There is a post on http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com stating that WalMart will be closing the fishing department in 200 stores and reducing department in 1700 stores.
I know that a lot of us that live in rual towns that WalMart is our only place to buy fishing items. Even tho Walmart slection is not the greatest it is better than driving 50 miles for me to buy some basic items.

It's all about the dollar for them. A friend of mine works for a middle sized company that is trying to get thier product out there for the public and he said that walmart basically tells them what they are going to pay for a product, take it or leave it; they dont' care about your profit margin. Who can touch them?

I wouldn't be suprised if they take fishing from my Walmart. It's not like there is much for them to take anymore. The Walmart by me is 10 minutes from two lakes and a state park, but the fishing is down to two small isles.

A friend and I were discussing this this weekend and he brought up a good point. Why would the major sponsor fo the FLW cut fishing out of their stores? I do understand it is business but that doesn't make it make sense.

WHOOOHOOOO, can't wait till they shut the doors!!!! Lets get back to American made product and stop funding countries that would rather do us harm than good.....

Good, their fishing dept blows chunks anyway....bout the only thing they have is small jigs and line.....selection or reels etc just dosent make the cut

First off, this has been reported for the last 2 years.

There are Walmarts out there that don't have a place to fish within driving distance.

Come on, you live in Pecos Tx, how does a crank bait help you catch cantalopes?

It makes since when you don't have water to fish. Thus only part of the stores are reported to down size that department.

Its like owning a lawnmower in the Sahara, not any grass to mow, why the need.

the wal-marts around me have cut way back on fishing.but i think WAL-MART SUCKS anyway.i get most of my gear online basspro.cabelas and tackle warehouse......rick

And most of their stores have the most rude people working there (at least the stores around here)....especially the people on the registers.

This would be awesome , then mom and pops bait stores can open back up. Wal-Mart fishing departments suck big time anyway and they are the devil, so this would be great news.

Also, you country folks could try going online to get your stuff. You know:

tacklewarehouse.com etc...

woohoo!!!!

wal mart going down...here's to the resulting surge in unemployment and inflation...

you say you want mom and pops, but do you really if EVERYTHING jumps 10-15% in price? If walmart isn't around to compete with, prices would go up on most household items and groceries even without the addition of more mom and pops...

I don't think Wally world closing their fishing departments would result in gloom and doom, cause as far as I know fishing is just a small part of the sporting goods department.

Yeah, I mean come on, who's really gonna miss the fishing dept at Wal-Mart????

Heard Wal-Mart is gonna sell their fishing dept inventory to CVS, soon you'll be able to pick up your favorite Cajun Red fishing line on almost every corner.

The rumor about Wal-Mart reducing and or eliminating their fishing department in some stores is TRUE. They made the announcement in a meeting with industry reps in January.

Some of the stores will still sell tackle year round, but tackle
in most stores will be seasonal. I know that most of the Florida
stores will continue to sell tackle year round, due to the saltwater market. Our saltwater products move very well at Wal-Mart, so this recent move will not affect us. WE SET the price with our distributors that sell to Wal-Mart, NOT Wal-Mart. We are not a non profit organization. They can take it or leave it!

Wal-Mart helped put a lot of sporting goods stores out of business (ex. Oshman's) and is now seeing the same to their outdoors department. They simply can't compete with the selection and pricing of academy and the atmosphere of Gander, Cabela's and Bass Pro. Plus, the internet has hurt them as well. It would take a lot of marketing and capital expenditures to turn it around, which simply isn't worth it. They have been in scale back mode for several years.

I already score fairly well hitting them up at clearance time. If they make the fishing stuff seasonal, then those clearance prices are going to be great

Of course, given the way they (and all the other big stores) stock up for "seasonal" items, that means that the fishing stuff will come out about January and be on clearance by February.

Yes, don't forget that the internet has played a very important role in this too.

A friend of mine is the store manager at our local Wally World. After my constant bitching to him about the fishin dept. going down hill, he finally told me that Walmart's selling philosophy is geared toward the female gender. In general they say, that men shop around for prices on fishing and hunting items. For whatever that's worth.

SE Kansas grass grower

Walmart is last resort for me for fishing items. Only good part (if they even have what you are looking for) is that the supercenters are open 24/7.

Don't know if you have noticed or not but even with Wal-devil open and going full throttle, prices have already increased 10%-15%; with them out of the picture we can start rebuilding our economy and stop paying Indonesia and Korea(stop paying for child labor) for the products we can manufacturer at home with better quality....

not a big fan of Walmart here lately. their meat dept is cutting the steaks half as thin and still charging the samw price. thier fishing dept has beena joke for a few years. I would much rather go in Bass Pro or Academy. seems Sam Walton created an empire that his kids are slowly trying to rape profits out of.

Our meat dept. in WM are all pre-packed gas flushed to preserve the meat bloom. I want something fresh and cut to my standards. I never shop WM. They shut down small town America. They changed the face of our country in every little town. I can't wait for the day there are to many hands in the family cookie jar and they get a reality check with a recession. They have nothing for me no matter the price. The buy Korea, China, Mexico etc. They are very proud of their U.S. stuff and they tell you about it. But it can all be put on 4 isles of 30. It is sad and makes me sick.

Hopefully they will decide to take the rest of the store with them. If I had to depend on ours for tackle I would be fishing with the pocket fisherman, 1/128 oz. maribu jigs (all in the wrong color), and a handful of Zoom worms(out of production since 1998). Their meat department is a work in progress for a PETA add. Good Bye Wally World! Hopefully I will live long enough to see their fall.

Don't blame Walmart or any other big retailer for our economic woes. Price drives everything and we consumers make the decision where we shop usually based on price, selection and service. The little guy can't price compete with any big retailer or online store but they can offer better service or a unique selection but it is still up to the consumer to value the difference.. I just wish we could do something about crime, healthcare, insurance of all kinds and fuel costs... at 3.50+ a gallon I'm very thankful I don't drive for a living and I can walk to work if I need to!

You can add me to the anti-Walmart list...I rarely ever go there. Their produce and meat is pretty average and most of their inventory is pure junk. I prefer to shop at Kroger and pay a bit more and not have to deal with Walmart.

There has been a few in depth articles in Fishing tackle Retailer confirming that they are scaling back. Its an industry publication and one that is trusted so I would think there is merit to it.

What's Bill Dance going to do?

I used to work in the Sporting Goods department. Serious fishermen don't shop there anyways. Most of the people shopping for fishing stuff at walmart just want the cheapest stuff they can get. When asked I would try to get people to get the more quality equipment. Nine times out of ten they wouldn't listen to what I said and would buy the stuff that wouldn't last.

As goes the fishing dept. at the stores here, so opens up at least 100 sq. feet of floor space. lol

Maybe they are gearing up for an expansion in their electronics department. Industry letters have WalMart geared and goaled to be reaching and exceeding "Best Buy" as #1 by 2010.

Nut

When you buy vehicles do you not shop around for the best price or do you go to the nearest dealer and pay whatever price they want? Well if you shop around wal-mart has some great prices.You just have to pick and choose what you buy.There are certain things that I would never buy,but then again there are things that I would be foolish not to buy there.In return i't leaves more money in my pocket for my recreation.My 0.02 worth.

Wal-mart like all large low price/large volume stores are not in business to sell low volume speciality items. There is no profit if the item sits on the shelf till it time to put it in the clearance bin. If any item doesn't turn in a certain amount of time out it goes. My fishing needs are basically basic stuff that anyone wold have and the are open 24 hours. I don't remember buying much of any sporting goods from Walmart cept hooks, sinkers, bobbers, some line, and my license. The reason was convenience and 24 hour availability. The nearest Academy is 35 miles away and I have to wait 3 hours after I get off work in the am for the store to open.

I get mad just going there now. Murphy Oil gas prices are still the lowest around although gas is high. What really p o's me is the price of produce--way too high and the quality is crappy. The cat food my idiot cat prefers used to run $2.98 and has risen to $4.23. And it is among the lower priced cat foods.

I hate wasting gas and the inconvenience of running to 3 or 4 different stores to get my stuff, but I guess I will have to start.

Every time ya get things simplified some idiots have to go and jack around with them. The stupidest thing we are doing is burning our food in gas tanks. If the sons of b*t***s want to make bio gasoline use something like commercial hemp or kudzu.
We keep griping about the dumbing down of America and that is just one example. Another is watching what passes for candidates for national office. They say what goes around comes around and I think the United States of America if about to pay the piper.

If Childress Wal-Mart quits selling Fishing equipment, then I will have to drive 2 hours to get it.

Hope they keep the deep cycle batteries. It's a real convenience to be able to trade a battery that's gone bad for a good one even if your 500 miles from the store you bought it at and it's 10:00 at night.

I see lots of Wally World batteries in boats.

Walmart is like any other business. They sell what we are willing to buy. If we don't buy it at a price they make a profit at they drop it. If it sits on the shelf for too long it goes to the clearance rack. I like the larger variety an sometines the price at Academy, BPS, and Cabellas but don't always want to wait or have enough to make a decent order. The Mom and Pop days are probably long gone. How many tackle shops are there in the phone book unless you are at the coast? Those that are there run on a tight rope.

Walmart is good for some folks, I try my best not to shop there, I like the mom and pops, they are what made us what we are!

Well, beleive it or not...seems I'm only able to find a certain bobber at Wal-mart, academy does not carry it, unless you buy the variety pack dangit

I really hate Wal-Mart anyway. So if they pack up and stop buying from 3rd world countries, it is fine by me. I stopped shopping there when I saw what they were doing to drive out competition, and shut local stores down. What they did to the prescription drug dept was quite sad. I stopped shopping there when they made people wait in long lines with few counters open with cashiers. I had to wait one too many times. Now the only time I go is when one of my kids gets a gift certificate from them, and I HAVE TO GO. Their fishing dept stinks anyway. We have much better outdoor stores to choose from, not to mention the internet. I did go to Wal-Mart over the fall because I heard they carried Kastmasters...which they are the only ones around here that stock them. Wal-Mart is not the same store that Sam Walton started. What a shame.

the one in my area quit selling fishing stuff, and they had a HUGE sale, im talkin bags of yum, culprit and other soft plastics for like 25-50 cents a bag!

I cant stand to go to Wal-Mart. The one here in my town use to be pretty decent about keeping things stocked on a regular bases. Now a Brand NEW Wal-Mart has popped up about 8 miles east of where i live and the old one isnt worth going to anymore. You are forced to drive a little bit further. Not that big of a deal but the one was good enough. Just another way they think they can make a bigger buck.

Folks crack me up! All this Walmart bashing, yet guys fish the FLW Tour which connected at the hip with Walmart! Walmart is one of the largest employers in the US and has a great profit sharing program for the thousands who work for them. The fishing department sold/sells a lot of US made products and usually the basic colors on some of our more popular brands of tackle. I know that some guys (egos ?) may not want them being seen in Walmart, but I would bet a paycheck that his wife shops there and often! Like or lump it, they are in business because they sell products at prices that people like and it doesn't matter where that product comes from if it's something you're looking for. Try living in a part of the country where there are no BPS, Gander Mountain, Cabelas or Academy within 60 to 100 miles of you. Those smaller tackle shops are expensive, FACT, so you get what you can at Walmart and buy the hard to find stuff at the small tackle dealers. Case in point, North Georgia where I now live.

Once upon a time BPS actually sold franchises. I looked into buying one once, only to figure out that I could buy merchandise through the catelog cheaper than they were going to sell it to me as a Franchisee. That said, Walmart keeps the price of the basics down at BPS, Academy, Gander Mountain, and Cabellas because of the competition.

Here's a woman's opionion for you guys. I shop Wal Mart on a regular basis I agree their meats and produce are lacking extremely that's why you shop Kroger or Albertsons for meat when it's on sale, even at sale prices it's cheaper and better quality than Walmart. On everything else as groceries are concerned you just can't beat their prices. Del Monte is Del Monte know matter where you shop. Same with other name brand products, it's the same just cheaper. Personally I don't shop much in the sporting goods section unless I need last minute items, such as fishing line.

The true authority in all matters human.. listen up guys Momma knows best..

I can easily understand how walmart would close down the fishing dept in stores where there is little demand for it (go look for fishing tackle in a Target store for comparison). But if your store is near lakes, bayfront etc, then it's probably going to keep its tackle section.

I think the only times I've bought any tackle from them in the past few years is when the redhead is looking for stuff in other parts of the store & I'm wandering around killing time. If I spot something on clearance that looks promising it ends up in my cart.

My thoughts on Wal mart belong on the OT, so I'll keep it peaceful here.

Wal-mart did not kill mom and pops, it was the peoples decision to shop where they get to keep more money in their pockets(no brainer).Everyone here shops for price.I can not believe people bash wal-mart because they have cheaper prices.When you buy a high dollar rod do you search for the best price or go to the nearest mom and pop and pay his price so he can buy momma a new cadillac each year?

Walmart and FLW will soon part ways. Mark it down. From someone who knows. (not me)

SE Kansas grass grower

I bet he bought that Cady local. Not in Bentonville. That money stayed local. The money your spending at WM does not.

The money I save by shopping wal-mart is spent locally.The money their local employees make is spent locally.Look at their parking lot, all those people are saving money and are spending it local...Maybe he bought that cady on the internet from bentonville, because he sells so many he can sell them cheaper.

I worked for walmart for over eight years, their profit sharing and benefits are not that great

Amazing to read the WalMart bashing. I wonder who is buying all those things from WalMart that keeps them ever expanding....could it be regular people, local people? Why is WalMart the blame for providing the local people products at significantly lower prices than the so called "Mom and Pop" stores?

I buy fishing tackle from WalMart, you bet and am thankful they have it...the next closest place is about 60 miles away. Bash WalMart, not me.

Sam Walton is probably spinning like a dynamo in his grave over how bad his company has become. Wal-mart used to be a good place, they had everything. Since his death, it has done nothing but dive. I hate going there and will do everything in my power not to give them a dime. I wish there was someone who could compete with them.