1mainiac

I agree Mike and this was never about me starting a businesss the only mention of starting a business was the fact that I or someone would have to have a legal business to purchase from most distributors. There are a few who could care less as long as you make a minimum order and pay the sales tax. My thought was to see if anyone was interested in buying as a group and we could discuss what we want and see what the best deals we can get are. Honestly there are some places you can buy stuff cheaper than my wholesale cost so buying thru me would not be the best deal. However forming a group of members and shopping collectively would improve everyone in the groups chances at getting a better deal. For instance you might have a great deal on Stinger spoons or something else to offer so having a dozen of us buying with you might help you as well. I fully expected to have group members inform me they could get a better deal on this or that and would want everyone to get the best deal and if it is not thru me then I will buy from them. I am fully aware that you have to keep both business and pleasure mixed into how you operate this site. The website is a business and fishing is something you love to do however unlike a commercial sales website here most of the content is provided by members and web traffic determines the value of the site. As for me I don't think I would even consider starting a business based on Salmon fishing as a way to make money and I don't think you did either. However I would as you have consider consider being part of a group to help each other and promote our sport. This is the basis of what I offered but again no good deed goes unpunished and what started as a simple offer to fellow members gets twisted up.

Wow Josh a 300 copper segmented with 45# mono as a backer you got big reels. I can't get a 100yd of 20# backing on my Okuma Convetor 55L which has me considering going to Power Pro for backing on the copper rods. Also due to having my divers come up into my copper a few times I run my copper as far from the boat as I can get it and often when running 4 boards per side the outside board is barely visable in the distance. When running the copper as a 150 with the other 150 between the board and the boat how wide can you run them?

or the phone number for the girl running the auger I might start ice fishing again.

Gotta go with Adam on this as well no segments keep the knots to a minimum. Less terminal tackle is better last thing you need is more stuff to fail. This is one reason I run mono as backer on my copper and lead core setups.

I pull my 300 copper 45# in 70fow at 2.5 so keep in mind that those numbers can change a lot based on conditions. Also the thing to do is turn the clickers off so the reels are nearly spooled before anyone notices there is a fish on. Jay really likes it when I do that. Nothing like seeing the board dissappear on the horizon as you realize it has a fish on it. Best one was when Steve reeled in the 300 copper got to the board said there was no fish then the fish took off and yanked it out of his hands and striped off over a hunderd yards before he could get it stoped. Or fishing with my wife who points out the down rigger poles are hers the rest are mine to reel in. It is always fun to see everyone knock each other over to get to the rigger rods but no one hurrys to grab the copper or lead core rods.

This has never been about making money for me it was a suggestion that perhaps we could use the friendships and knowledge we have picked up here and form a group. My plan was to see if there was enough interest to consider doing this and then to put all the numbers together and let everyone know what we could do as a group. I am rather suprised to see the direction the thread has gone as this was not about Mike or his sponsors making money. Since I never intended on going public with any info other than to invite fellow members to join me and a few others to save a few bucks. So other than a ocassional post saying that a few of us would be getting together and having a beer while chatting about what we need there would be no website involvement. If I want a website I will either set one up myself or have a friend do it for me which could even be Mike. I already get pretty good deals on most of my stuff so I for one would save very little by doing it in fact the cost of setting up the business would actually increase my overall cost but my thought was that if enough people were interested a very small group membership fee would cover most of my cost. For some of you however the savings could be pretty good based on where you shop. But keep in mind just like Sams Club and other member stores one time purchases will not save you much.

Me too born in Big Rapids lived in Roger Heights till 73 moved back in 81 to 93.

Actually Mike The distributor is pretty much all for it as he needs customers to stay in business as well. Most of the manufacture's simply want their product sold. The internet and chain stores has hurt all the local shops and many of them buy direct so even the local distributors suffer. Also none of these venues offer us the ability to order what we want they all require us to pick thru what they have. And again this is a idea that came up in conversation that I am following up on. Whether this becomes more than a chat dialog or not remains to be seen. There was a time there were bait shops everywhere now there are few. But even as the shops died out the business did not increase at the few that are left. The answer is they went to the internet and the major chain stores so why not bring them back to a local point. Get all the guys together and buy as a group just like most of the Charter boats do. I thought one of the reasons for having a site like this is to allow us to share info. Many times that info is to point a fellow member towards a differant vender. Such as Cabellas or other internet and chain stores. I don't know you can allow us to have open dialog and not have some ocassional discourse with advertisers other than to become like another site you and I both dislike who polices deletes and edits posts they don't like and has almost no traffic on it anymore. You have a great site Mike with good traffic and lots of good info that alone should make sponsors happy and want to be here if I do in fact start a business I would consider advertising here.

No problem I'll being checking the mailbox for the deposit check. Any special color on the Tiara's and I assume you want the Hooters swimsuit team to crew for you as well that will also require a rather large deposit.

There is very little protected territory in fishing gear most distributers will be happy to add you to their sales list. Most of them use minumum orders as a way to control how they do business and also nearly all manufactures have MAP policies ( minimum advertised pricing ) which I will not violate. So I won't be giving out free trade info nor should anyone else I also support local bait shops and think everyone should as well. However with the amount we spend on gear I think it would be nice to have a place for planned purchases. Since I have no interest in carrying a inventory if this happens and I do this it will require all involved to make a list of what they want and then I will find a way to put everyones list together into a bulk order and let them know what it will cost them or if we need to make adjustments to the order due to purchase limitations.

That is a good point Frank and I am aware of it Major retailers and distributers can get much better prices. I am sure that I can be undersold I have bought gear for less than my wholesale price sheet in some of my other business's. This is why I am not trying to open a store however getting a few guys together and buying as s group increases everyone's chances at a better deal. To do this I have to have a legitiment business to purchase wholesale. Again I have a few details to sort out but since I have no plans of making money off this adventure the only issue is making sure I don't lose a lot of money on it. On the bright side I could write off all my fishing as product testing and maybe save a few bucks that way as well.

I can get electronics and pretty much anything you would need however keep in mind some brands have very high stocking and minimum order requirements that may make one time purchases tough to do. 1 line I looked at has a 20 grand minimum order so not likely going to play much there however can probably meet or beat most deals. I still have a few things to sort out. One thing I need to decide is how to do a fair membership so no one feels like I am taking advantage of them. I am considering 2 ideas at the moment 1 being a one time member fee like 10 bucks and a few guidelines as to how it will work the other being a small member fee added to purchases. The idea is that members will be allowed to buy at actual cost plus tax and either a member fee or surcharge to keep it straight up on the books. Any profit I make from member investments will be recorded and kept in a seperate account open to any member and once or twice a year we can discuss what to do with that money but the plan is to keep it a small amount. The reason this comes up is lets say you want a couple of a lure and minimum purchase is 6 when several guys buy together it is likely we will end up with extra stuff and odds and ends which we will have to decide what to do with whether it be sold fo profit or held for members to purchase later. The simple decision to open a small business doing something I enjoy is easy offering to share part of it with fellow members will take some carefull consideration.

Guys I mentioned something I am thinking about doing in a post the other day and may go ahead with it if there is enough interest. I have a distributor who will sell me tackle at wholesale I have to setup the business license and sales tax license and run it legal. What I am thinking is to help me defer startup cost how many would be interested in buying lures at wholesale. My thought is to have a Co Op type setup where guys who join can buy their gear for a few cents over actual cost so I don't lose money on the deal not trying to profit just thinking I can get a better deal for me and a few friends and sell a few things for a profit as well. My minimum purchase order is 500 bucks and most items have a minimum quanity as well but for most spoons the minimum is 6 of ea and the idea is not to carry a large inventory just get the things we want. This will be run as a mail order type business so I will not be running a store front that however does not mean my friends can not come over and visit. If it sounds like something you are interested in let me know and I will proceede from there.

If you can get a better deal let me know I want a pair just waiting for spring or a better deal since the price seems to go down a little every month or so as more companies increase their production.

I have used Mason Woodstock and Cortland never noticed much difference other than price. could not tell you which reel has which.

no problem was more about buying in bulk perhaps a members only club get a group of guys together and put together bulk orders. Even 10 guys buying as a group could save pretty good money the only problem is making the minimun order amounts but pretty sure if we bought in lots of 100 or more at a time could get a pretty good deal.

I was thinking I should just open a bait shop

TSO rocks anytime of year Mike. looks like I would need at least 2 more 24 ch controllers a midi sequencer several dozen dimmer packs and a few thousand more lights and I could do it in my yard.

then there is this one if you want light you got it. https://www.foxfury.com/products/detail.php?id=132 granted a little pricey and requires a generator to run but hey it is bright LOL. The neat thing I am finding out is Lumens vs Candle power there is no conversion between the 2 and either can make a huge difference as can how and where they are measured at. What I am getting so far is like this if a light produces 1 candlepower at 1ft across a 1sqft surface it is also 1 Lumen now focus it to 1 sqin and it is still 1 lumen but now 144cp. Candlepower can be measured at any size spot and distance lumens refer to the total light output with no regard for distance or focus of the beam. And hopefully the downward trend in LED pricing continues as more companies build them 6 months ago I could not find any 500 or more lumen water proof work lights under 150 ea now there are several under 100 ea. Getting power consumption down is the difference between a great night fish and wondering why it is getting darker all the time.

I have the info at work but I beleive these are the lights I am getting. http://www.soundoffsignal.com/work_lights/wl_par36_500.html I looked at a lot of them and found several I really like but the 150 and up price ea was killing me one of our suppliers gave me a price on these that is more realistic so my plan is to install a set this winter.

I found the ones I wanted right away then looked for several months to find some I could afford found some I like for 65 bucks ea just got to buy em and get em mounted.

Cool I am putting a set of LED spreader lights on my boat this winter. I have a set of 55watt halogens right now but they kill the battery when trolling so going to try some LED lights about the same light but only .6 amp draw ea versus 4.3 amps ea.

All my core setups are differant rod and reel combonations so the second I get the rod I know what is on it by which reel is on what rod now one of these days I will have more matched gear and need a marking system. But for now it is pretty obvious and most who fish with me figure it out pretty quick I also don't have all that many setups 2 full core 2 5 color 2 3 color and 2 2 color I use dive bombs to add for the missing colors in rod setups as a 5 color with a 2 oz dive bomb is about the same as a 7 color.

I have not been able to vote again for 2 days well from this machine anyhow have been voting from work and they have a slight lead.

I never run mine on 3 but it should be roughly 4 to 1 on 3 and 3 to 1 on 1.5 depending on what you have behind them make it about 4.5 to 1 on 3 with flasher fly setup I run my high diver on 2.5 and my wire mag diver on 1.5. I figure the wire is down about 45 to 50 ft at 120 on the counter and it is about where it bounces at depending on speed and current. I have pulled my high divers 120 out in 30ft of water and only bounced bottom a few times on the 2.5 setting. Usually I stick to the 3 to 1 formula for clean spoons and 4 to 1 for flasher fly setups on the high diver that is at 2.5 mph slower they may bounce sooner. Best thing to do is what many of us have done go out and bounce em off the bottom with a few differant setups in 50ft of water at speeds you like to fish at. Remember to go both ways to avg out for any current.