Hello Charkbait I just signed up for your boards and had a question about the Penn Baja Special that you advertise in your Weekly Specials.
Why should I buy my reel from your shop?

I noticed you sell this reel for $149.99. Furthermore you mentioned other shops carrying a combo for $199 with a lousy piece of $%@! rod (Penn GS 765XL) that is worth no more then $20??

I searched this rod on your site and you sell the same rod for $149.

Will you sell me a few (5)of the rods for $20 each if I buy 5 Baja Specials from you?



Here is the link..

Baja Special

Here's the deal, we made a large buy, Penn's lowered our dealer cost, and we're passing the savings your way. The reel is now available for $149.99. You can order the reel rigged or without line, either way you've got a great deal on a wonderful reel.

-Side note, I've seen a few specials on this great reel paired with a lousy rod for $199. Understand that you'll get less than you paid for. The combo is based on a $20 rod, a piece of s#$% that you'll never want to fish...which means you've spent $200 for the reel. If you want a rod, get a good one - Calstar & Seeker are the two most recommended.


Regards,

BAIT

I never read this post MR. CHARKBAIT.

Crown, the quote is on the "weekly Specials" section of the Charkbait website. It states what Bait posted, although it makes no mention of the specific rods advertised with the combo package. Although I personally think the 765XL is the wrong rod for that reel. IMHO. Tight Lines!

Ah HA! A Troll from another shop.

Don't know-never saw the ad. IMHO most rods other than seeker and Calstar don't have enough guides-or guides are too small-and pose a problem with a big fish. Penn is usually among them.
P.S. Crashing boards by another dealer is a severe breach of etiquette.

Wow, you are a pinhead, aren't you?

Chark's add doesn't mention any particular rod as being the $20 pos included for $199.

I did research to check out my options and found out that the rods being offered from a couple different shops were 765XL rods made by Penn. These were the only rods being offered with the combo's. I then searched Charkbait to see if you guys offer a combo also. That is were I found the link about the Baja Special and $20 rod crap that was mentioned. I then searched the rod ID that was mentioned and saw that they sell for $149.

As for being a troll from another shop, I wish I was then I might have gotten a better deal on my purchase.

I was just a guy trying to buy 5 set-ups for my boat at a good price. Although I never recieved any response on my offer.

I ended up ordering a couple set-ups from Meltons and yes I did opt for the new Super Seeker rods and black Accurate reels. Hopefully I can afford to get 3 more setups next month.

if you wanted seeker and accurate, why were you whining about baja specials?

quote:

Although I personally think the 765XL is the wrong rod for that reel. IMHO

Nothing wrong with a 765XL together with a Baja Special for 40# as long it's a Calstar Grafighter.

quote:

Originally posted by BAIT:
I did research to check out my options and found out that the rods being offered from a couple different shops were 765XL rods made by Penn. These were the only rods being offered with the combo's. ...

To equate a Penn 765 with a Calstar 765; whether it's a factory 765XL or one made on a Calstar 765XL blank by Melton's is a severely flawed comparison. I've compared all three, and there's no comparison -- the Penn rod does cost less, but it's less of a rod in almost every way: guides, wrap, grips, ... . If it works for you fine, but don't try to compare the three -- that dog just won't hunt!

Tom

AGREED

Yes, we have had an occasional lurker/troll from another shop or two who like to visit. It's not too hard to "smoke" 'em out, just let them keep talking and the B.S. begins to surface, and their source becomes apparent. Not saying this is the case or not, just has a familiar ring.

Bottom line, "free" rod deals and packages seldom represent a real value. It's simply a means to package something of known value with something that's not known, and thus cloud the waters and earn a tad extra profit. Kind of like the "free speakers when you purchase a stereo receiver" kind of stuff from the 70's... If a person likes the rod that's packaged, needs an extra "boat" rod, fine. But, you do get what you pay for...or a bit less. The deal mentioned is something I passed on. We're large enough to buy direct, unlike most folks who have to go two-step (could be because their credit won't fly, or they have a reputation for not paying bills...). Our preference was to jump on the reels, a great reel for the bucks and take a pass on the rod/reel package. I would suggest to our clients that it's better to buy something truly worth owning: Calstar and Seeker come to mind. Once you fish something of that quality it's darn hard to go backward. In the case of the rods, I think we go beyond subjective towards objective reality. It's better to spend a few bucks more for something a person will actually use, for many, many years, instead of something that will not be enjoyed long term.

Regarding Penn rods, yes we do offer them. The series we sell are decent sticks. However, they are not made in the U.S.A. and don't hold a candle to the above mentioned U.S. made products. Those are my biases, some folks do like the rods and we do support Penn by stocking several categories of their gear. That's a business decision, and something we also did with the kind folks from shimano. That does not mean we necessarily believe the stuff is "the kind" and we're honest about it, don't blow smoke or misrepresent things when we have dialog with our customers. That's another reason why you won't see us (local reference to some advertising we've seen) put an add out saying "75% off, Special One Day Sale..." It's bunk, and basically demonstrates a low regard by the retailer for their client's intelligence. Frankly, I firmly believe the folks that shop our store and site are bright, and realize you don't get something for nothing, you do get what you pay for (or less depending upon where you shop...).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chark,

I will add my $.02 worth to the subject. I live in TN and we are void of any saltwater fishing stores. I started lurking around some on line message boards about a year and a half ago and was lucky enough that someone sent me to Charkbait before I went anywhere else. During this year and a half, I have spent more than I care to ponder, almost all with Charkbait.

I have found Mark and his staff to know what they are doing, willing to share that informaiton and are honorable business folks. For my dollar, I am more than happy to call myself a loyal Charkbait customer.

just as an aside, Outhouse, I was in Tennesee last spring, and all of the small bass shops were extremely kind and open with me. You have a wonderful state!

We do have some very good bass fishing. THe Oxbows up and down the Miss. are getting restocked as we speak. THe river has been above flood stage for over a month.

The strange thing though, once you have been offshore, inland fishing seems rather insignificant.