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.