Wow after watching these tournaments why would you ever purchase a spinnerbait, crankbait or even bait casting reel ever again? Thoughts on how the tackle industry is going to be fundamentally changed going forward?
Wow after watching these tournaments why would you ever purchase a spinnerbait, crankbait or even bait casting reel ever again? Thoughts on how the tackle industry is going to be fundamentally changed going forward?
It’s not.
Hang on. I'll help you in 77 minutes.
According to a friend of mine that works at a tackle shop, FFS has been very good for sales. He said that last year they sold more spinning rods, spinning reels and finesse baits than ever before.
I don't think they are going to be in big trouble. Where they may lose sells in traditional power fishing baits they are selling a tremendous more amount of baits popular with FFS. There's even baits marketed as being easier to see on FFS. One door is being partially close and the other is kicked wide open. The bottom line is they are still selling bait just a different type.
Last edited by JR19; 02-24-2024 at 08:55 PM.
I had a similar thought. It will be interesting over the next couple of years to see how the aisles and tackle on display may change in major retailers. If you are new to fishing and see all the fairy wands and small minnow imitation baits you may be influenced to choose those.Originally Posted by SuzukiSS
Enjoying life in Southern Illinois
No way these minnow imitator soft plastics will ever reach the profitability of a $10 crankbait or spinnerbait.
I wouldn’t be so sure about that.
GETFISHED !!!
Agree 100%! Gone are the days of Strike King selling millions$$ of KVD crankbaits or spinner baits or jigs or flipping plastics or red eyes or even jerk baits.
You are correct. My thoughts are the tackle industry needs variety to be profitable longterm.
The next 12-18 months will be interesting. Right now some dealers are seeingredients a decline. Some of it might be FFS but some could be the economy and a reduction of people fishing post COVID.
If you think the industry is hurting on sales then u must not have tried to get anything that resembles FFS equipment. It’s the crappie stuff is MIA
It is an interesting thought. Will suck if some of the lure manufacturers go down the tubes because they aren’t producing lures for suspending fish. All kinds of baits will work with FFS but the ones that will sell the most will be the ones touted the most by pro series anglers. Contrary to popular belief, you can still catch em on the bank chunking and winding but I realize many are influenced solely by tournament results and emulate what they see on popular media which can affect sales. in a bad economy (not gonna argue what state ours is in currently lol) a loss of sales could be detrimental to anyone no matter how large or established.
Imagine Bill Lewis stopping making traps and starting to make crappie jigs to survive
Again not necessarily saying that will happen but it’s an unpleasant thought
I will echo that I believe variety is the lifeblood of bass fishing equipment sales. Many companies rely even on seasonal bait sales, early spring traps and spinnerbaits shallow running cranks, Summer time deep diving plugs and football jigs, fall topwater sales. It’s definitely something worth considering that I’m sure company owners aren’t ignoring
Edit to add:
I look at companies like Megabass for instance in your case mark. You all sell all kinds of lure categories that keep the company thriving. I’m sure you all have your best sellers, but you can only sell so many of the same bait before an angler has saturated their needs of a single product. You will have your bait monkey dudes but, I know as a consumer, if I can trim the fat and still catch em. I will. Heck I’ve done that the last 2 years. Partially because of FFS but not completely
This to shall pass. No way is the population of crappie sustainable to the effects of FFS for more than five years.
FFS has been a thing in the crappieverse for a decade now.
I've been in 10-12 tackle shops in the last 7-10 days and most are saying hardbait sales are down. Tackle sales in general.are down they say. Again though COVID caused a mini boom sales wise and that is now gone.
I just don’t see it Covid related. If KVD won a tournament on a crankbait we would buy 10 different colors of each size and three duplicates in case two got hung up and lost. All FFS baits imitating shad and no way you losing many to stumps so why purchase even 10% of the baits we did five years ago.
Things are going to be OK.
Since the dawn of time, live bait has always been cheaper and more effective than artificial lures. Yet, lure companies have existed and thrived.
The FFS-related doom and gloom from a focused, specialized fishing group like tournament bass fishermen makes me shake my head.
Most anything will work with ffs. With the gain up a little bit, a 1/16 oz jig looks like a 5-7” crappie
Hang on. I'll help you in 77 minutes.
Any time there is a big shift due to a huge technique being adopted, there will be a blip due to people filling their supply of what is needed for that technique. Once that is accomplished, it tapers off. If the technique specific tackle is non expensive, the blip is small. If this sustains, the higher dollar baits won't be exactly be flying off the shelves-unless the bass get wise to the minnow baits and another technique changes the scene once again.
Very good point! And I feel the species will become conditioned to FFS sounds soon as well.
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