I DEFINITELY agree that Bass Pro is significantly more expensive. It's a true gamble on getting what you need. I go to Bass Pro knowing they'll have just about EVERYTHING I need + the employees there specifically work in the fishing section and are fisherman who can give a rookie like me some advice (even though this forum has helped me leaps and bounds). Unfortunately, the academies here in San Antonio don't have a ton of equipment either.

On another note, since this topic is about prices between the 2, does anyone here get their gear from Walmart? It's alot cheaper than both Academy & Bass Pro, however the selection is limited. It's definitely a good place for leaders, weights, and certain hooks.

Jerry, I went to 3 Academy's (Selma, San Marcos, Perrin Beitel) and those stores no longer carry the Honcho. They have about 5-6 pegs with rattlesnakes and some pegs had maybe 2 - 3bags on them and that is it.
Will your baits no longer be available at Academy?

OK guys, here is what you need to do; if you don't it's your own fault; kinda like voting!!!!

Academy has three options on their main webpage to contact them. You can call them, the number is there, you can write to them the address is there, or you can send a message directly to the corporate customer service. If you want to talk fishing just let them know you want your message to go to someone in the buying department for fishing. It WILL be forwarded.

Now they have jobs just like you do, so if you don't hear from them in what you think is an acceptable amount of time. Send a FOLLOW-UP message via the customer service message link. You will get an answer "if you care enough".

All this talk about KKR buying out Academy and the culture changing is just that "talk"! The same people are still working at Academy, KKR likes the way Academy does business or they wouldn't have "invested" in the company.

The Plan-O-Gram (POG) explaination is spot-on. Is it a little late in "our" fishing season to be setting a POG for fishing; I think it is, but I don't know the issues associated with buying goods from whomever or whereever. Customs can be an issue, purchasing budgets can be an issue....whatever. Point is Academy has not gone away from what they do best.

Use some patience and USE the Customer Service Contact provided. If you don't or haven't, you haven't voted!!!

I haven't noticed any inventory changes in the local Academy. They still have better prices than BPS. Walmart has become almost irrelevant when it comes to fishing tackle.

Academy is not getting out of the fishing (or hunting) business. It is the time of year for the product reset so many stores have pulled stock off to reconfigure the pegs, etc. Depending on the store and dept. manager this could could go smoothly or be chaos for weeks. My local store is about done with it and they added more Zoom, Havoc, and Big Bite plastics, more Pradco, the new Ike Rapala DT's, War Eagle spinnerbaits they haven't had in a year, etc. There are new guns coming in, including Core and Red Jacket AR's, the new Ruger 10/22 Takedown and some new handguns and ammo. It appears they are expanding the area, not cutting back.

Academy has many more locations and they definitely have lower prices. Sure, BPS has a wider selection, but most of it is stuff I don't buy. Academy has all your necessities. I can't remember a time I bought something at Bass Pro that I couldn't get at Academy for a cheaper price.

One factor is they each have their own brands. BPS has some low quality hard baits and average soft plastics. They also have pretty good rods and reels, which I have used with success.

Academy has their H2O Express brand. I love the H2O hard baits, especially their cranks. They are almost all $3.99. All their hard baits are fantastic. They too carry their own line of rods and reels. I have not had the pleasure to use one of their rods, but they sure do look good. I have 4 H2O Mettles and they perform outstandingly.

I always make my normal Thursday trip to Academy every week and go crazy on purchasing stuff. I sometimes will make the trip to BPS on rare occasions just for a few things I have noted were not at Academy, but Academy normally does have something similar. Academy has a smaller supply, but it is a supply of great quality and for a cheaper price.

On a side note: Has anyone had problems when browsing fishing stuff in BPS with that dim light? In the Garland BPS I always grab a basket and take a bunch of stuff into a different part of the store so I can actually look at it carefully. It makes it difficult to just make a quick trip. I can't even tell the difference between junebug and green-pumpkin in that light.

Last time I was in Academy with a a friend to help him get his first setup we had a bad experience. The guy in the sporting section was telling him a Shimano Citica was not a good reel. Never seem someone try to talk someone out of something. He didn't want to spend a lot of money on his first setup and the Citica was in his price range. This dumb a$& sounded like an idiot and couldn't back up what he was saying. If your going to bash a reel manufacturer, you better have used it and other brands to know the difference.

My store was mentioned a couple times in the thread so I thought I would chime in.

Being a small business owner, and relying on folks like you for our success, I felt it necessary to speak my mind. I've always been a fan of private business. When I recently had some work done on my house, it was my customers who did the work. Tile, plumbing, floors, counter tops, and painting. All those people where folks who shop in my store and I felt obligated to shop with them.

I didn't question the price they quoted. I expected them to make a profit, and I felt they were reasonable. When they shop with me they are the same way.

We operate under a simple principle at our store. Treat people fair. Make a fair profit. And try to have the best selection we can.

I will never be a BPS, nor would I want to. Being so would mean I would have to change that philosophy. Once you reach that size the business controls you, you don't control it. Decisions get made by the business, which takes customers out of the equation. It becomes about squeezing another dime profit out of a dollar.

The only way we as anglers will change the world is to support your locally owned businesses. All of the private owners are in it because they love it. They care about their customers.

Yeah, sometimes I'm a dime more on something, sometimes I'm a dollar less (Seagur ). The only way the independent dealers will survive is if you support them. And believe me we get graded on our performance every day. We get beat up by the suppliers too. We don't buy as much as BPS, so we pay more. It's hard to charge more though. We all know the price of of a bag of plastics. So our profit gets squeezed, making it harder to pay the overhead.

Don't get me wrong....I love the challenge, and I absolutely love working with the customers to get them what they want.

I remember when I was a kid, the local tackle and sporting goods stores dominated. The place you hung out. Told fishing and hunting stories. Got the latest gossip.

We can have those days back, but it takes the anglers supporting their favorite independent dealer. If we do maybe we can hang on to what we enjoy. If not we will all be shopping at Walmart for whatever they decide they want to carry.

Thanks for listening to my rant. Thank you for being a customer, and please find a local dealer in your area to shop with.

Update- Went to the Conroe location yesterday morning and the "POG" was in effect. I've noticed that the product is pegged with more space between each other, not crammed as previously. The selection was about the same as usual though. Lacking Grande Bass and LFT stuff, very limited selection.

i stopped wasting gas and shop online better prices and selection.

Prefer BP to Academy and Gander just because of the much larger selection but I have to drive 1.5 hours to get there so it ends up cheaper at Academy or online. Where Im at we have a Gander and Academy right next to eachother and it funny because I can always start at Gander and get certain things but then Ill pick the stuff I know Academy has and go right next door because it a dollar and a half cheaper

It sure was nicer when Smitty's in Oak Cliff was in business. They had everything you needed and if they didn't they would get it for you and stock it if demand required it. I'm going to have to try the tackle store at Fun-n-Sun in Hurst. Sounds like it may be closer to the way Smitty's use to be.

Yes, they have a large selection of H20 stuff, but they are always out of the best selling (and working) baits, and they have tons of the baits no one is buying. Also, there doesn't seem to be any method to how the have the baits placed on the shelf. How about all the 1.5 square bills together. All the 2.5's together and so on. It should not be that hard.

I don't know how Smitty's was, but we are a true tackle shop. Stop by and check us out. We are located inside Fun N Sun.

In sherman we have a Gander Mountain and Academy, I think Academy has more and some better stuff.
Only thing better at GM is rod selection.
As far as BPS goes, i think im going there over academy.