Basspro

[Shawn M.]

Went to basspro in manteca for the opener. Awesome store a must to see. You could spend hours looking at the mounts and art work but I must say, when it comes to spending my money on my addictive habit, I will have to travel to kienes. Thanks bill for having such a wonderfull store.

[fishinjohnny]

It kinda seems like it's more of a tourist attraction than anything. I'd say I liked the clothing section but was not impressed by the fly fishing section at all. If it means anything to anybody else, keep it local. Don't let the big name run out any of your local fishing tackle establishments. John

[garypullings]

I also went on friday. It was a nice place to see and I do agree it was more geared to the tourist type of enviorment. I spent alot of time in the fly section and was giving the manager advice on what to stock. Some of the things I saw was not very good for the local waters. He didn't have any nymphs at all.

He told me some one from the east cost came in and set up the fly area which is why there wasn't alot of anything for the mountains. He did have a larger stripper and bass fly selection than I thought he would have. Hell when I was talking to one of the guys I don't think he even really knew how to fly fish. the guy was taking notes from my talking to him. It actually made me not want to come in there. It seemed like only a few knew what they were talking about. some of them never heard of indicators or knew anything about them.

But I did get a nice map of the delta from them for free. For me that store is only an hour and a half north vs. 2 1/2 hours to kienes shop. I feel bad for the Modesto shop now though. I am curios what he thinks of the bass pro shops going in there.

[Hairstacker]

Well, I checked it out today with the family. Must say, it was a very impressive store. I've never seen so many mounted mammals and fish in one location. They had many multiple, complete mounts of everything from deer, elk, various sheep, coyotes, wild pigs, and antelope to bears, raccoons, skunks, a mako shark and an armadillo, as well as many impressive fish mounts. They simulated a campsite being invaded by raccoons, as well as flocks of stuffed wild geese flying overhead. I liked the display of a big bass chasing some bluegill on top of one of the shelf units. I also enjoyed looking into the indoor simulated trout pool with some very good-sized live trout in it. (Unfortunately, the fish tank wasn't up and running yet.) They had an indoor shooting gallery for the kids. They even had a simulated redwood tree inside the store that was as big around as any at Big Trees State Park. On two separate occasions, I overheard other customers say, "Hey, this is like Disneyland!" :lol: Definitely a fun place to visit.

As far as their fly shop section, Kiene's has nothing to worry about. Bass Pro Shops will be convenient for locals to pick up very common items they may need, such as flies, hooks, tippet, some common fly tying materials, etc. But Kiene's carrys hundreds more rods and a far, far more extensive selection of flyfishing and fly tying supplies and equipment, not to mention one of the best staff in the business. I couldn't help but notice Bass Pro Shops also didn't carry any Kiene's brand hats. :lol:

Bottom-line: When it's time to do some serious shopping while getting solid advice along the way, you're still going to have to go to a real fly shop like Kiene's in Sacramento or Sierra Anglers Fly Shop in Modesto.

[Jgoding]

I hit the one in St. Louis last year as I was there for work. I wasn't that impressed either and all I really remember is some lady pointing a shot gun right at my head and the employee helping her didn't really care. Another customer gave me the heads up head nod to warn me. I also remember no one bothered to help me too... I think I sat there for like 5 mins wanting to look at some of the shot guns and got ignored while 3-4 guys were watching espn or some crap.