Just curious if any board sponsors sell Shimano reels.

Thanks,
Jeffrey

Angler's Workshop

merrick tackle used to.

With the cut rate pricing of tackle at the big box stores (Cabela's, Bass Pro, etc.) I think that you will find them priced much lowere there than from tackle wholesalers

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Well, I resisted posting when I saw this come up last night, but last week at the ICAST show in Vegas we started the process of becoming a Shimano "Top Shelf" Dealer. This was the first step in the process of getting to the "double seceret bonus level" which would allow us to get certification to stock their Butterfly Rods & Jigs.

Top Shelf is the high end stuff you can't get at Wally World, etc... Trinidad's, Calcutta's, and so on. I checked Anglers Workshop's site & didn't see Shimano, so I figured I'd raise my hand here. We DO have access to most of the line today, but it could be a few weeks before the rest of our certification goes through.

What exactly are you looking for Jeffrey? Drop me an email.

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

Mark your are a Sneaky Pete!! You must have had all this under your hat when we talked about the vertical jigging rods a week or so ago. Are they going to be something that I can use to fish large tuna from a stationary boat? The Trevalas that I have seen in the local shops are unusual to say the least but they just look too skinny for getting fish to the boat. Are you going to stock vertical jig blanks or sell finished rods?

Bill



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2006 09:43AM by Bill Stevens.

Bill,
We actually scheduled our meeting in Vegas BECAUSE of our conversation! You got my juices flowing.

They were pretty tight lipped about blanks saying "not at this time", but left me with the impression that they might be available down the road. The rods are unreal... Less than 3/8" I.D. at the winding check and rated to 200lbs. Pretty reasonable too. Fuji titanium guides, etc... and they retail under $150. Carl Haber (Fuji) was right down the aisle and I wanted to ask what HE thought about the line rating through those guides, but we never got back down his way.

We're going to have to take on Reels and several hundred Butterfly Jigs to get to the rods... I think Colleen's going to have to extend her showroom, AGAIN.

I'll keep you posted.

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

Saw both Diawa and Shimano in the shelf at Angler's just the other day. Varied price points. I have quite a few stores in the area cheaper than Cabela's and Bass Pro.

Without going into details, I think that Shimano lost a lot of customers (mainly bass fishermen) with the way they handled the dropping of the old Curado 200B and 200SF in favor of the new design. My buyer friend with a large outdoor company had no advance knowledge until they could not restock and were told here is the new repalcement. I think they could have done the change a lot better and more customer friendly than they did. I would love it if a board sponsor would carry a full line of Shimano reels and provide wholesale pricing.

Mark: It just dawned on me the question I should have been asking all the time on the reels and vertical jigging rods. How much drag can you set? Our set up to whip a yellowfin from an anchored boat is 42 lbs. Will those little blanks take that kind of load?

Bill - The rep we spoke to wasn't really prepared to answer anything that technical. They're sending us a "specialist" to go over everything. When Mike saw the 200lb rating on it while I was taking to the rep he said "200 POUND LINE?!?!" and the rep said "Yup". I chimed in and said "so I could fish my T-Rex on this?" (116lbs drag) and he replied "you could, but why would you if you can get Shimano?" I don't think that was a qualified statement, but rather just a little 'dig' on Avet. I would think you could get 50lbs of drag on it with that kind of rating, but I'll get a firm answer.

Dave - I have a feeling the wholesale pricing on "Top Shelf" product may be hard to pull off. They have a FIRM map pricing policy (minimum allowable price) that you are contractually bound to before they'll ship you anything. I asked what the consequences were for violating map and all he had to say was "you'll have to ask our legal department" <gulp> There's about an hour's worth of paperwork that we have to go through before they'll even certify us, so I guess I'll find out then. We're going after a dealer program rather than a distributor program, so they may hold our selling prices up close to MSRP. I should know more soon.

We deal with map on Avet as well, but dealers sort of get around it by offering free shipping, free Spectra, etc... to net the price down on the bigger reels. I don't think Shimano is quite that flexible.


Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

I see Jann's Netcraft has some Shimano's as well as Diawa and Pflueger. I just got a Pflueger 6730 spin reel from Jann's and it was the same price as Cabelas, Bass Pro, Ect. I don't know what your looking for but you can check the site off the lh side to see what they have. Mark

Dave: The mess on the Curados was due to a defective part and warranty claims. The transition from the Curado at the price target over to the Citaca was done without any dealer communication at all and to make it worse it was done over the Christmas gift season. I am close to two dealers who top shelf this stuff and at present most of the problems are worked out. The conversion of the Calais to salt water service furthur complicated the whole mess. Hands down it is hard to find a better reel.

Mark-

Thanks for posting up. Sounds like your pretty busy at your end....Well I'll email you what I am interested in...

Thanks,
Jeffrey

We have all kinds of reels available, not just the ones on our website. Also, don't be fooled into thinking the big box Cabelas, Bass Pro will cost you less just because of their size. It's because many believe that because they are a big operation, they must have lower prices and spend more than they have to without even checking in with a local dealer. I have seen on numerous occasions where at least online they are selling reels above MSRP. They throw out loss leaders, but really take a chunk on the non-sale/loss leader items.

Local dealers also know the product, at least we do, and have the ability to make deals on the spot. Also, when you call you generally will be speaking with someone in the US, and can get in touch with the owner. So with that said, there has not been an occasion yet, where our normal price is lower, or we can't meet or beat the big boys. Give us a call, like I said, we have the availability of more reels than on the site for a reason.

Also, if you were not aware, both Penn and Shimano, have very strict MAP pricing. Dealers found advertising lower than the approved MAP are immediately dropped from their program. I call if price fixing. WIth this in mind you now know why you see say the Shimano Calcutta 400 always listed at $349 (or at least you get the idea) everywhere. Not all of this info. applies to everyone and everything, I'm only providing it to give a general sense of how some of the big stores, are not necessarily lower in price, you don't get to speak with the owner, and how certain reel companies operate, which in my opinion is unfair to consumers, as I know the wholesale prices for the MAP priced reels.

Buy a Newell, good prices, no games, made in the US, 5 year warranty, and one of the best casting/trolling reels on the market, easy to service and get parts. The best value for your money. Most popular in California. If you go on a charter out there and you get a chance, look at what the deck hands and the captain are using for a reel. Many times they are Newell reels. I would guess about 20% of the price of a Shimano, or Penn is to pay for advertising. As someone else mentioned above, both Penn and Shimano, have had a number of screw ups with their reels. You are paying for the name, not better quality.

So, try your local dealer, you might be surprised, at what else is out there that is good quality and fairly priced.

I thought I read a couple of years ago that the former, now in jail head of Tyco Dennis Koslowski had a shower curtain that cost about $5,000. You can't tell me that the the extra $4880, that he paid made his shower curtain made it that much better than my $20 one, or was that made of gold. I don't remember. Certainly not as sophistcated a product as a fishing reel, but I think it makes the point. blah, blah blahhhh Ok enough now Pete.

Peter Maltby
Owner/President/Grand Pouba &
maker of good deals on many things.
ACK Fishing & Tackle
Proud sponser of this fine board
[www.ackfishing.com]