Best Deals At The Expo?

[Spazzums08]

Hey guys, at this point the only cure for not constantly thinking about it is to make another thread!

I'm new to the Expo this year, and I'm still trying to figure out what to buy! What're the best deals usually on? Rods? Reels? Tools? Nets? Lures?

Also, how many money should I put aside for getting items that I probably won't be able to get anywhere else this year? In otherwords, rare/custom items? Thanks for your expertise(...addiction?) guys!

[RK]

Hiya -

The 'deals' can really vary. You can get some great deals on closeout/overstock items from rods and reels to misc. gear, or usually some good prices on rod/reel combos.

You can also find a lot of new lures and often custom 'show colors' of standard lures.

Some guys get disappointed that they don't find amazing deals on everything in the building, especially lures from manufacturer's booths, but from their POV, they still have to make their $$ so they can only give so much of a discount. Plus they can't undercut their retailers too badly either. So a lot of them tend to focus on custom colors... But the deals are there if you look, for sure.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[setterguy]

Go on the last day and bring cash. The deals will be much better then.

[Rebel9921]

From what I know... Thorne Bros probably would have good deals on reel/rod combos amongst other things... Many lure companies will provide custom colors for their lures... and pretty much those colors wont be available til next year... I know for sure I will be gunning for those custom colors... as for standard colors, I can get them anytime at various retailers... Less than 22 hours to go... and Im looking forward to the Power of Pink Tower!!!

[musky_tail05]

Not sure if this qualifies as a "deal" but last year Pastika's had a "buy five lures get the sixth free" offer. It's a bit much on the wallet, but I took advantage of it.

[cjac]

Hey all, back from the afternoon at the Expo.

Thorne Brothers has a couple racks of 1/2 off lures. Bunch of Believers, 8 & 10 inch straight and jointed models and some of the 9 & 12 inch action tail ones too. Read the winter EA issue in in Dick Peterson's acticle he talks about the 10" Believer being simply one of the best baits. Check it out....

They also had some reg size Uptown Bulldwags in a few Thorne custom colors. I picked up a few of the cranberry red with white tail ones. They work quite well for me.....doesn't always have to be a Mag Dawg. I caught a 49.5 incher on pressured water here in town on a Reg Dawg on a busy Saturday afternoon ('tonka, so you know I'm not exaggerating about pressure and being busy) . Go figure.

Esox Cobra jigs were 3 for $12, a nice jig. I have the J Mac jigs, but RK keeps talking about the larger hook gap on these EC jigs, I see what he means. I think its an 8/0 or something like that.

Good deals on combos from some of the retailers as well, if you're in the market shop around a bit.

Enjoy the Expo!

Chris

[Esox_Magnum]

Hope you left some for us

[JohnD]

Was Fittante or Artistic Anglers there? Did they have any special offers or show prices on replicas?

[Peachy]

Esox,

U mean Hope Rebel left some for you guys! hee hee Wonder if he bought the whole tower of Pink???

[eyehead]

Fittante and Lax were both there. I think they had 10% off if you ordered your repo at the expo.

[Tippman]

Eyehead is right. Fittante was $12.50/ inch before 10% discount. Didn't ask about Lax price, I like Fittante's better.

I did pick up a Luna for $200 after tax. Anybody have one of these, what do you think of it? It was highly recommended.

[cjac]

I love my Luna reels, note the "s" as in plural. $200 well spent! You'll hear others talk about the Abu 7000s, Calcuttas, but the Luna is the best reel I've found.

Only thing I don't like is the 253 is a non-disengaging spool.

Chris

[Rebel9921]

Well... It was AMAZING... but nope I didnt see the Power of Pink Tower...

Plennnnnnnnnnnnnty of good deals around really... Managed to run into Chris at Pro Edge booth then he disappeared... Chatting with Mike Hulbert, Steve Jonesi, Keith (Pro Edge), Pat Smith of Thorne Bros, and few others were good...

Sad news... my attack plan didnt work entirely... I didnt get everything I set out for... but I can say that I did get excellent deals and managed to bring home two MH rods made by Reaction Strike (one a 9'0 and one a 8'6) for only $200 with 2 free Homewreckers... a 7000iC3 for $100... a brand new 34x40 Beckman Net for $110, a Hookpick, a Magnum Topwalker, a Magnum LowRider, and couple new DCGs including two custom-made ones (Pink-Silver/Pink and Black/Purple)... My rods from Keith wasnt ready but thats allright... I did tell him he has til June 6th to finish them... but at least both are paid for so no worries for me... I also got 2 years subscription to Musky Hunter and got a free visor... a nice hat from Pro Edge...

And for all who's wondering... yepper I now have a PINK/PINK Super Cowgirl... (sigh of relief here)...

Word of advice... dont worry about standard colors that those lure makers do... worry first about custom colors because chances are that you wont be able to get any of them until next year... and second advice... look around for the best deals... most of the time... its negotitable... sweet enough... and dont forget where you made the deal... Most had "4 DCGs for $90" but one place had "4 for $80"...but remember this, Go for custom colors first before standard colors...

Hope to see you all later today!!!

[muskiedreams]

Cjac that is $200 a piece right. Im a lefty so those are all I use got a 401te but I like the lunas lot better plus they are lot cheaper. If you could let me know what booth you got those lunas from? thanxs

[cjac]

I've actually had mine, it was tippman that picked one up for $200.

Tippman, what place at the Expo did you get the Luna?

I know Reeds had some good prices on reels. I was looking at the Curado 300 there, it was under the Shimano protected price.

Chris

[MUSKY18]

Me and the boy just got home from the Expo. To say it was awesome would be an understatement. Busy joint. Didn't buy too much, as I really wasn't look to, but talk to some folks. The boys (Keith, Chad and Matt) at the Llungen booth were awesome. Got me a DC-10 in a custom color and my son got a couple of smaller lures. They threw in some free hats, which is great too! Talk with them for half hour or so. Nice to meet them. Also got a chance to talk with Steve Heiting from Musky Hunter. Super nice guy. When i was in Iraq, he sent over copies of Musky Hunter for the troops, along with some books. Wanted to chat with Hulbert, but he was busy with customers so didn't get the chance. The Musky Mayhem booth was just that, MAYHEM!!! Couldn't believe the number of Cowgirls those guys were cranking out in custom colors, big line. Already got some DCG's, and prefer to throw DC-10's so no customs for me. Managed to get a new Bobbie bait in the orange/brown which really excites me and now I really can't wait to get on the water. Of course my son had to buy a Killr eel. Don't know about that bait.

All in all a great experience and will definately be back next year!!!

[Tippman]

 Originally Posted By: cjac

Tippman, what place at the Expo did you get the Luna?

I know Reeds had some good prices on reels. I was looking at the Curado 300 there, it was under the Shimano protected price.

Chris

It's probably better that I don't say because this was cheaper than it probably should have gone out the door for. I did see Reeds had a few of them listed at $215 though, a great price. You could probably get them to pay the tax too if there are any left. They also had the 400b for $190 and a great deal on the te, but can't remember the exact price.

"Price protected" brands aren't really exclusively set in stone for that bottom price. It's true they are tougher to get lower and won't go as far, but I've frequently been able to get items for cheaper than that protected price, especially helps if you're a repeat customer.

Glad to hear the positive comments about the Luna so far, sure am excited to try it out. Any else have comments?

By the way, there wasn't one person/booth I tried to deal with that it didn't work.

[cjac]

 Quote:

"Price protected" brands aren't really exclusively set in stone for that bottom price. It's true they are tougher to get lower and won't go as far, but I've frequently been able to get items for cheaper than that protected price, especially helps if you're a repeat customer.

Shimano has a rebate offer going now on some reels, that why I mentioned the "price protection", I'm not sure how a rebate request would be handled with an "under protected price" listed on the rebate.

Good to hear you had a good time and scored a few deals! You'll love the Luna!

Chris

[50inchpig]

Bret - tell your son to [jerk-bait] the life out of the eel, pause and [jerk-bait] it somemore. Most fish I've ever seen in 30 minutes, no [PoorWordUsage]. Hitting the show tomorrow for the first time ever, looking for a couple baits and a new rod.

[50inchpig]

wow, can't say j. e. r. k. or bee s - editing makes it look like I'm some kind of roughneck , and why am I part of the iceleaders family? I s. u. c. k. at ice fishing!

just having some fun at work on a saturday afternoon

[cjac]

I hear ya, we are working on some of the "word filters". It's kind of hard to talk about Fall walleye trolling with crankbaits and you can't say "Rapala Husky J&rk!"

50...what kind of rod and price range are you looking at? I may be able to offer a couple suggestions based on what I saw yesterday.

Chris

[50inchpig]

I'm almost set on the 8'6" okuma. Strongly considered the Compre in 8' and also considering another one of Keiths rods. Will be for bucktails and larger topwaters. I'd do the pro edge, hands down, if money wasn't the issue. Will probably come down to how they feel, action, etc.

I'm open to suggestions though, looking forward to being surrounded by musky stuff for a few hours.

[cjac]

Can't argue with the Okuma!! Good pick!

[50inchpig]

Thanks for the input C, only heard positives about their stuff and the price is right so unless something happens tomorrow to really convince me otherwise I'm going to give it a try

[cjac]

I have not used one myself, but I've heard nothing but good things! Make a loop first and scout out the best deal, you'll be happy. Great rod for the $$$!

Chris