Bass Pro Brand

[Scott C]

Was just wondering how the Bass Pro branded lures stack up compared to the individual brands. I am trying to get stocked up to fish Table Rock more as we are taking a trip down this summer with the hopes of finding a small vacation property in the next couple of years. I have been reading a lot of posts about essential lures for table rock and think I am getting an idea of what i need, stickbaits, drop shots, football jigs, etc. Here in Iowa we are not lucky enough to have lots of options for buying gear, there are very few privately owned tackle shops here. My main choices are Bass Pro, Scheels (very expensive), and Sportsman Warehouse (always out of everything). The reason I ask about the Bass Pro brand is that it seems for me it would be easier to remember everything if I could just get the Bass Pro version of the lures needed for Table Rock. The reason I say it would be easier is that I won't have to remember brand A for stickbaits, brand B for spinnerbaits, brand C for Jigs, brand X for inline spinners, etc. I know it may sound stupid but I think it would be easier and faster for me to just go find the bass pro version of these and go with it. I have also noticed that the Bass Pro brand is normally cheaper than the "name" brands as well. I am a huge fan of Rapala's and some others and will always use their products as well.

I have been thinking about just using the Bass Pro brand for a while but have noticed on here that very seldom do Bass Pro lures get brought up on here. Just was wanting everyone's experiences with their lures and if they are decent or if I would be better off to just start learning the recommended brands for each lure that are talked about on this site. Maybe my yearly trips from Shell Knob to Springfield with my Grandpa just to visit BPS as a kid are making me think that their stuff is better than it actually is. Haven't really fished with any BPS branded lures as our store just opened up in September and I had to get to combining instead of fishing.

Hopefully this all makes sense and I didn't confuse too many. Only been on here for about a month and love it due to all of the good honest feedback people get.

Just thinking about warm weather fishing on another cold, snowy, windy day here in Iowa. Over 54 inches of snow for the winter so far!!!!!!

[Quillback]

I have had good luck with the BassPro XPS lipless crankbaits (similar to a rattle trap) for LM and white bass. I haven't tried any of their other baits so that's about all I can comment on.

[techo]

That is a challenging question and the answer in my opinion is it depends. Personal preference and confidence are going to be the main two factors.

EXAMPLE:

I use a great number of double tailed grubs. BPS makes some and they are more durable than my other two choices, but not as much action. So if I am taking the wife or kids fishing and I want them to catch more than me I use the Bass Pro XPS stuff. If the bass are particulary agressive or the blue gill are pecking away at my stuf, but we are having fun.....we use the Bass Pro XPS. If the bass are finicky or I am in a tournament....Chompers or Yamamoto grubs for me. They just have more action as they are softer, but they are not as durable.

Jigs are the same way. I stick with Eakins and some Chompers because I have confidence in them. There is a guy that makes jigs up by LOZ that had offered to sponsor me, but I catch fish on the Eakins so I passed it up. He probably makes just as good of a jig as Eakins, but the confidence is there for me on what I have been using.

I don't think any one company makes the best of everything and I would hesitate buying because it had their brand on it. BPS does have some good stuff though! I stop by their store every week. Seems daily here lately as I have the fishing bug bad, but am too cold blooded to go catch a seven pounder like Jessary.

[Bassman755]

I agree its all on personal preference and there are many different baits that all have different actions. I used to work for Bass Pro and I bought a lot of their brand cause of the awesome discount. I had pretty good luck on their lures most of the time. In my opinion I'd say go for it. You really can't go wrong with them.

[zipstick]

Don't mean to insult you but learning lots of differnt names of companies and what they produce is a prety good thing to know just so you can communicate with other anglers about different lures. At Bass Pro, lures and equipment from hundreds of different companies are offered, and many are of better quality than the bass pro brand.

Some of BP equipment is quite good and some of it is not so good. Most people would agree that their rods are probably of better quality than the reels they sell, but that's probably not everyone's opinion. I do not buy any of their hardbaits so I can't comment. Their brands of jigs aren't that good, nor are their hooks. I would not recommend them to anyone. I do fish their tubes, worms on occasions and some other soft plastic trailers. I also think their line of spinnerbaits (Laser Eye)is decent too. Lots of people like their house brand flourocarbon and mono as well. And the Nitro boat brand is getting better, many would say.

You also need to know that you are coming during the worst season to bass fish during the day if you come down in July or August. Not only is it very hot, the fish are quite deep and finding them is very difficult without the aid of a good guide. Using the best lures won't help if you are not fishing around fish, and Table Rock is as tough as a $3 steak for folks with little or no experience there. Most locals will elect to fish at night during the heat. You may not catch a single bass in a whole week without help because those rascals are 30-60 feet deep and often in a poor mood.

[Ham]

As stated above, it really just depends on the individual product being considered. I like some of their soft plastics, I like some of the BPS branded hardbaits, I'm fine with BPS Excel mono for some applications, I like the XPS hooks (when they are on sale). I typically want to look at that stuff in person BEFORE I buy it and often try it after friends kitt my butt with it on the water.

As on online source, I've been very pleased with www.tacklewarehouse.com. Good prices, great selection, and good customer service. I also try to buy local, but when the local guys do not stock what your looking for, you have to look elsewhere.

[Dutch]

Brand is not my concern. Shape color size are what I look for. Some stuff of theirs I buy and some I don't. Their plastics are just fine imo but I'll stick with major brands for hard baits and I make my own jigs, spoon, and spinnerbaits.

[Scott C]

Don't mean to insult you but learning lots of differnt names of companies and what they produce is a prety good thing to know just so you can communicate with other anglers about different lures. At Bass Pro, lures and equipment from hundreds of different companies are offered, and many are of better quality than the bass pro brand.

Some of BP equipment is quite good and some of it is not so good. Most people would agree that their rods are probably of better quality than the reels they sell, but that's probably not everyone's opinion. I do not buy any of their hardbaits so I can't comment. Their brands of jigs aren't that good, nor are their hooks. I would not recommend them to anyone. I do fish their tubes, worms on occasions and some other soft plastic trailers. I also think their line of spinnerbaits (Laser Eye)is decent too. Lots of people like their house brand flourocarbon and mono as well. And the Nitro boat brand is getting better, many would say.

You also need to know that you are coming during the worst season to bass fish during the day if you come down in July or August. Not only is it very hot, the fish are quite deep and finding them is very difficult without the aid of a good guide. Using the best lures won't help if you are not fishing around fish, and Table Rock is as tough as a $3 steak for folks with little or no experience there. Most locals will elect to fish at night during the heat. You may not catch a single bass in a whole week without help because those rascals are 30-60 feet deep and often in a poor mood.

Not an insult, I get exactly what your saying there. Also I am well aware of the tough conditions in the heat of the summer and are definitely planning on getting a guide for our first day there. May even look into fishing tanneycomo instead of Table Rock with the guide instead to get the wife on some fish.

Since starting reading this site I have actually started an Excel spreadsheet with a tab for each type of bait. In that spreadsheet I will just type in the brand, model, size, and color that someone will recommend. That way I can pull it up later and have all types recommended in front of me and start doing a little research on all of them. Since posting the original question i have started reading the comments on BPS website about both BPS brand and "name" brand lures and you can definitely tell which ones stack up and which don't. I then have been putting alot of the comment summaries in the spreadsheet about each lure. It has really been helping me understand each lure better as well as retaining the differences better. Who would have thought I would be using old college studying tricks to learn more about lures.

Once again thanks for the info guys.

[Gilly]

Whether Bass Pro or Cabela's or whoever I usually go with my gut feeling on lures. Sometimes the grandkids end up with stuffed tackle boxes because grandpa wasn't hitting like he hoped (that's as good of a reason as any!). For other items, optics, trolling motors, chargers, etc. it never hurts to read the reviews usually attached to the item (on-line). We've had very good luck using store brands and felt once we did the research we had made the right choice.

[Gary Lange]

I really don't think BPS or Cabela's have a manufacturing facility anywhere that makes the products that the sell. With that said somebody is making these products to BPS and Cabela's spec's. The basiclly means they could be the same product with a different name attached to them. Look at the Carbonlite Reel and then The Abu Garcia Revo STX. They appear to me to be basiclly the same reel with slight differences. I personally have had very good luck with the Pro Qualifier Spinning Reels and the Bionic Baitcaster Plus reels.