Buying season is near, some helpful buying tips....

I have learned a lot in the past year and a half about buying fishing tackle. I thought I would share some of my experiences.

1) Takes money to save money...sometimes. I bought 3 Loomis rods at once. The store gave me a real nice discount for buying so much at once. Buying rods and reels at the same time will sometimes yield nice deals to.

2) Don't settle for less than what you really want, unless you absolutly have no choice. Going to a temp service or working the local fast food place for a few weeks will give you the extra $$$ you need. The few hours spent making the extra money will pay off once you hit the lake with the rod and reel you really wanted.

3) Shop, shop, shop. If you don't know how, have your wife or girlfriend help you. I bet it will make her day. Don't get stuck buying at one store, and look often at all the stores. You never know when that special deal may show up, and how long they will have what you want before it's sold out. Odds are, if you want it, so do a lot of other people.

4) Store vs. Store. If you prefer certain stores more than others, but the other store has the deal, contact one of the prefered stores and try to get them to match it. It's worked for me, it'll work for you too. Stores are in the business to sell. If it takes a couple dollars to move something, odd's are they will do it.

5) Inform yourself. Just like getting a car repaired, or getting work done on your house, if you know what's going on, you'll get treated better. Some stores treat everyone well, but some stores like to push their opinions on you. Know what you want, buy what you want.

6) Patience. Spring deals are coming, don't impulse buy just becouse you think you need it now. Unless you don't care about the price. I see some are trying to buy Shimano reels now to take advantage of the rebate. It just might pay off to wait for them to go on sale, then buy with the sale price plus the rebate. Then again, the one you want might be all sold out by then. It can be a double edged sword. Refer to #3 for help on that.

Anything I missed????