My wife and I went. Yes, had to park by the stadium and walk over. Long lines getting in but seemed to be for the autographs.(never did get to see the cheerleaders) Southern rock/blues band when you get in! Any one know the name of the band? Wall to wall people inside but they thinned out when the celebrity autograph lines formed. The place is huge! Cabin cruiser sitting over the reel booth. Humback whale hanging from the ceiling. Trophy fish and game all over. Didnt see any stripers in the aquarium. :huh: The reel section looked like it had just been thrown together. No prices and unorganized. Can't beat the local shops for the service and specialty items though.

yeah I have . nothing special except they sell frozen bait and eels . I live closer to the salt so no good to me unless in fishing the ct river . thought it was a good idea though . When SA came to town years ago and put some local shops out of business I went in and asked for frozen bait and they said they didnt have any and I said EXACTLY . I never go there . A cool mountain display and a saltwater tank and freshwater tank . I wasnt impressed I have caught bigger fish than they had in either tank . lol
I thought it was worth the 1.5 hours I was there with my daughter .

I went there with the Mrs. and my 10 year-old daughter and my 5 year-old son (will be 6 in 2 days, but already thinks he's 15). We waited outside for about 45 minutes. Jimmy Houston was the MC and yes he laughs like that in real life, not just on TV. Roland Martin was there. Johnny Morris also. Some former Pats players, current players Vrabel, Harrison , Light and Tom Brady. Brady was a surprise, but Houston said he wasn't signing because he had to do some homework for Sunday's game.

Once inside, my kids were amazed by all of the taxidermist work that was on display. At least 1/2 of the crowd was there for autographs only. The store itself is 2 levels. There are 2 stairways and 2 elevators inside. There is a fishtank on the 1st floor that has LMB, SMB, Carp, catfish, Salmon, trout, crappie, yellow perch, and pike in it. No stripers though.

Right next to that is a small trout pool with a moose in the middle of it.

There is a waterfall in there as well.

Saltwater lures/tackle had at least 4 aisles. It was so damn crowded that I finally had enough. Actually had a shouting match with this a$$hole who cut in front of me as I was trying to take a pic of my kids in front of the trout pool. :nailem: He was using his camera phone to take a picture of the moose. After asking politely 2 times to please move and receiving a profane answer each time, as he lined up for his pic, I'd bump into him. After 3 tries he stomped off swearing at me.

I will go back in a few weeks to take in the entire store with my kids.

so wait, anyone get any pic's, i'm dieing to see this... going this weekend, if not tonight

i was jsut there, AMAZING!

someone pulled the fire alarm:smash: ty warren was fishing and shoting a comercial...

Gay.......

just wondering??? will they tax you if you buy from the catalog and live in MA.??

saltfly...now that they have a store in Mass they have no choice.

same thing happened to Bean when they opened the Burlington store.

we went last night, it was very cool, a great visual experiecnce and the kids loved it. I didnt buy anything, but they had a good line of marine supplies so I will eb shopping there for boating stuff

Went yesterday around noon and it was not too crowded. Didn't make any purchases as I'm pretty well equipped for next year already. Great visuals though, and I will be taking my son over to see the stuffed animals and fish tank in the near future. It’s a cool place and good destination, but the locals will get the bulk of my $$ as always.

Generally no, believe it or not.

They usually work out a deal with the state to avoid that.

Their tactics in regards to dodging state sales tax generally raises an eyebrow in every state they come to.

If we were to open a 2nd SWE in MA or CT we'd have to charge tax to customers in those states on Internet and phone sales even if it shipping from here in RI. Currently, Cabela's opens up a store and they don't.

Other stunts include parts of some stores being designated "museums" since the public helped fund them, to further dodge taxes.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/vi...3cabelas.shtml

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...s-kansas_N.htm

I posted a couple dozen pictures on the MSBA website today.

The place is pretty awesome inside! Definitely wear comfortable shoes because you'll do some walking! We went opening night and had to park by Gillette and walk. The place was packed, like most others have said, it seems like many people were there for autographs.

All the current Patriots players were gone within the first hour or so, but Steve Nelson, Pete Brock, Ron Lippett and a couple other past players hung out for quite a while. They actually closed down the autograph line with a big line still waiting. Pete and Steve walked around still signing though.

Jimmy Houston, Roland Martin, Tim Horton, Stacey King and Edwin Evers were signing autographs in the fishing section as well.

All of the taxidermy work inside is very impressive as is the entire layout. Well worth the trip....

question - are the fish taxidermy work or are they molds? I couldnt tell.

hopefully molds, or at least some, becuase they have a whale, and if that fell, it would not look good.

i use to many c,o,m,m,a,s:D

How GREAT! is the beer section @ Kappys!!!

all i can say is... WOW!

i have never seen so many grown men look like little kids on their first trip to toy-r-us!

big ole grins from ear to ear. and that child like wonder look in their eyes. seeing father and sons be equally as excited at all the sites was great!

my friend and i walked around for 3 hours. i honestly dont remember what was even in there. so overwhelming! :conf:

i cant wait for the crowds to thin out a bit.
it's not gonna replace the local places as far as day to day fishing for me. but i'll be damned if it isn't a great place to spend saturday ""browsing"" around. it's not really browsing so much as tinkering with anything and everything in reach.

it was great though. if ever i felt at home in a big corporate store it was there. between the sounds of running water and bird calls, and the sight of fishing and hunting gear and trophies all over. just amazing. definitely get out there and check it out when you can.

p.s.- any body know what they are doing out back? they appear to have something planned. they were building a brook today.. and have game replicas further out in the marsh area.

Curiosity got the best of me I took a ride up.
What I found was some nice prices on clothing, very little saltwater tackle, the fly shop was very week.
I am sure it will improve once they get a handle on the local needs?
I will continue to spend my money with the local shops.

Support your local fly shops.
 

The flyfishing Dept was very weak. I'm sure they'll improve it but I'm going to support my local flyshops. I like the personal service that I get from the local shop. In addition the local shop has local knowledge. FishHawk

More expensive than Bear's Den.

That said they actually carry Yozuri Hybrid line.
They have Calcuttas IN STOCK.

Eff those who stopped carrying Hybrid. :nailem:

are they seriously putting in the blue fin restaurant?

Only place you can find Arrogant Bastard Ale around here.

Exactly what I thought.... Still better than Wal-mart...
wife did buy me a Christmas present...a mustang self inflating life vest..she KNOWS I wont wear my Mustang float coat all the time, too bulky and hot in mid summer... Me, the last of the big spenders, I bought two yellow bucktails (only because I was totaly out) and a package of 60lb duo lock snaps...

Of coarse I got dragged to the chrismas tree shop and bed bath and beyond.... that place set me back $50......as if she needed one more Turkey platter, gravey bowls set, sheets and Misc Crap!

I heard that they were building a man-made lake and conservation area for fishing and to have a picnic etc. They have lots of other stuff still to do there too. Next fall, they are opening the Pats Hall of Fame, a 14-theater cinema, a 500 seat entertainment spot, a couple restaurants and a 4-star Marriott. Should be something when it's done!!!