Remember when bass pro/cabellas used to be good companies?

I was telling a young co-worker about the halcyon days when the Bass Pro Shop Catalog would arrive in the mail, around the first of the year, and you filled out your order form, gave your money to mama or daddy and they wrote a check made out to Bass Pro Shops, you would put it in an envelope, run out to the mailbox and send it to them and for 6-8 weeks you would rush home from school expecting a package. It would eventually show up, usually before good fishing weather in North Georgia, and opening that box up and putting the new stuff in your tackle box was the official signal that spring had sprung. It might be 15 degrees outside but there was not enough time to get the Zebco 33's cleaned, oiled and new line on them, organizing the tacklebox, reorganizing it....all the while envisioning stringers full of fat crappie and bream and largemouth bass over 10 pounds. Even when Santa Clause was still visiting me every year he did not have a thing on that BPS shipment for anticipation and excitement....chiefly because the list I made for him seldom worked at all while that order form from Bass Pro Shops was what I wanted and it was what was delivered!

There were others....Gander Mountain, Netcraft, Cabelas of course, and Herter's....but BPS was the one. The fact that it would technically be possible to order a damn boat EXCATLY like the one Bill Dance used at times on his show and it would somehow be delivered right to the mailbox (I was a kid, I thought the postman would bring the boat) if one had the money made BPS the penultimate dream book for a 10 year old consumed with fishing.

Private equity kills just about everything it touches

It is a lot of junk now. They older Cabelas brand hunting clothing was great. I just can't believe people would pay the money they are asking for and buy a Tracker ATV.

quote:

---

There were others....Gander Mountain

---

From the ages of around 12-20 I would get several Gander Mountain orders in a year. I kind of miss those days.

I haven't been in a Cabela's or Bass Pro in years. I would imagine they'll be out of business within 10 years.

quote:

---

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think cabelas was the first to sell goretex clothing. I have an original cables goretex parka from 1985.

---

I still wear one of those that my dad bought for an elk hunt in the early 90s. It's awesome.

90s goretex was amazing.

Cabelas and bass pro are both awful now. Im sure the private equity guys are proud of their work though.

quote:

---

Was talking to a buddy about this just yesterday. I'd spend hours looking through those. Never got to order a damn thing though.

---

They made it inordinately difficult to order, especially for a kid. It was bad enough that you had to actually earn the money but then you would have to ask the parents to write a check. I was under the impression that the check itself was worth more than gold given the amount of pushback I would get trying to get them to write the check. So you had to earn the money which meant doing all manner of shite that seriously cut into your fishing time and then, even though it was your money, earned by the sweat of your brow, you had to listen to the "you need to save your money for college" crap!!!! Imagine trying to convince a 10 year old whose career plans included running off to sea and becoming a pirate that he needed to not order those Bagley crankbaits....those gorgeous baits that were sure to call ALL of the 10 pound bass out of hiding and then club them over the head so all you had to do was scoop 'em up...so he could do something as stupid as go to school for more years than the law required!

It was like my parents had forgotten the pact we had made, even if we had not spoken of it, that I would go to school as much as they could force me to and then I'd run off, steal a sailing ship, and take up pirating. We had never actually discussed this but I was certain at the time it was understood......

quote:

---

Cabelas branded stuff was always quality.

---

Every single fishing rod I have except one is cabelas brand. From the Tournament ZX's to the XML's. Outstanding quality and price before BPS discontinued them.

For what it's worth though, the johnny morris signature rods aren't terrible, just higher price point.

I make one trip per year to a BPS and that’s during the spring fishing sale. Other than that, I buy from Tackle Warehouse, Discount Tackle, or Academy.