RipSomeLips

You beat me to my favorite quote about boats...well played!

People fish better when they are confident in a particular bait, in the same way if you feel more confident wearing a bright color to be safe then I say you should take your own guts advice. You certainly could always tone the color down on the front of the vest with a few fishing patches, camo duct tape, fabric approved spray paint etc., my thought there is you will still be seen well from behind and you will not be so flashy facing forward to the fish you are presenting your lure to.

Thanks for checking the ad and all. I went to Academy today to see what they could do, unfortunately they said they may have a sale but never really know. The manager offered me a price adjustment for 30 days if they did have a sale instead of their standard 2 weeks...a that's something. ..but not enough to get me to pay full price. Luckily an offer I made on a pelican castaway 116 from Craigslist responded and I got one in great shape with paddle for $200. I am super stoked! It is an older model that has the rod holders at an angle to the side, vs the new model has holes straight down. I prefer the angled style due to any low hanging branches. Also the new model has a white bottom, but mine is all olive green...which I prefer. So all in all it was a good day. Now I just need some warmer weather.

I would buy the pelican icon for $199 today but my store has if for $299. That's also their online price right now. Are you for sure they had em for $199...cause I might be able to get them to price match their own location. Thanks for any help u can offer.

I also forgot to mention the best way to deal with Timeshare folks at BPS is to do what Adam Sandler did in the movie "Billy Madison" and say "No I will not make out with you" really loudly when they come up to you. Hahahahaha. If anyone here ever tries this let me know!!

I grew up going to the BPS in Springfield, MO on vacation (BPS National Headquarters), so I have a lot of fond memories. But I can honestly say I haven't bought anything from them in a couple of years because it's cost prohibitive. I will also say that I am angry they took out their soft serve ice cream machine...because it was my favorite place in the world to get ice cream (kinda lame I know, but more about memories). Plus I have an Academy Sports that went in just down the road and I couldn't enjoy their everyday low price scheme any better! Sometimes Academy has some killer clearance like the $20 Suffix 50lb braided camo line I paid $4 a couple of days ago thanks to a tip from someone on these forums.