We are getting a branch Cabela's store in the Ft. Worth area. Does anyone know if these branch stores stocks their rod building supplies?

To the best of my knowledge, they do not. However, it may vary location by location.

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The Cabelas in Hamburg, PA most certainly does stock rod building supplies. However, the section is not very well maintained and finding what you are looking for, can be a challenge. ;)

I have been to the Kansas City store and there is one in my hometown Kearney NE. The KC store does stock rod building supplies, they have the cabelas brand blanks as well as thread, reel seats etc.. The one in Kearney also stocks to a lesser degree, no blanks. What I do if they don't have what I want is to order it into the store & they call me when it comes in, no shipping charge. Not sure if all stores do this but the one in Kearney does.

The one in Mich stocks a limited amount. Not very much!

Mike

MIchigan stocked quite a few of their blanks, but due to the lack of merchandise flow, they reduced what they have on hand. HOwever, if you want a cabela's blank, order it through the store and you will not have to pay for any shipping. (their blanks are pretty decent) It takes a week of two for the blank to come in but it is a money saver! They will cary many of their supplies that are as packages, such as guide sets and tip tops, some varieties of thread and their cork line, but dont expect to buy individual guides. The MI store stopped doing that 4 months ago and sent a ton of their merchandice (individual guides and blanks) to other stores that were selling more of these items. Maybe you will be lucky and they will have more on hand there.

MI Builder

To expand on Joe Hepp's response above, the disorganization in the Pennsylvania Cabela's is in the blank area -- they're just "displayed" in a stand-up segmented case with absolutely no organization, and further, the folks rooting through them had separated butt from tip sections, there were tags missing, etc.

However, the remainder of the supplies -- thread, guides, reel seats, etc. -- were relatively well organized and displayed. And the selection was pretty decent.

Needless to say, my trip there put a fairly big dent in my wallet!

Bilgee

To the Cabela store shopper: You're right about asking for a blank to be shipped and pay no shipping charge. To the guys in the Hamburg PA. area, talk with some of the outfitters (workers) and ask them what is in the back room, or go in the bargain cave. Check out the sales there. I have a few friends that work there and they tell me what is going on sale. As far as the disorganized mess, your right about that. I sometimes feel that I am going crazy looking for that one item that I need only to find it somewhere else on another hook. Spend some time going thru the blanks and pick out what you need. Sometimes you will find a bargain. I do. Since I live 8 miles away, my wallet feels it. To Joe and Bill, maybe we should get a part time job there and help straighten out that mess???

Fall of 2002, I went to Cabela's in Grand Forks. They had a very limited supply of blanks and their outdoor specialist told me that if I wanted to see all of the blanks that Cabela's carries that I should take a trip to their Owattona, MN store; he assured me that they had a a great supply, at least one of everything in their catalog!!

My wife and I took time off of our jobs and I scrimped and saved up about 1500 bucks to drop on blanks and we took off in a blizzard in March the next year (2003) for our long awaited trip.

When we got there, there wasn't a blank in the whole store-not even the bargain cave!! The outdoor specialist in that store told me that Cabela's had made a corporate decision to pull all rod blanks from all of their stores and just ship them from the main store in Sydney, NE.

I still order from their catalog, but this disappointment will haunt me the rest of my life...

Putter

Here in WI they stock everyting that is in the catalog. They dont put it all on the shelves though so if you want something you have to show them in the catalog and they fetch it for you

It is indeed the blanks (and to a lesser degree the threads) that drive me crazy at the Hamburg store. Fortunately, I live over near Harrisburg (~45 minutes away), so I don't stop in often enough to get into too much trouble with the wife of credit card! :)

With all the publicity Cabela's is getting here why aren't they a sponsor??? With all the money they spend on advertising and sending out catalogs I would think a Cabela's link in the sponsors area would be a plus for them.

I suppose they put ad money where it does them the most good; their calalogs they mail to every outdoorsman in the US & Canada.
Would their name over on the left gain them any business??

Putter

I recall that about a year ago, Cabela's actually signed up as a sponsor, and their name was on the left, but without an active link. Tom K explained, when he removed the name, that Cabela's never came through with an appropriate link, although I don't see why their all-purpose link would not have been ok, since you can find the rod building items using that. For now, I tend not to use Cabela's if I can use one of the active sponsors instead.