BPS Spring Classic Atlanta

[Rich Stern]

I had the pleasure of meeting Bill McElroy as well as Sue D. of Guest. What great folks! We sat down for a really nice lunch with Dan Jorgensen.



BPS Atlanta was rockin' today. Packed wall-to-wall with people. I've never seen that much fishing fly out of a store. They were literally restocking the shelves right in front of us as the rod racks kept emptying. The registers couldn't keep up!



Dan, thanks for a great lunch and congrats on such a big day at the store! Sue D., you are an awesome representative of Guest. They are so lucky to have you. And Bill, Zachary wore the shirt you did for him the rest of the day, and probably will want to wear it again tomorrow. It's awesome!



Hope you guys have a safe trip home. Thanks for a nice afternoon.

 

[Bill McElroy]

Thank YOU Rich!!,..It was great to meet you too,...and I'm glad Zachary likes his shirt....it's been ohhh about 30yrs since I drew the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote...but the smile on his face was worth it!!..LOL You're right,..Sue and Dan are BOTH awesome...we had a lot of time to chat off and on over the 2 days and I'm glad to have 3 new friends in the fishing industry!! Dan went way above and beyond to make us both feel welcome and at home!! He checked on us all the time and he's a true professional in every sence of the word!! Thank you ALL for making my 3 days in Atlanta one of the best times I've had in my BPS travels....and man alive,..that steak i had saturday night at the Roadhouse was out of this WORLD!!!...I'm goin' back there again!!! LOL Thanks again everybody,,...your kindness and hospitality is second to none!! Dan is the MAN!!

Mac

 

[Michael Snow]

Ours starts on Saturday.. what's on sale? Just the good deals, not everything.

 

[Rich Stern]

I got a nice fishing rod display rack for $15; I think it was regularly $29.



The best deal: Personally autographed shirts by Bill McElroy...at any price!

 

[Staci Matheis]

I can't wait until March 22nd - I get to have lunch in Springfield with Mr. and Mrs. MOFish, Jimmy D. AND MAC!!





Did anyone notice if the Garmin 168's were on sale during any of the Spring Classics?



me!

 

[Sue DeLelys]

Sorry Mike, more lovefest!



Tha Atlanta Bass Pro and all of the people involved was Southern Hospitality at it's finest.The Store and at's associates were all very friendly and helpful...and very busy. The customers were too. And they kept coming!



The highlight was meeting and spending time with Bill, Dan and Rich. I agree with Mac...I also feel that I now have 3 new friends in the industry, but more important, they are 3 new friends.



Rich, thank you. Thank you for stopping by and spending some time with us. Thank you even more for beginning the website that made the introductions and friendships possible.



Dan and Mac, well what more can I say that hasn't been said. They are 2 very talented, generous and gracious gentlemen. They both took the time to give individual attention to their customers and were willing to spend time make you feel important.



It was a great weekend all the way around. Just wish it could have lasted longer.



Thanks guys!



Sue D.

 

[Staci Matheis]

Sue is a WONDERFUL person, everyone! I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet her last fall in Springfield!



Sue, you gotta do more shows so that everyone can meet you!



Better yet, you gotta get your boss to send you to the rally!



me!

 

[gone bye bye]

Sue,



Are you going to be in Detroit this March for the Classic?



Mini

 

[TrepMan]

Rich, Sue, Dan and Mac - MAN sounds like you all had a great time, very sorry I missed it! I got the flu (or some bug, along with both my boys getting sick) and am heading to the Dr. for some drugs today.



Mac - Glad you got to meet Rich and Dan, both great guys!



Dan - You got my t-shirts? Let me get over this flu and we'll hook up!



I did get to swing by the Holy Land on Monday last week before getting sick! Man they revamped the place again! Picked up some lures, a reel, and some other stuff. The boat section was imaculate with all the new boats in! Sat in the 21ft Tundra - what a HUGE ship!!! Beka and I ate dinner at Hemingways and headed to Branson for a nice 2 night stay. The Big Cedar Lodge tour on Tues morning was great, no pressure and WHAT a facility!! (pools indoor and outdoor, hot tubs, a lazy tubing river built in that never ends, activities for the kids!!! That's all whether you buy or rent!). Mac - You and Kathy will enjoy it!



Rich - Let's get the boys together this spring for some Trout on the Hooch, I owe you!!

 

[Bill McElroy]

Trep,...I didn't get what I wanted from Wally as far as sizes,..therefore I couldn't leave anything with Dan!! All that Wally brought me was XL's and one of the new smallmouth shirts......I apologize for that.....I'll get you some some "Mediums" ASAP.....Wally's flying all over the place lately and he's in Nashville now.....he won't be back in TX until next week...so I'll get you some med's and mail them to you as soon as I can get them. They have a few Med's and Large's left in Atlanta, but we sold a BUNCH of them over the weekend.....sizes and qty's could be limited until they re-order!! Again, I apologize, but I'll get them to you asap........in the mean time........eat a couple large pizza's so you can wear LARGES'.....I have a few of those!!! LOL!!!!

Mac

 

[gone bye bye]

More like XXL's....lol



Mini

 

[Dan J.]

What a weekend!! The store was rockin', to say the least, setting records that were completely unexpected! The customers were standing in line at times to empty a shelf as it was being filled. I personally stocked a rack in our XPS booth with about 100 BPS rods...twice! Ask Mac, he had most of them lined up for the incredible custom artwork he would individually personalize on the rods at no charge!!



By the way, I had no perception of just how talented Mr. McElroy is. (The "golfer's" rod classicly became a game for the fellas to find and read! They loved it and the other one almost as much as the customer did! LOL!!!) Thanks Mac, for too much to list, especially your time to make our folks feel so special. Next time we have to plan a well deserved layover for you. You'll be a welcome guest at the house and we can "cross some eyes" to prepare for or wind down from our event! Sitting on the dock or burning down the lake, either way we'll be catching and relaxing!



Sue D. turned out to be an old friend I'd never met! We'd worked several of these events at the same time over the years and had never really sat down and talked. That was truly my loss! She is one of the kindest, friendliest and most helpful vendors that have ever attended any of our events. I knew that they have an impeccable product, but never realized the extremely high caliber of the people that make up their company. Sue and her associates set the benchmark for the industry to follow. I am lucky to have her as a new friend and can recomend her and her product without hesitation.



I anxiously look forward to the next event we all might attend together. (Destin? Savannah? Hampton Roads?...)Saturday's lunch was like an extra Thanksgiving dinner, due to the caliber of the folks in attendance! What a warm and enjoyable break from the excitement and pandemonium just a few feet away.



P.S. Rich Stern, since shortly after our first introduction, has introduced me to some of the nicest people I have EVER met! (You are the man!) It's possible that we may have met elsewhere, but not with the instant "family" type feeling and knowledge of them that this site has provided. Thank you very much, my friend!

 

[Bill McElroy]

FYI....the "Golfer's Rod" was a classic,.....Here's the story,....a guy and his son and 2 other buddies all bought rods for me to customize for them...one was going to be a gift for friend of theirs who is just starting to fish,..but would rather play golf all the time...so his buddy said to me,.."Use your imagination and make this special for him....I'll give it to him as a gift and maybe we'll get him off the course and onto the boat a little more often" (very funny group of guys too,,..they were really diggin' what I was doing on the rods for other people),....so they left me with all 5 rods and they took off to go shopping...said they'd come back in an hour to pick them up. Well......when he got back and saw what I had done for his buddy,....he absolutely busted a gut laughing and they couldn't thank me enough....they LOVED that rod!!....I put a really nice looking LM bass and the guys name on the foregrip...very cool looking....and on the bottom of the handle I drew a 2 small golfballs and the words,..."It takes little balls to play golf!"....ahahaha!!

The guy was so impressed he went and got another rod for himself......I think they left with 6 rods between the 4 of them. He said he'll take a digital pix of his buddies expression when he gives it to him......he'll email it to me! Can't wait to see that!! LOL...It was a GREAT weekend!! Thanks again Dan for all that you did...and I will take you up on that invite to fish Lanier,....that's on my "must do" list!!...seeya again reel soon i hope!!

Great job!!!

Mac

 

[TrepMan]

Likely excuse Mac, you and Wally just wanted cash on hand!!!



Man I could have had lunch with Dan, Sue, Mac and Rich instead of being in a flu-induced stupor riding (Beka did most of the driving) back from OK - Man, wish I could have seen you folks!!! Sue is still on my "to be met" list!



I'll take those shirts anytime you can get the Mac, and for my boys 5-7 sized (assume like you got Zachary, assume XS on the kids) would be cool just a Bass for them is fine. ME i want EVERYONE of yours, signed of course by my HERO!!!

 

[Bill McElroy]

Zach's shirt was a BPS logo'd shirt,...not a S&T shirt,..again,.the only sizes (so far) for S&T's shirts are Adult Med-XXL. It's out of our hands....BPS only stocks what BPS orders!!..LOL...customers need to tell them,.."We want smalls or XXXL's!!!"....they don't want to hear it from Wally and me......ahahahhaha..Heck,.if they listened to us, I'd be able to make a living doing that!!!..LOL!!!

Mac

 

[TrepMan]

Ahh, that makes sence Mac - Not BPS's reason but your explaination! Hope you got back home safe and sound! When you get around to them, send them down and email me with the bill, i'll hand it RIGHT to my accountant Beka!

 

[Sue DeLelys]

Mini, I think that the Atlanta store was my one and only trip this year. Wish I could make it to Detroit and as I am looking forward to meeting you.



Scott, Sorry bout the Rally, but I think that I will be in the Chicago area around that time. My son will be graduating from Navy basic training. Darn them kids for messing things up!



Trep, Hope you are feeling better soon. Should have figured it would have been something like that to keep you away.



I should have mentioned earlier, I ran into an old friend on Saturday. Jim Lively stopped by to say Hi. Sure was good to catch up with him. He said that he might even stop on by the board sometime.

 

[TrepMan]

Sue - Thanks for tipping Jim off that we still hang around here. I saw his post response to the "lively" family name and Scott's questions. I live about 20 minutes from Jim and run into him a few times a year on our Dead Sea (Lake Allatoona), last time was last fall where hooked up in his boat and mine to try and get some Hybrid action (the fish gods did not cooperate that day).