Who makes the Bass Pro Reels

Nitro Owners Forum

Help Support Nitro Owners Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

fatrap

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2000
Messages
4,405
Reaction score
18
Location
Underwood Iowa
Anyone know who makes the high end baitcasters for Bass pro Shop? I get a big discount and was thinking about updating some of my old Diawa's. I'd like to know also who uses them. they seem like a bargin and with my discount they'd be great.

fatrap
 
Plueger makes some of them,I know i have been told along the lines as the Xtremes,,Drop me a line when you get ready to part w/some of your old Diawa's
 
XPS reels I've had for years and still love them, I didn't see any left hand BPS reels this year though........
 
Rtlo

You collecting antiques? I'm talking 15 years or better. Old procasters some of the early magforces from my Tx days, some a few years earlier. They all work to some degree. I still have my very first Millionare in the original case with felt bag. Funny I never wore that one out.

fatrap
 
Last year Daiwa private labeled a line of spinning reels for BPS. Other than that, BPS has owned their own factories in S. Korea for the last 5+ yrs. which manufacture their reels AND most Pflueger reels. BPS owned Pflueger until about '98 when they were sold to Shakespeare with a production agreement.
 
Ok

Now the big question is do I get my 40% discount because it's a BPS brand name.

fatrap
 
If it's got a BPS logo on the box/package, you should get your discount. Pfluegers won't, Brownings did. As long as the packaging has the trademark it should scan properly under your ID#. I don't know if Browning may have changed for '06 yet, but in '05 it was on the employee disc. program and Browning Fishing was a BPS owned entity. The BPS private labeled by Daiwa were discounted also. Enjoy!
 
Browning Fishing was purchased by BPS in '04. Browning Hunting is still in the Browning portfolio, but the fishing line was sold to JLM. You'll notice the Browning 10BB is the exact same model as the '04 model JLM, with the black wardrobe change. They are made side by side with the Pfluegers, BPS and a few others in the same company owned plant. Most have interchangeable parts by model similarity, if it helps.
 
Sorry Dan J. - not trying to start an arguement, but your information on Pflueger is not entirely accurate. Bass Pro Shops has NEVER owned Pflueger. Pflueger was bought out a long time ago by Shakespeare - which, at the time, was their biggest competitor. Long before the Shimano / Daiwa wars ever started... heck... probably before those companies existed. Pflueger freshwater reels were discontinued shortly thereafter, and the company only built fly-fishing equipment for the longest time. When Shakespeare decided to start building high end baitcasters / spinning reels again, the first of them were built by the factories that BPS owns, and labeled as Pflueger. Pflueger did this for the first year or two, and then all manufacturing of reels after that time were done by Pflueger plants - owned and operated by Pflueger under Shakespeare, allowed to use patents owned by and also used by BPS (their anti-reverse for example). Pflueger / BPS still share a lot of design qualities, and the parts are interchangable on a lot of their reels. But BPS has never owned Pflueger. This was confirmed by me with executives from the company a few years back. I'm on their Pro-staff (Pflueger / Shakespeare), and I wanted to ensure that I got all the facts straight, just in case anyone asked.... which a lot of people routinely do.

All the best,

Glenn
 
That's correct.....Shakespeare has owned Pflueger since the mid 1960's.
 
Sorry Glenn - I don't want it to seem like we're "butting heads" (LOL!) However, I believe you may have been given some misinformation or omitted information, especially regarding timeline and fiscal restructuring. I'm not trying to argue with the information that you have been given, but I was employed by BPS in various mgt. positions and had been on their National Pro Staff for over a decade before recently re-retiring at the end of July. During this period, I R&D'ed product and reels for the company well before they hit the market by a year or more at times. The info I had been given was from very trustworthy company associates, having built a relationship from the founder down to the associates on the sales floor. JLM (Johnny Morris) owned/purchased the Pflueger name/trademark manufacturing rights and then sold it back to Shakespeare in a production agreement around '97-'98. The first Pfluegers re-introduced to the marketplace were built by Pinnacle/Silstar, not BPS, in a production agreement with BPS. Pinnacle/Silstar is not owned by JLM nor BPS. I stand by the info given me as I'm sure you stand by yours. At this impass I would have to agree to disagree and thank you for you willingness to help at all times. Take care out there!



*edit - a Silstar facility has been purchased since the manufacturing agreement as one of the BPS production facilities for the current reels.
 
Fatrap...Not really into collecting but really do like to use reels like that to cat/striper fish with....I used to love the procasters,i even bought a few off ebay...My advice is....Buy a few of the old style(6 pin) green reg style baitcasters Extreme BPS,,,I have 14 of them and i have bought every diff kind(almost but not really) they make....My 12 year old could throw it a country mile with very good accuracy..If you buy them,what i do is before i use it i take it apart and use the hot sauce reel grease & oil where needed....I love them bad boys...I was told by the reel guy @ BPS the only reason they went to the magnetic control was becouse people were loosing the side covers off the reels and they were having to eat a buch of them...Not a big fan of mag control on thrown baitcasters.....They to me are just good...
 
rtlo - Be wary of who gives you the "skinny" at the counter. (LOL!) If you want the "straight and narrow" at the ATL BPS ask Brian, George, Jerry or Jeff Smith, the dept. mgr. Design changes were due and introduced to match other currently produced "sister" items on the production line, causing the changes you referenced.
 
DanJ,

I understood the arrangement kinda like you, but I thought JLM bought just the manufacturing rights, and Shakespeare still owned the name/trademark during that periond.



I could be wrong though.....it happens often!!! ;):D
 
Man, it could very well be! Lord knows it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong. (LOL!) It just wasn't explained to me that way by someone I know you would take for Gospel. (LR) Having a long term and continued fantastic relationship with the individuals, I don't feel comfortable name dropping. Other than John L's! We've ate, drank and been merry enough that I feel he's got my back! LOL!!



*edit - Had to make a photo op!!



John and me before we head to the pond.jpg
 
fatrap-



I use the Extremes and the Pro Qualifiers exclusively for my baitcasting needs. I read some decent reviews of them for the money so I purchased one and now I have 2 Extreme reels, 1 Pro Qualifier, and 1 Rick Clunn. Oh yeah, I also have a Megacast from about 5 or 6 years ago that I purchased as my first baitcaster ... bad idea ... I only use it for trolling in Canada, sometimes.
 
Dan J. - spoken like a true professional! I like that, and greatly appreciate your response. . :)



Same as you - I spoke to high level execs at Pflueger / Shakespeare, who swore to me that Pflueger has always been owned by Shakespeare, and that BPS has entered an agreement with P/S to make the reels for Pflueger that first year or so only. They were also VERY sure that the Pflueger reels were NEVER made by Silstar / Pinnacle (they stressed this a LOT - :D).



I think Ken Neeley is right - they had manufacturing rights, but never actually owned the company (name / trademark rights).



Who knows? :rolleyes: Heck, they almost all look alike on the inside these days. Ha! :p



All the best to all of you!

Glenn
 
Good info...I also at first didn't know that my Cajun Red line is Skakespeare:rolleyes:
 
Glenn - Thanks for your kind words. As an aside, in my collection of over 200, I have several early BPS Pfluegers with the original factory instructions that were Silstar produced. If I get a chance to dig one out and scan it, I'll post it. At the time this was all happening (mid to late 90's) there was so much evolution taking place in both companies that a complete seperation of entities was a dire necessity for many reasons. I'll see if I can dig up some more info after folks get a couple cups of coffee in them. For now, it's time to go fishing!



Tee - The BPS Excel is USA Tour Editon as well. (A SIGMA/Shakespeare Brand!)
 
The bottom line is I'm gonna try a couple and see how I like them. Thanks for all the input.

fatrap
 
Mike - You won't regret it! Especially at your pricing!!! If you set the Extreme series as your minimum investment and go up, you're getting quality, durable stuff. I've beat the you-know-what out of 'em for years with very few problems compared to the numbers used. You get a "square geared" one every now and then, but after all there is a Monday morning and a Friday afternoon in every week! LOL! Good luck!!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top