Learning from Gear Junkies

    My interview at Bass Pro Shops went well. I had tailored my resume specifically for fishing. I highlighted links to this blog and also fishing magazine articles that can be found online (Fishing Jamestown). I answered all of the questions easily and was hired on the spot.

   However, my knowledge of fishing really did me little good when it came to the gear. Much of my gear was in very good shape and old. Since fishing companies are always trying to get you to buy the "latest and greatest" pretty much everything I own had been discontinued. Even rods and reels that still have the same name are three or four generations newer than my stuff.

    So I spent a lot of time trying to learn about new products. Whenever I had to close, I'd spend my last hour just trying to get a feel for rod brands and where they were in the store. I'd go home and try to read reviews about one specific rod or reel. a night. Quite often, I'd send my buddy Adam a text message and we would discuss his opinion on a particular brand of rod/reel.

   Adam is a twenty one year old kid but he is one of the biggest gear junkies I know. He is also probably my best friend at work. For sure I have text conversations with him more than everyone else combined. Adam has a photographic memory so he is a wealth of knowledge. We discuss the value of one brand versus another. all of the time. I do this with other people while at work too. I'm always asking questions "polling" people for their opinion.  

   Adam has really strong opinions and there is no changing them. When I wrote the long post about different models of reels, many of the things I wrote were based on conversations we had. Sometimes I agree with Adam and sometimes I don't. For example, I think he is spot on about how great the Bass Pro Panfish Elite rod is for $80. But I do not think St Croix rods are "overpriced junk".  So I wade through our conversations and pick out info and form my own theories and opinions. 

  When I got there, everything at the reel counter looked the same to me and I thought I'd never learn one baitcaster or spinning reel from another. I had to break them down and learn what each brand/model looked like one at a time. Even now, I still don't know what all of the codes are on some of the reel boxes (all the Daiwa Tatula models for example). My conversations with Adam and others in the store proved very useful An example of an opinion I formed over these conversations- 

   I have owned a few Shimano Sedonas so going into the job, it was my favorite reel under $100. However, they have gone up in price and the newer models are much different than the ones I have. Adam is always saying the Daiwa Regal is the best reel for under a hundred. At the very least, it is "the cheapest good reel". It costs seventy dollars. The Sedona is about ninety dollars. The truth is they are both decent reels but the Daiwa is a better value. So I suggest the Daiwa Regal when kids (and adults) are stepping up to a decent inexpensive reel instead of the Sedona. I kind of owe it to my conversations with Adam about value and cost comparison conversations that I've saved many customers money

  I've also polled all of my fellow employees in the fishing dept about which brand of mono (regular fishing line) they use. I've always used Trilene XL for bass and Big Game for carp, but I figured with my discount, I'd be willing to try and use other lines. It turned out that there really isn't one opinion that one line is better than another. I had two employees including my boss tell me they use the Bass Pro Excel fishing line (the cheapest) Adam uses Suffix Advance (the most expensive). In between were other Suffix models, Trilene, and P line. So I learned that basically mono is a personal choice. Some stretch more than others and some people may or may not want that, but the reality is there are many quality lines. 

   All in all, a year into this job, I know an exponential amount of info about fishing gear than I did when I got hired. It took a ton of reading descriptions and reviews. It also took a ton, and I mean a ton, of questions. I appreciate all of the patience that was awarded me.