Bass Pro Shops, Foxboro, MA. USA

Where to start? After two years of waiting here in New England, we finally have a Bass Pro Shops Store! By far the top of the food chain in the U.S. in outdoor equipment. One can find anything needed for fishing, from a child's beginner spin caster combo, to $50,ooo plus ultimate bass boats from Nitro. One can also find firearms, ammo, bows, camping equipment, outdoor bar-b-q supplies, fly rods and fly tying equipment, clothing for any season and terrain, and.... well the list goes on and on.
As we are concerned with fishing I will try to hold my overall excitement in check and stay on topic. No promises.
The size of the store alone is daunting. At 140,
000 sq. feet split into two levels complete with two large elevators to get people and shopping carts easily between floors, it is by far the largest outlet of its kind in the northeast. On entering the store the decor is engulfing and complete. A large fireplace and sitting area is to the right of the main entrance, wood post and beam construction and wall mounts of bear, deer, elk, ducks, turkey, fox, wolf, pheasant, salt, and freshwater fish abound. The walls are laden with rustic box shelving holding antique fishing reels, guns, axes, knives, snowshoes and anything else that has ever been used to adventure in the wild.

There were over a thousand people of all ages in the store during our visit, but due to it's size and layout we were never crowded or boxed in. The store staff was always available, and in great numbers, checkout was fast and efficient. Above the vast area of fishing line, tackle, and tackle boxes that is six or seven 15 ft. long isles with product on both sides, is a life size replica of a 42ft. 3,000 lb. humpback whale. To further help one understand the scale of things, above and to the right of the service counter fronted by multi-level glass cases full of both salt and fresh water fishing reels, is a hanging diorama including a 43ft. sport fishing boat from the 1960's, with an angler on deck fighting a large
Blue fin Tuna, complete with crashing waves. The center of the store from the top floor to the bottom, is a replica New England waterfall complete with live plants and trees, and mounts of native animal and bird species . The falls empty into a 5,500 gal. turtle pool, and then flows into a floor level 3,500 gal. trout pond. Standing in the center of the pond is a life size 1,600lb. bull moose mount. The trout in the pool average 24in.
To the right of this massive display is the aquarium, a 35,000gal. freshwater tank built from the rock backdrop of the falls, with a massive glass panel that measures around 14ft.X20ft. This is filled with some dozens of native species, including rainbow trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, catfish, sunfish, landlocked salmon, pickerel, and northern pike to name a few. This is an awesome opportunity to see these species in motion, and to add to the excitement the fish are fed live baitfish three times a week during the business day, showing how each species attacks and devours it's prey.
We had hoped to see this event, and showed up an hour before, but were so overwhelmed with everything around us we missed it! Next time for sure. Not yet open, but part of the store is the Blue fin lounge, a restaurant and bar where top quality meals will be served, at the time we had lunch at the food bar on the top level. There were sandwiches, nachos, sodas, coffee, fudge, and assorted snacks. The sandwiches were big and stuffed with great quality meats, more than fair for the price. along side of the food bar was a large dining area set up with a fireplace, and dozens of thick cushioned armchairs and couches, around large wooden trunks that served as tables. Bob and I sat around and ate and took in the view of all the store, and the scenery outside as well, the wall behind the dining area is a story tall glass viewport over woods and a pond. Out in the distance are mounts of deer and moose in the field and around the wood's edge. They add a neat ambiance, but also serve as objects of focus for the optics department at the end of the dining area, where you can test out any of several hundred types of spotting scopes and binoculars.

We started out in the plastics section of the fishing displays. 10 15ft. isles stocked back to back took a while to get through. Every type, color, size and scent of worm, grub, lizard, creature and frog could be found. We did notice that there were many empty places where items were sold out, but that is to be expected for the first few months open, and when the season kicks in the help will be hard pressed to keep the shelves stocked too.
About the only items I could not find were the higher end swimbaits in the 6"+ size like Huddleston, and Megabait Charlies, which are popular on the west coast but smaller sizes from companies like Storm, Berkley, and Zoom were abundant,

Hard baits were next in line, saltwater occupied 3 of the 10 isles opposite the plastics side, freshwater baits the balance. High end lures like Luckycraft and Yo-zuri had a good representation, Rappala had the biggest display I have ever seen. I would guess that 90% of their product line was represented.
Cotton Cordell, Excaliber, Storm(a subsidy of Rappala) , Heddon, Mann's, Smithwick, and of course BPS' own brand of lures were available in every imaginable pattern. Jerkbaits, topwater, crankbait, lipless crankbait, and poppers in all depths, and sizes and in various prices were there.

Rods and reels, well, if you could not find something to make your pulse race in this setting, you are probably dead. Shimano, Abu Garcia, Penn, Fenwick, Quantum, Diawa, take your pick, most every model, length, and weight rod was there to handle, and all the reels on display are setup on rod handles that you can remove from the display and test out for smoothness, brake investigation, and drag inspection.
Be warned, don't bring the rent money with you if you go, and take care with the credit card. Spending money here is so easy, but the trip is worth every second!