Fishing is hard without gear

[Slackdaddy]

I do buy a lot online,, but have needed to stock up on hooks, weights, etc for the last 2 months.

The stores are empty, Walmart, Dicks, Freds, etc.

Any word on when basic fishing supplies will be back on shelves?

walmart.jpg

[Redfish12]

What do you need?

[Slackdaddy]

Just been needing to stock up on cat fishing gear for the girls, odds and ends.
Stuff I usually drop into walmart to pick up,,

I did put an online order in,

What do you need?

[Redfish12]

I just gave away a couple boxes of snelled 1/0 bronze hooks and top and bottom rigs. I'll see if I have more.

[summersoff]

Yeah, I agree the stores are empty, went to Dicks to pick up some braid and all they had was 150 yards or 50#. Same thing with cabelas. It was a total waste of two trips. I hate to say it, but we are being conditioned to buy online.

[john from md]

I hate to say it, but we are being conditioned to buy online.

Ya think?

[ronaultmtd]

Yeah, I agree the stores are empty, went to Dicks to pick up some braid and all they had was 150 yards or 50#. Same thing with cabelas. It was a total waste of two trips. I hate to say it, but we are being conditioned to buy online.

I usually buy “off-season” on-sale and have enough inventory on hand for the entire season...rarely buy any fishing gear, lures, etc. during the season from tackle shop...exception is the Tackle Box in Lexington Park...It is a grown man’s “candy store” with as good or better prices as you can find on line on the Internet...the stock is usually outstanding...and for salt water, diverse..

[J.A. Veil]

Many of us like to buy tackle at discount or big-box stores or to order gear online. But they appear to be low on stock at this point (e.g., my recent online order to Cabelas for new fishing pants also included a tub of Gulp Alive, but when the order was processed, they cancelled that item from my order). To follow up on Ron's comments, some of the more established tackle shops still have inventory. If you really need fishing gear, stop in to a local tackle shop and pay a bit more. They are worth keeping in business. I have fished a lot on the eastern shore this summer and have stopped in Anglers several times on my way to the Bay Bridge. The shelves have been pretty full, and I found what I wanted, including the tub of Gulp Alive I could not get from Cabelas. Some items cost more, while others are comparable or lower than internet prices.

[CarsonNash]

I work at alltackle in Annapolis and we have had a hard time keeping everything in stock. We do have lead weights in almost all sizes and a fair amount of circle hooks. Pre-tied bottom rigs are long gone. We should have what you need.

[Fish123]

I had to go into a bass pro in June and even then every cheap combo and every sinker in the store was gone. It was crazy to see it basically depleted. I needed to pick up some 4 oz pyramid sinkers for surf fishing and even the local shops are out of them. As soon as I see places get stocked the products are usually gone as fast as Clorox wipes lol.


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[ronaultmtd]

Strange...I used to pour all my own sinkers, bank, pyrimid,and dipsy doodle sinkers...had bunches of aluminum molds...bought the eyes etc. on line...it was incredible cheap, easy to do...Kinda like reloading your own ammo once you buy the dies, powder, primers and press...Got to be too much of a chore when everyone wanted the big heavy trolling leads, so I had a big fishing yard sale before moving from Tidewater...sold all my shark fishing and big game tackle, flying gaffs, Spool of 1/16 aircraft control cable and 100 feet of number 9 galvanized machine chain...molds rods, reels, lures, outriggers, 24’ boat and dual axle ez loader trailer...figured I was done with that chapter of my life...now I wished I had a few of those molds...can’t believe how much more they cost today...

[J.A. Veil]

Within the Snaggedline community, members span a wide range of fishing experience and personal collections/accumulations of tackle. Those of us who have been fishing for decades may have loads of excess gear that we are no longer using, much as Ron described above. One way to "share the wealth" between those that have a lot of tackle and those who want to get more tackle is to post on the Tackle Shop forum for both: a) looking to sell, and b) wanting to buy. One member may want bottom rigs and lead sinkers, while another wants more crankbaits or plastic tails. Other members may realize that they have more of one of those types of tackle than they are likely to use.

There is no obligation on anyone's part to buy or to sell through Snaggedline, but this is a way to obtain, swap, or liquidate tackle without relying on retail or online outlets. For me personally, I try to keep my collection of tackle pretty well under control by doing a visual inventory several times a year and moving out things I don't use. At the moment, there are several types of tackle for which I have more than I need for the foreseeable future. I am not actively looking to sell, but if someone wants these items, I can make them available for a cost well below retail. Specifically, I have lots of 12 Fathom soft plastic paddle tails in a few colors. These are outstanding tails, and are not available anywhere locally. I also have some snelled flounder hooks that I am not likely to use. There may be other items that I would save for a fishing flea market next winter, but I am not sure those flea markets will actually happen next winter given social distancing efforts.

[john from md]

When I lived at the Jersey Shore, I used to make all my own sinkers also. From 3 and 4 ounces for the surf, to 8 to 12 ounces for deep sea fishing. Making sinkers and duck anchors was much easier than making bullets as you don't care what kind of alloy you have. I used to do the sinkers with an old cast pot, a camp stove propane burner and an aluminum mold from a guy in PA who's name I can't recall. I still cast lead balls for my muzzle loaders but I have to get the soft lead from a guy in Frederick for $1 a pound. ouch!

[Mark]

I pour my own jigs, make my own bucktail-style spinners and tie my own flies and poppers. Like many who do that, I seem to have a never-ending stock of hooks, feathers, fur and foam. I cannot claim that it's more economical. In all likelihood it's not. My inventory did not come cheap. It just grew incrementally over time. But I find great satisfaction in catching fish on my creations.

So I haven't noticed the empty tackle shelves. Frankly, I'm really glad to see toilet paper back in good supply!

[john from md]

No hobby that I have seen can be said to be economical. But they sure are fun!