Big stores no quality

[JohnR]

I intended to do a little schoolie fishing after work today and needed to pick up a couple jig heads and as the rain started to come down I went to a store right next to the train station I hit everyday. This large retailer next to the train stop that shall remain nameless (K-mart), a store that prides itself on its fishing supplies and tiny bass tournament sponsorships and all was SO bad that I remeber why I've been going custom and high quality from area tackle shops for several years now. As I started going through the selection of soft plastics (hardly any grub tails) and jig heads I noticed that there just wasn't the selection I've come to expect from many of the independant shops I frequent. I managed to pick up a couple ZOOM flukes (killer) and Bass Assasins and one pack of 1/2 jig heads. Now I'm wondering if the awful selection was just because this really isn't in season yet and the section was consolidated but I'm probably just spoiled :P (all of us really) from the places we tend to do business. So I'm strolling around and I start looking at the other gear. They were actualy pushing rods that looked more like a plastic snoopy rod than an ultra-low quality glass rod. They had one entire aisle lined with 5-7 foot rods, ten deep and I may have seen a half dozen sticks (the truly expensive $29-39.95 rods) that wouldn't be trashed by an anoerexic school bass. It was AWFUL!! Even on their best sticks, the guides were cheap, FUJI look-a-likes and not smooth at all on finnish. The wrapping finnish was all over the guides and again, this was with the good ones. The lousy ones had PLASTIC guide frames. How can that be??

It was even worse when I saw the reels!! Now they did have a display case where there were some decent reels like Penn SS spinners and the odd Abu but then even the Abus were either the old, discontinued c3 (off the shelves for 3 years now) or that ultra-cheap one they have now (it was priced at MSRP or maybe a little higher not sure honestly).

They also had this REALLY cheap knockoff of an Acme Kastmaster made by South Bend called the Castaway (I think) made in China (I know) lousy dimpled finnish with crappy hooks and an already, in the package corroding split ring. It was that bad. Although they did have a small stash of the real thing too... I wonder if Art Lavalle gets sick if he's in that store and sees that crap next to his stuff. Or maybe he feels justified that he makes a quality product, especially when compared to that other junk jewelry that was in there...

Sorry about the rant here but I need to vent a little. I had trouble dropping $10 on soft plastics and jig heads when just about everything else there made me sick to my stomach. This just completely reinforces my ideas on quality equipment. Take 100 customers with that junk next to 10 guys fishing real gear and they's still loose a striper contest.... Okay, I'm done!!! >(