Anybody live near a Gander Mountain? The one near my house has a million different crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and pretty much any other hard plastic you can think of. However I absolutely LOVE soft plastics like ribbontail worms, YUM dingers, flukes, etc. The Gander Mountain where I live looks about like KMart when it comes to these lures though. Do other Gander Mountains look this way?? Or just mine??

I was just in a GM last weekend to pick up a new rod/reel for fathers day...walked out empty handed.  I did notice they sell about everything rapala makes, in every color, but it was hit or miss when it comes to plastics and even hooks/jigheads/etc.  I couldnt find the rod or reel I wanted at a decent price, so I thought I'd just pick up some yozuri hybrid, but they only had two and four pound test.  I asked the guy behind the counter, and he said "well, thats one of the many things in this place that doesnt make sense anymore" and walked away.  That place has taken a nose-dive, they have no clue what to do in their fishing section...no clue

Its only more painful that the nearest BPS or Cabelas is 2 hours away!

The Gander Mountain here has a pretty decent selection of plastics. They have gone down in other areas though, especially rods, tackle storage and boating. They no longer have G.Loomis and St.Croix, but have a ton of their rods and a few other brands(Kistler and Castaway). I think GM has gotten into the entire retail bit for seasons, like the Walmart and Kmart stores. They start gearing up for fishing season in November and hunting season in July. They forget that some of us fish year round. They are becoming the Walmart for outdoors. Although I do most of my purchasing at the locally owned tackle shop, I'll be glad when the BPS gets here.

I know the one in Paducah, KY carries a lot of plastics (I haven't been there in a few months though).  They had a ton of ZOOM along with other brands yamamoto, strike king, yum, etc.  

They had a pretty good selection but I usually bought from the local places because the prices were about the same, and the local service was always much better.  

I went into GM one day looking for a reel and asked to see a Daiwa reel that was in the display case, and the guy asked me "Do you want to see it or do you want to play with it?"    I guess this guy didn't care that I bought two curados, a calcutta, and a few rods from him before.

I never made another big purchase there unless I couldn't find it anywhere else.

Been lookin to by another rod, and had a few in mind.  Loaded up the wallet and went to Gander figuring I was gonna have a tough time choosing.  Not.  Full line of Gander and St Croix rods.  Liked my premier, so at RW's suggestion went with a 7' avid.  Love it.  

Other than that, could have went to Walmart.

II went into GM one day looking for a reel and asked to see a Daiwa reel that was in the display case, and the guy asked me "Do you want to see it or do you want to play with it?" I guess this guy didn't care that I bought two curados, a calcutta, and a few rods from him before.

Oh WOW!  I would have had a field day with that waste of skin.  That kind of crap really ticks me off.  Was that at a Gander in MN?

I have been in the local GM four times since it opened over a month ago.  I have been a very dissatisfied customer all four times.  I think I made one purchase in those trips.  Customer Service has been very lacking.  I don't think I have had one employee ever ask me if I needed any help.  When I did have a question, I couldn't find anyone!

We are fortunate enough to have a Sportsman's Warehouse also, and they do Customer Service right.  It almost gets annoying having 5 different people ask you if you need any help while shopping in the same section.  The selection at Sportsman's puts GM to shame also.  I have been overwhelmed at times looking at the plastic wall that covers 1/2 of the store's back wall.  They have dedicated 1/4 of the store to fishing supplies and they don't carry nearly as much clothing as GM.  I was surprised when I went to GM that they had SO MUCH clothing.

I hope other GM are different, but I only go to GM to see if they have something that Sportsman's doesn't have.  

As always, YMMV, but I have SO under impressed with GM and won't be using them as a primary supplier for my addiction to fishing.

My local wally world doesnt even have plastic worms. I went there a few months ago looking for a beer koozy and darts and they didnt have either. The guy at the counter said that darts got stolen so they stopped selling them...standing right in front of glass case with PING PONG BALLS IN IT??? So I went to the fishing section just to check it out. No 4/0 hooks in stock, no Zoom worms, and 2 packs of purple Yum worms.

You guys should feel lucky.

I guess it depends on the local people at every store because we have the exact opposite situation here in St. Cloud, MN.  At Gander, they have always been very helpful and willing to go the extra mile for me, while at Sportsman's, I've gotten the brush off kind of answer to my questions more often than not.  Sportsman's does have a wider selection of tackle than Gander, but Sportsman's is a bigger store.  That said, Gander does have some stuff that Sportsman's does not have, so I shop at both.

No, my mistake experience was at the GM in Paducah, KY.  The one guy is really the only that ever angered me, there a few others that are much nicer, but I still don't buy a lot of fishing stuff there.  

GM is the only big sporting goods store in the area but there are two local shops w/in 5 min of GM that have close to the same prices, better service, and about the same selection so I go there

Still agree that GM is leaving alot to be desired lately, but I was there today and found what I thought was a sweet deal. On their combo racks was a sign buy one get second 1/2 off.

Got 2 Abu revo s / Fenwick Venture combos for 150 bucks. Rods aren't exciting, but I can use them for guests or for bangin around. and basically the reels were 75 each.

No, my mistake experience was at the GM in Paducah, KY. The one guy is really the only that ever angered me, there a few others that are much nicer, but I still don't buy a lot of fishing stuff there.

GM is the only big sporting goods store in the area but there are two local shops w/in 5 min of GM that have close to the same prices, better service, and about the same selection so I go there

Pretty much same deal for me here.  I prefer a local indepedant shop for just the reasons you stated.  

I think my GM is pretty well stocked on a lot of stuff.  Good selection of rods, combos, plastics, etc.  Customer service seems good, I've even engaged one of the salesmen in conversation regarding techniques.  Seemed very willing to talk.  Sometimes, I'm just browsing and want to be left alone.  No complaints except their prices are a little high on some

things.

The loal gander seems to be ok. It dosn't alwyas have ever thing I need or want. Just a few weeks ago I finally got a sammy. But this is how bad gander is . My buddy called and asked what I paid for my cruado and quantum rod combo. I told him about 300 total. Well hes like I just paid 54 dollers for a curado 200DHSV. Iam like how and were did you get it. Well he saw it was sitting on a rod for 54 dollers. and didn't see a price on the reel. So he brought it up to pay for it. They asked him if the reel was on it. he said it was. They didn't question him on it at all.