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 Keeping up with what's
happening
at Zeiner's Bass Shop
Updates from
Wichita's year 'round tackle store
Notes from
Jim Zeiner
Serving anglers since 1953
Saturday-December
30, 2006 - 12:05 pm - If
you have a little time on your hands and you like striper fishing
(or any kind for that matter I guess), you might want to check
out a video that someone sent me from San Francisco and asked
me to post on Kansas Angler Online. I watched it to be sure it
wasn't really about something else. It's a little long with most
of it being from the time they lauched the boat until he hooked
the fish. It if your're interested, check
it out.
Thursday-December
28, 2006 - 11:25 am - I
bet some of you are starting to receive your new Bass Pro catalogs
in the mail. Alex received a copy in the mail and brought it
with him when he came to work Tuesday. We haven't received any
yet to sell over the counter. We can never get them until they've
done all their mailings. Go figure. Looks like the Bass Pro branded
merchandise has expanded. Many of their rods and reels have also
been upgraded as new technologies have allowed. Their private
label represents a good mix of value and price.
We should start
receiving our 2007 orders in the near future as we prepare for
another season, our 54th since by folks started their bait shop.
We don't operate it any more, but the Bass Shop is now in its
22nd year of operation. It doesn't seem like that long ago that
I started in the fishing business. I was in the third grade and
eager to get involved in the business. My first job was not all
that exciting though. I spent most of my time pulling weeds from
around the ponds. But hey, somebody had to do it.
I invested my
first money in the business a couple years later when the state
switched the expiration date of fishing licenses from June to
December. The licences that year were for six months and sold
for a dollar and the store was allowed to at a dime to cover
their time for writing the license. I cashed in a $25 savings
bond my grandmother bought for me after I was born and bought
two books of licenses. I set up a card table and sold licenses
that July. I made a few dollars and I've been involved in the
business ever since. I spent a few spells working other jobs
during the years, but seemed to always be in the old store helping
out behide the scene.
Sorry about
the brief trip down memory lane, guess I get nostalgic around
New Year's. Stop by and say hi and if you see something in that
new Bass Pro catalog you just have to have, give us a call or
come by and order it. As always, it's the same price as catalog
and there is no shipping or handling charge. We pay the freight.
Tuesday-December
26, 2006 - 8:47 am - I
hope everyone had a good holiday. We had family come to Cottonwood
Falls Christmas morning and we had a nice time. My daughter surprised
me with her gift to me. Seems that some time ago she asked me
what my favorite Christmas present was and I told her it was
an Erector set I got back in the 50s. You guessed it, that's
what she gave me. She kept watching eBay and bought me one. When
I opened it, it was like erasing 50 years from my life. The first
thing that went through my mind was that somehow she had found
my old one.
It's back to
normal sort of except for a short week this week because of being
closed for Christmas. Next week will be a short one also because
January 1 is on a Monday. We will be closed that day but open
again regular hours on Tuesday. Winter is almost a week old now
according to the calendar. I, for one, am looking forward to
getting it over with and welcome spring. Guess I'll have to wait
a while for that though.
I saw at the
end of last week that Winfield City Lake now is infested with
zebra mussels. I hate to see that, but I guess it was just a
matter of time. If you want to read more about that, click
here for the story
posted on Kansas Angler Online.
If you're one
of those people with a week off between Christmas and New Year's
day, stop by and say hi. If you cleaning out, remember to save
any of those old fishing magazines and bring them by to put on
our rack so someone else can enjoy them. For those of you that
don't know about it, we have a rack where we recycle magazines.
People can have any of them on the rack for free and we encourage
everyone to bring in their old ones for the rack. We've had a
lot of people take advantage of it since we started doing it.
Saturday-December
23, 2006 -7:52 am - We'll
open and ready to serve you until 5:00 today. We will be closed
Sunday, as usual, and on Christmas day. We will be back Tuesday
to serve you. We will also be closed next Monday, January 1.
Thanks to all
of you that came in yesterday. We were busy all day yesterday
and got to see a lot of familiar faces along with a number of
new ones that came in because someone told them they should check
us out.
I'm a bit sentimental
today. My oldest son, Ben, was born 31 years ago today. I remember
it like it was yesterday. He's a lot like me, he works all the
time. He works full time for Davis-Moore as the accessories manager.
His job is to help Davis-Moore salespeople assist custumers outfit
their cars and trucks just like they want them. He's also caught
the bug for the internet and has been working on a website so
Davis-Moore associates, their customers and the general public
see what's available through Davis-Moore. Check it out by clicking here. He's spent a number of late nights
working on it. He did the same thing several years ago when he
created the shopping cart we have online. He still does most
of the work on it while I take care of our store site and Kansas
Angler Online.
If you still
need some last minute stocking stuffers like one of the regular
readers of this blog, come in and see us. He came in and picked
up several of the new Power
Skoopers. He's
actually the person that told me about them and suggested we
get them. We're always open to suggestions. We can't get everything,
but we will sure do our best if there's something you need. If
you have any suggestions for new products, I would invite you
to email me and I'll check on it.
We still have
a pretty good selection of rods and reels. We can help you with
rods and reels from under $10 to over $200 each. If you're looking
for a high quality reel for that special someone (or yourself),
we still one of the Johnny Morris (founder of Bass Pro Shops)
signature reels. We've sold a potful of them this year at $159.99.
It's even better now, we are honoring the special Bass Pro is
running on them for $119.95. The great thing about the Bass Pro
line of reels is that you're not paying for advertising when
you buy one of them like you do when you buy a reel from a manufacturer
that has to add to a price to cover the national advertising
and promotion. We also have a nice selection of other fine quality
reels including Browning, St. Croix, Quantum, Diawa and Shimano.
Come see us
today.
Thursday-December
21, 2006 -11:52 am - We've
received our shipment of the new Power Skoop for use with the
Berkley Power trout and crappie bait. You use this scoop like
a mini ice cream scoop to get just the right amount of power
bait. You can see a photo of these by clicking here. These are really neat and at $2.99, they're priced
right. It's worth the investment to keep things neater and make
your Power Bait go further because you don't have any waste.
If you don't have time to get into the store or want to save
gas, we can send them to you. Just go to our shopping cart. While you're there, if you need
something you don't see, give us a call at 316-265-5551 and we
can let you know if we have it and add it to your order. I'm
at the store in Cottonwood Falls today, but I'll be in the Wichita
store Friday and Saturday. I just now talked with Dave and he
tells me the gift certificates are going fast. That's always
a good and practical gift. Keep them in mind. If you're in the
area, stop by and say hi tomorrow and Saturday.
Thursday-December
14, 2006 -11:05 am - For
those of you that like to chase trout in the winter and would
like to take a road trip, we've posted a page of information
about where to do some winter
fishing for trout in Missouri. Check it out if you're interested. Also remember
to check our fly
fishing reports page.
We have reports on a regular basis from Arkansas. I'd also encourage
you to submit reports regardless of where you go so others can
see what's happening. Just email
them to me and
I'll see that they get posted.
Wednesday-December
13, 2006 -5:29 pm - Christmas
shopping is starting to heat up at Zeiner's and at on shopping
cart. If you are
an out-of-towner, you still have time to order and receive your
purchase before Christmas unless we happen to be out of what
you want. Also, you can do like some of our shopping cart shoppers
did today and have your order shipped directly to the person
you want to send the gift to. Sorry, we are unable to gift wrap
however. We can write do not open until Christmas on the outside
of the box if you would like for us to. Just add that request
to the comments section on your order. Still time to get those
gift certificates also. Also, remember the carvings by Gary Cooper if you want to give a really nice
gift or if you would like some nice quality artwork for yourself.
Tuesday-December
12, 2006 -9:47 am - What
about this weather? Looks nice for all week except for the fact
we need some rain in most of the state to bring lake levels back
up. So far, we haven't had enough bad or cold weather to let
cabin fever set in. I suppose that's both good and bad. It's
good because the weather is nice. But it's bad because it makes
it more difficult to know when the weather gets better. Just
wait, I bet we will get hit sooner or later. The countdown to
Christmas is on. Only a dozen shopping days left until Christmas.
Better get in and see us for those stocking stuffer lures or
gift certificates. When you come in, let us know you visit our
website. It's always good to hear. Sometimes we run specials
on our internet shopping cart that are for our internet customers
only. Any special you find there we will honor in the store if
you tell us about it. It works good if you print it out in case
I've done something and forgot to tell everyone in the store.
Monday-December
4, 2006 - 4:04 pm - Better
hurry if you want to take advantage of a 20% savings on a number
of rods we marked down last Thursday to make room for our new
selection for 2007. We still have a nice selection of them, but
may not have very long.
Sunday-December
3, 2006 - 4:35 pm - If
you're looking for a really great, quality gift to give this
year, check
out the wood carvings
by Gary Cooper. He is nationally known and has works in all 50
states. At the present time, they are in our store in Cottonwood
Falls, but I make a couple trips a week to Wichita if you would
like to see any of them. Just give us a call at the store (316-265-5551)
and we'll schedule an appointment for you to see whatever you
would like to see at the Wichita store. Or, if you would like
to take a road trip, head for Cottonwood
Falls. That store
is always open Wednesday through Sunday and on some Tuesdays.
Sometimes we are closed on Thursdays. Sound confusing? Give me
a call if you plan on stopping in on Tuesday or Thursday and
I'll let you know if we will be there.
I'll be at the
Wichita store tomorrow. Stop by and say hi.
Saturday-December
2, 2006 - 10:56 am - Still
continuing to see enthusiasm for trout fishing this week, cooler
temps should bring water temperatures down to stay and keep the
trout healthy. We spent some time Thursday marking down a number
of our rods and we make room for our new selection for 2007.
Now would be the perfect time to save some money on a pressent
for someone or a rod for yourself. Also keep us in mind for gift
certificates whether you're giving or receiving. Gift certificates
purchased at our store or through our shopping
cart are good for
anything in our store (except consignment items) and for orders
out of the Bass Pro catalog when you order it from us.
We're getting
low on our selection of miniature rods. If you wanted to get
some for stocking stuffers, you better get by today.
I'm at the Cottonwood
Falls store today and will be in the Wichita store Monday. Come
by and see us at either store.
Friday-November
24, 2006 - 3:22 pm - Hope
you all had a good Thanksgiving. I visited with a fly angler
today from Kingman that caught an eight-pound bass on a small
fly. It was quite a surprise because he was fishing for trout.
Said it took quite a while to land. Talked with another fly angler
from Texas that was in town visiting and he wanted to know about
the trout fishing in Wichita. He may be trying our stocked areas.
Trout are the hot topic right now, but the interest in fall crappie
fishing is strong also.
If you're looking
for something to do with the family tomorrow, youi might want
to think about visiting Cottonwood Falls. Tomorrow is the annual
Chase County Country Christmas. It starts at 7:00 with the Lions
Club serving biscuits and gravy at the Emma Chase Cafe in downtown
Cottonwood Falls. We're raising money for new playground equipment
in the city park. I'll be there helping out until I go across
the street to open our store, Cottonwood Mercantile, at 10:00.
Stop by and eat and then drop in the store. You can read about
all the activities by clicking
here. A really
neat part of the day is the Holiday Homes Tour sponsored by the
Chamber of Commerce. My wife, Deb has been working on this since
the one last year got over. It runs from 1:00 until 5:00 and
has five locations, including
the bunkhouse
at Gwen and Josh Hoy's Flying W Ranch at Clements;
the newly-restored
Miller stone house on Middle Creek Road owned by Jim and Joan
Donahue, owners of the Clover Cliff B&B;
the newly-redecorated
Millstream Resort Motel in Cottonwood Falls, with new owners
Richard and Sharon Clute;
the house at
the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve at Strong City
and the Elmdale
Church, which will showcase the WWI activities that took place
in the church during that era.
Tickets are
$5 and available at the Chase County Chamber of Commerce Chamber
office, The Emma Chase Cafe,
Exchange National Bank in Cottonwood Falls and Cottonwood Valley
Bank in Strong City.
This is a great
activity for the family. If you're from a large community, this
is a great way to show your kids some small town atmosphere.
Come see us.
Wednesday-November
22, 2006 - 3:01 pm - Hope
you're all getting ready to spend some time with family and enjoy
a day off tomorrow. I know I am. If you're off Friday and getting
bored, come by the store and check out all the old magazines
we have to give away. We have a rack full or them. They're free
for the taking and if you haven't read them or forgot you read
them, it's just like getting a new one. If you have some old
fishing related magazines you're thinking about throwing away,
bring them by and we'll make them available for others. We have
hundreds of them covering all types of fishing and fly tying.
Don't forget
to suggest a gift certificate from Zeiner's Bass Shop when people
ask for hints for Christmas. We had someone in earlier today
with a Bass Pro gift card. Unfortunately, we can't accept them,
but if you have one of our gift certificates, you can use it
to order from Bass Pro through us or use in in the store for
items we have. It's a win-win situation.
Monday and Tuesday
was days for out of town customers. I got to talk with customers
that had moved away from town, but back for Thanksgiving. Also
got to meet a gentleman from Phoenix that was checking out stores
while he was in town visiting. He was pleased with the selection
we had. I believe his comment was something like, "You have
a really big selection for no bigger than your space is."
We get comments a lot from people that have been to big box stores
that have tons of merchandise, but have the same product on a
bunch of pegboard hooks. Every pegboard hook at our store is
something different. I have no idea how many different items
we have, but we several suppliers that we stock hundreds of items
of theirs. As an example, in our fly tying department, we stock
over 1900 different items from Wapsi alone. In lure making, we
stock nearly 700 items from Do-It including around 200 different
molds.
Well enough
of the self-serving dribble. Have a good holiday and come see
us when you can.
Wednesday-November
15, 2006 - 1:26 pm - Had
several customers tell me Monday and Tuesday that the crappie
anglers were dong pretty good at Marion. Best results have been
jigging small trout worms and other plastics. Yesterday was my
birthday and today I had a physical. Getting older is the pits.
I guess the physical went alright. They didn't wheel in a stretcher
or anything like that. Also heard some good reports on bass out
of one of the city parks. The key was fishing slow, slower that
what most people like to fish. Trout activity seems to be picking
up as the weather cools. We need some moisture though for Slough
Creek at Sedgwick County park. It's hurting for water. Come see
us for your trout fishing needs.
Monday-November
6, 2006 - 8:43 am - Remember
to vote tomorrow if you didn't vote in advance. I don't have
anyone I'm promoting, but I think it's important to vote. While
we're on the topic of voting, I hope you decide to cast a vote
with Zeiner's when it comes to doing your shopping. While it's
still a little early to talk about Christmas, I did want to remind
you of our gift certificates. They can be used for merchandise
in the store or for ordering items from Bass Pro. We can get
you almost anything they offer and it's same price as catalog
and there's no shipping or handling. On some special promotions
they have, we can't get it for you but that's not very often.
We also have a service you can suggest for those relatives out
of town. They can order gift
certificates from
us over the internet or phone. We can mail the certificate to
them or to you at no extra charge.
I'm a little
tired this morning. My son Ben spent the week in Las Vegas and
he bought me a ticket to fly out and spend part of the week with
him. I flew out Thursday and we came back together on Saturday.
I had a good time and it gave us a chance to spend some time
together away from the business. I did better than most people
that visit Vegas. I didn't lose any money. You have to gamble
to win or lose. I didn't gamble. I watched a few people for a
while. Seemed like a fast way to spend money. I'd rather spend
my on fishing. Oh well, I'm just an old fuddy duddy I guess.
The store was
in good hands with Dave and Alex, so it was nice just getting
away for a little while.
Tuesday-October
31, 2006 - 5:37 pm - Just
received some calendars for 2007 and some other titles are on
the way. Check out the titles we received today by clicking here. Had a call from an Ohio angler today for some
Mad Man craws. he was excited to find them. We still have a few
colors of the 3 1/2 and 4 inch, but when they're gone, I doubt
we will find any more. If you need some, better not let the grass
grow under your feet.
Monday-October
30, 2006 - 6:00 pm - One
day down for the week. Saw several new faces today and we kept
busy filling internet orders. Shipped merchandise to both coasts
today. It's been fun watching the internet side of the business
grow. Hope to receive the new videos for rental and sale tomorrow.
Come see me Tuesday if you're out and about.
Friday-October
27, 2006 - 9:40 am - With
the cooler fall weather, people are starting to stay home and
watch videos. We have a good selection of fishing tapes and DVDs
to choose from for $2 per day or $3 for three days. Come in and
check them out. We have more new ones ordered and they should
be here by next Tuesday or Wednesday. We also just received some
new colors in our silicone strips for making your own skirts.
It's getting to be that time of the year when you start repairing
or redesigning jigs, spinner baits or buzz baits. We have what
you need. Do you want to replace your hooks on your crankbaits?
We have the hooks you need, even if you want red ones.
Monday-October
23, 2006 - 8:57 am - Another
busy week last week. People still getting geared up for trout.
Heard some bad news however. Several people said some of the
trout stocked in Vic's lake at Zoo park died shortly after the
initial stocking. That's second hand information, but more than
one person told me that. With the cool weather we've had for
the past several days should bring the water temps down more
and the trout will love it. Big day of fly fishing sales Saturday.
Saturday-October
14, 2006 - 5:35 pm - Last
couple days have been busy ones as anglers continue to shift
into the fall fishing mode as well as getting ready for trout
fishing. My understanding is that Wichita trout were stocked
earlier this week in preparation for the opening day on Sunday.
Thursday-October
12, 2006 - 4:05 pm - I
think the hot weather is gone for a while. We still need some
rain though. People are getting anxious for trout season. We
have the stocking schedule posted in the store and if you would
like to see it for the Wichita area, you can go directly to the
schedule
for Region IV. I
had a call today from a Texas angler that will be here at the
end of this month for a conference. He's bringing his bass boat
with him and wanted to get an idea of where to go while he was
here. Visited with a manufacturer's rep today and saw some of
the new things coming on line for next year. There will be a
lot of that between now and the first of the year.
4:50 pm - Just finished wating on a customer
that lives in Kansas City, but his job brings him to Wichita
a couple times of the year. He stopped in to stock up on spinnerbait
blades and skirts. He told me he tells all his friends up there
that we have the best stock of components in the state. That
always makes me feel good when I hear that.
We also learned
that a former customer passed away. His daughter and her husband
brought in a sale bill for an auction of all of his stuff to
see if we would help promote the auction. I asked if it was alright
if we put it on our website and she said it was. I've prepared
a page that shows information about it. He had a ton of fishing
stuff as well as yard equipment, tools and household goods. Check
it out, you may find something you can use. Click here to see the page.
Friday-October
6, 2006 - 7:16 pm - Just
a little over a week to go until Kansas' trout opens. You can
check the stocking schedule and number of fish being stocked
by going to Kansas Angler Online's stocking schedule. If you are intested in the Wichita
area schedule, go directly to the schedule
for Region IV.
Tuesday-October
3, 2006 - 11:26 am - Great
day at the store yesterday for more reasons that one. Our
air conditioner finally got fixed. it hasn't been working for
the last couple weeks. Every time our landlord would come to
look at it, he would turn it on and it seemed to be working.
Then it would quit several minutes after he left. Yesterday,
he called a technician. The technician worked on it for an hour
or so and it was feeling good when he left and the temp was headed
down. He wasn't gone long until I noticed it wasn't feeling quite
as good. I called the landlord, he came over and seeing the temperature
approaching 90 inside, he climbed up on the roof and found the
problem. Now it's fixed (I hope) in time for next year. The forecast
is for the to be the last really warm day.
Also got to
meet several new customers. This time of the year we see new
people in search of things they can't find where they usually
shop. Seems that many stores are thinking about things other
than fishing this time of the year.
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