ice fishing combo at the Tyler store just last week. They had them in a bin in the middle of the aisle. I wonder how many they have sold?

And the tracked vehicle they had this past winter-basically a snow machine-do they still have it?

I never had a problem with Gander Mt. and will say that the access to long guns there is much better for shopping than is the "over the gun counter" arrangement at Academy.

Oh well, maybe competition will be good for everyone.

i saw the ice fishing stuff too, gotta wonder who orders their stuff

Well, first off...Taco Bueno is off the chain!!!! That might be the greatest little fast food restraunt in Texas!!! But seriously, I think with a little direction Gander could be a great asset to the avid anglers of east texas. They have an incredible location (one of the most expensive real estate peices in tyler) and they have the means to really create sales records. But, as yall alread know, it begins with management!!!

Porter's is a nice place if you are near Lake Palestine. Razorback, how does it compare to Macks?

Porters is incredible...their owner is a great Christian Man, and they do alot for local tournament trails. If you have the time to go out there, go

Mack's and Porters are both great places to find things but they are both different in ways. Mack will have most anything new that you want to try while Porters has that hard to find stuff that you look everywhere else for and can't find. On the other hand Greg will order whatever you want but Mack will too.. LOL

I like both of them equally but find myself in Lindale more than in Dogwood City.

Jody

There used to be a fishing store in tyler on the loop that had what the bass angler needed,the store was mo&joe's.They had to close the door's for the lack of business.This may be the reason no one elsr chooses to open a fishing store in tyler.

^The problem with that store was that they only carried about 4 packages of worms..lol It was easier for me to just go get them at Walmart.

Go online and get everything your heart desires! Who cares if it takes a couple days to get the stuff. MadAngler how do you plan on making a difference? Just curious

Not to change the direction of this thread, but a question for the ones from Tyler shopping. I have heard Athens has a local store named Wolfs that will rival Gander Mtn. I'm not sure if this is a hunting only or combination store. Any info on this one?

Hmmm...I'm not sure what would be worse; not having a good fishing store or not having a Taco Bueno! My brother moved to Cali, and they don't have Bueno's out there. When he comes in for a week around Christmas, we have to eat Bueno every day he is down here so he can get his fix. Sounds like all will be well in Tyler...you've got your Bueno now and an Academy on the way.

Wolf outdoors is a good place and the guy that Manages it has forgotten more about fishing than most will ever learn. His name is Mike Mayo and he is doing an excellent job, that said, the fishing section at Wolf is Secondary to the Hunting and it shows. They do have some good choice baits just not enough. They will really have to step up the fishing section to compete with any of the other Stores, especially Academy.

Jody

That is true, but you better be ordering several packages an/or baits or else that one package of worms will cost you $20.00 with shipping.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/shipping/
Free Shippin on orders over 50 bucks

Thats where I do most of my shopping. Anything you could ever want.

Me too, they got the BEST SELECTION, better than Bass PRo, Cabalas & Gander combined, if Tacklewarehouse dont have it, nobody else does either, and they dont sell other stuff...JUST bass tackle.

Thanks for the link!

FYI. - About Gander Mtn. April.14, 2008

I was in Gander Mtn. In Texarkana TX on March 14-15 for KISTLER Rod and also in Gander Mtn. in Tyler TX April 5,6th.
If you want to see what a Fishing Tackle Dept. Should look like, go to the Gander Mtn. In Texarkana TX and see what Lucy Mize did to the Fishing Tackle Dept. When she became the Fishing Dept. Mgr. Lucy Fishes the Bass Women’s Tour.
The Fishing Tackle Dept. Look just like the one in Tyler TX.
I talk to the Jensen Lockhart the Store Manager of Tyler TX., last week and inform him he needed to go on the Texas Fishing Forum and see for him self what he needed to do to get his Fishing Tackle Dept up to speed for the East Texas and the Tyler TX area.
I hope this will get the ball rolling so this store will look like the Gander Mtn. In Texarkana TX.

I can't speak too much for the bass selection as I primarily fish for crappie.... but the point is, if they dont have something you want, all you have to do is ask.

There have been a few instances where I cant find a particular style/color, I ask the dept mgr if they would order it. Now they are regular stocked items.

Before you bash someone, at least talk to the dept mgr and see if they can order it.

BTW, the ice fishing combos make a great alternative to the stupid snoopy rods!

GILLY

I was given a $100.00 gift card to GM. I had not been in the
store in a long time due to things already discussed. I picked
up a few item, and almost fell over when the total came to
$162.00. Several items rang up at higher prices than I
remember on the shelf. I should have called them on it, but
was late for an appointment.
They do have more stock than when they first opened,
but I will be happy when Academy opens.


MO

I shop at Gander Mountain more than Academy. But I do make a trip to BPS now and then. Gander Mt has fly fishing stuff, not much but it sure beats Academy in Longview. Neither store carries a decent amount of fishing tackle in my opinion. I have made many orders in the past to Cabelas and BPS. Never tried Tackle Warehouse. Gander Mt has some stuff Academy doesn't...such as Robo Worms. We need a bigger fishing store in this area. My brother probaably shops at that Texarkana store you mentioned, he lives that way.