I waited 30 YEARS to open this | Cracking the 1991 Bass Pro Shops Master Catalog in 2021 

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Thanks for being our bass fishing historian! Really do enjoy seeing how it was back in the good ol days.

Sunday mornings with RetroBassin is never a bad idea. 👌🏼

Oh man. I enjoyed that very much. I was born in '76 and grew up in a bass boat. Dad always kept the latest bass pro catalog in the restroom. We always mailed our orders in. Thanks so much for the retro-grin. Things were simpler and we had no idea how great it was. God Bless. New subscriber here.

Just found your channel today - this is the greatest. I am 44 now and this brings me right back. That 1991 catalog is one from way back when that I would have looked at for MONTHS. Thank you for posting this stuff...so nice to see. PS - I still buy Poe's on eBay...love the action.

Oh man, my first Bass Pro catalog came to me I THINK in the Fall of 94 as a hunting special. My first fishing catalog arrived the following Spring. Back then, I was a teenager addicted to TNN outdoors saturday and sunday mornings. I used to video tape all the shows and rewatch them during the week and ordered my first catalog from a pay phone across the street. I never caught my first bass for another 20 years. They aren't around my neck of the woods and always assumed I'd have to travel south to get them. I had no idea I'd find a lake so close to home loaded with largemouth and now chase them several times a year. Thanks for this flashback.

I remember watching Bill Dance as a kid in California, and hearing him mention Walmart, and wondering what the hell a Walmart was. 😂

I know you are a Bass Pro fan; I started mail ordering from Cabela’s. Bass Pro Shops started about ten years later than Cabela’s did. Bass Pro started in 1972 and Cabela’s started in 1961. Cabela’s was the first really successful mail order sporting goods chain. Bass Pro was mostly in the south and Cabela’s was mostly northern based areas. Cables sold more hunting gear to begin with then added more fishing gear later on. Cabela’s sent me hard bound catalogs believe it or not. I still have two or three in a book stand. They have hard covers and are as big as a dictionary. I wish I kept them all; but didn’t. I started with Cabela’s but now they are combined into one. If you ever find one you need to check them out.

Excellent content here man! Sure is cool to see people on here showing videos of the old school stuff. God Bless!

I used to LOVE watching fishing shows one the country music channel on Sunday mornings! Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston, In-Fisherman, Roland Martin, and a local legend, Kastaway Kulis. Thanks for the video.

Man I love seeing all the ads in those old catalogs, just the best! Loving the dropping a video on Saturday or Sunday morning idea too!

I used to slay with Mann's June Bug Augertail Worms! Good memories!

Now that you got everyone more excited about these old school lures... When is the first official retro bassin fishing tournament going to be? Count me in!!!!

God i remember waiting just after Christmas for the new Master Catalog and looking through it for days and begging my dad to order me something.

I love the old Bagley killer b’s and still have quite a few.

The buzzbait is my go to lure it just flat catches big'ens. I used to look through the bass pro shops master catalog and beg my parents to buy me a bucket of mixed worms I didn't even know how to fish a rubber worm back then but they looked cool and I knew that I needed them lmao!!! Keep it retro homie 🤘

Love the TAB!!!!

Hey Retro Bassin’! I’m still patiently waiting for a video on vintage Lew Childre fishing tackle! lol Great video and keep ‘em coming!

Sunday is definitely the best morning for coffee and fishing shows. Note the amount of the color yellow that was used on baits back then that you don't see as much on modern baits. One of my faves was a yellow double Colorado Blue Fox spinnerbait.

Love the content! I still love flipping through the new catalogs. I look forward to it every year

I graduated from high school in 1991. I most remember all the babes in the catalog because I was a teenager. My dad has a bunch of stanley prism bladed spinnerbaits still in the package from back then. I can't find any suspended "rattle trap" type lures around here might have to order some. Last fall I went musky fishing in the northern most county in Wisconsin for a week and pretty much caught everything on rattle traps. I brought a giant tackle box when I could have just brought a paper bag. I do like todays reels better than the ones from 1991 though. I forgot about Rapala only having like one page of stuff though. I also remember seeing a lot more kits in the catalogs back then like 4-5 lures or 200 rubber lures. In a cup.

Retro 'stache look where's the sideburns ! Lol I love going back ! Thanks

Definitely remember making lists and changing out what I could afford on the order form. I remember my first trip to Springfield Bass Pro in High School, an 8 hr trip. I remember buying my first ultralight BPS Combo and catching trout at the Missouri trout parks on the mini Rebel Jointed Minnow. Thanks for bringing back some great memories.

I had a great friend who passed away a few months ago who had a storage unit full of old tackle and I loved getting together with him as he would talk about the old baits. Great to see someone showing where the bass tackle industry has come from. We don't have to have $25.00 dollar baits to catch fish, those old baits caught fish then and they still will!

I still have a bunch of those rattling spinner baits. That catalog brings back a lot of memories.

Same here. I use to comb through those catalogs to make my limited allowance go as far as possible on my orders. Lots of fun to relive the good ole days!

When I was 12 I ordered the bucket o worms from the 1987 BPS master catalog. It was a 1 gallon plastic bucket full of random plastics. I wish they still sold it. It gad grubs, worms and creatures. Awesome.

Remember the hard back books man what a long way the lures have changed love the old mag's

Hey bud....I just stumbled upon your channel a few days ago and I absolutely love it! But of all the videos this one really hit home. I was born in the early 80s and this one took me back to a much simpler time! I remember filling out those order forms when I finally had enough money and couldn't wait for that package to show up! My uncle was a tournament fisherman and man I remember so much of this stuff. He even gave me a red man bump board from back when. Anyway just wanted to say hi and keep up the good work!

Love the old catalogs!

My favorite channel on RU-vid! Thanks for the great content. Ps. Please do the slider video, I fish the slider method, with actual slider rods, and I got the anniversary model and it’s already brought in a few good ones

I'm so glad Baitman directed me to your channel. I'm a loyal subscriber now!

Still fishing my Ryobi GM40 I got back in the late 80s. Love your channel

You’re rockin the stach’ Great episode!

I loved the Grass Frog. Took me a while to realize you needed that trailer hook!

Definitely enjoy this kind of video wish I could find an inline buzzbait still and I'm also waiting for the record bass video you said you were going to put out a couple months ago

Chris, for myself, 1991 was past my regular weekly fishing trips, as age had overtook me, and my fish catching adventures started tailing off. I do believe some of the 1950's/60's fishing lures we used then had much game! In the 60's and 70's, the great old plastic worm, with Texas rig set up caught fish on some of the worst weather conditions. Those worms are still around today, albeit different designs and colors. We were limited to just a few shades, like purple, black, and a cream color to the best of my memory. I was not a great worm fisherman but I knew several who were. They caught fish year round, using only worms, and never any hard baits. Bait casters (Ambassador) on a strong rod, using 14-lb test line

Found u a couple weeks back. Cool stuff man. Fun looking back at some of the older stuff.

Great video. Love the Pennsylvania highway patrol mustach..lol what a great trip down memory lane.

The car needs washing, the roof has a leak, my income tax was due last week, but I don't care cuz, I'm goin fishing today!

Loved the video, would like to see the same kind of video with a 1998 catalog. That was the year as a kid that I fell in love with bass fishing !

I have the 1990 and 1991 catalog. I look in them often for a nice nostalgic blast.

I started with the 1985 catalog. My dad bought a rod then so got every year after that. Wish I saved a few.

Every year I cherished getting that master catalog!! Pre brick and mortar BPS the book was the best!

That catalog bought back alot of good memories. I still have a several items (Mann's Augertail/Manipulator; Slider Worms and weights). Caught a ton of fish with these worms. Also have a couple of Bass Orenos and the Dalton. Also have several Billy Westmoreland's hubbs chubbs...classic top water lure.

I was stationed at Eaker AFB, Arkansas in '91. The pyramid was in Memphis, but not a BPS at the time. My son was born that year. I was also looking at that same book. Thank you for sharing.

Great video! Definitely brings back some memories for me. My first catalog was in the early 80's. Really like seeing the old bagley baits and Warts for sale lol. Keep up the great videos! 👍

Come on man, do the apparel, electronics and boats! As a 90s kid, mulling through the master catalog was a much awaited thing every year. I did the order form thing too! I looked at it every day and dreamt until Dad made the yearly order.

Keep em coming man! Great idea for a video! Love it

I got messed up, something common to an old man, and didn't finish my message to retro bassin (Chris). Will make it short so my friends don't disown me. The baitcaster reel was the favorite reel for bass fishermen then. The worm fishermen, already mentioned, used the Mitchell Reel, as they stated they could "feel" light hits better. I never tried that out and just took their word for it. Their live well, loaded with keeper size bass, was testament to their worm fishing skills. They skunked the baitcaster guys time and again. I was one of those guys that got the fishing beat-down. However one early spring morning luck was so good in the morning, that I came back in the evening. I had started out the morning with a large #4 frog pattern Lazy Ike. Now keep in mind this fishing story takes place in the very early 1970's. At that point-in-time there were none of the super bass catching baits around. The baits most fished by other fishermen and myself then were baits that had been around a while. The top water bait, the Heddon Zaragossa, was a particular favorite with many topwater fishermen. The Devil's Horse was another, and in lakes, creeks, and ponds with smooth still water, the Arbogast Jitterbug and Hula Poppe,r in dark shades, was a very common sight. That spring morning when a big role reversal happened. Our little group was fishing a private lake. The two worm fisherman and five all around bass fishermen. One of these five (myself) was fishing with the described Lazy Ike, another common bait, seen much in 1960's and early 70's fishing circuit. The other fellas were using a Devil Horse, Zaragossa, Heddon Game Fisher, Heddon Vamp, Flatfish, and Lazy Ike. Well, lady luck came my way and that frog-colored Ike, using a slow retrieve, and a 12-lb test line to maximize bullseye casting. In the 6-hour fishing time, my Lazy Ike, using a slow retrieve and good lure placement, caught me three bucket mouth bass. One 5-ib, one 3 1/2 ib, and a 3-ib , and all on that lazy Ike. I did not change baits at all, something very unusual for me, just throwing the Ike

I’m pretty sure the g-finish was still a thing on bombers recently. I got a fat a in fire tiger g-finish like a year ago from MTB.

Love the vids bro! It's like a trip down memory lane. Had most of the stuff you use. Still have 4 of the old Shimano 10X SGs. And they still work!

Dude this channel is the bomb 💣

Growing up the Bass Pro shops catalog was our "Sears & Roebuck Catalog", circling all the stuff we dreamed of getting. We wore it out by constant reading.

Great video. Love the catalog

The luhr Jenson Nip-I-Diddi is one of my favorite retro top water baits, really cool seeing a catalog spread for it.

hey retro man when i was a young fella man my dad let me order my entire christmas out of bass pro catalog and this is when MANNS BIG BAD LEROY BROWN was in the catalog and i caught fish every time i went out no matter from a boat or from the bank i miss my LEROY BROWN lipliss lures by far the best lure ever

Dude I was so excited when I got that Edition. My first year when we moved to Toledo Bend. Good times. Thanks for the look back

Maaaaan. I've been balls deep into pcp rifles over the last couple years. Looks like that budget is about to get split with retro fishing lures. Lol. Thanks Chris!

I haven't been to Bass pro in Springfield in 20 years, got one in rogers ark now. Never got in there

OH BOY loved the old Hank Parker stuff caught so many fish on the yellow crank 🐟 🐠 ON

Enjoyed going through the 1991 catalog and would like to see you do a video featuring the Slider worm.

I really hope you do a part 2 showing the rods and reels of the day. If I remember right, spiderwire had their own rods and reels right around then.

Love this episode and the channel! You should sort your tackle by decades so you can see the progression of lures through the golden ages.

Love going back to the good old days love the video's

Memories. I was a junior in high school. I’m sure I had that exact catalog. Most products were out of my reach since it was mail order only. But I would get what I could from Walmart. And Strike King spinner baits were the best. I still have some of the diamond blades, just need new skirts. Thanks.

That Creek Creature and those CatR Crawlers look killer!!

Love the vids and keep it retro

You can still get the Augertail if you call in an order direct to Mann's Bait Co. They have a limited stock so you might not be able to get the color you want. They had a motor oil with a red flake but it isn't the original old school motor oil they used to have. I'm supposed to have some coming but I haven't gotten a confirmation email yet. I am not sure what the hold up is but I am sure the extra processing required it takes more time. I just hope my form didn't get lost. Anyway, if you call in an order for something not on their website, be kind and drop $80 or $100 dollars and make it worth their hassle.

Heck ya , nice opportunity to score some sweet petina , the oldest catalog review would be real interesting 🤙🏻

Lunker lure looks killer

Love the content. Keep up the good work!

A+ for content! I wish I kept one of my old Cabela’s fishing catalogs. They published a very unique spread of the lures. How long did it take for you to acquire all the vintage products in your background?

That year I was born at Cox south just a couple blocks away from basspro in Springfield lol.

So many good memories watching this video

Thats awesome I feel like I had a hand in this. Haha Should take out the baits out that you have to go along with the video be a great series brings back so many good memories. I'm not sure what year it was but I remember the spread the old panther Martin frogs with the piece of mylar Flash in the stomache was the one that got me hooked on doing the same. Cool how they had craws like the boom boom frog. Seems like everything new was once old

I went to Springfield in 96 it was shortly after that Dallas got one and I think it was the first

How 'bout an Uncle Buck's Models, "then and now", video LOL!

Awesome moustache buddy 👏

Do you one have one from either 79 or early 80’s with the Cordell Spot in the Natural Colors? If so can you message me an image of it?

I was one of the tackle buyers for Dick's Sporting Goods in 1991, and remeber all of that stuff. Going through the catalog to make sure we were competitively priced.

My grandfather always had bass pro shop catalogs, when I was 11 -12 I would spend like an hour just looking.

Oohh the memories! We had one in our bathroom, i must have flipped threw that a million times!

Love this channel

Pradco is in ft smith ar, on Jenny Lind ave. You could do a video there and do one at the tackle box on zero in ft smith ar. I know a few independent bait shops here

Love seeing the catalog. Lighting was hard to see left page throughout.

I’d like to see your oldest catalog. Check out the prices compared to today and wages are pretty close to the same and the value of the dollar is much less. I’ve been bass fishing over 50 years. I remember buying H&H spinnerbaits for 19 cents all the time at the old Gibsons stores before Walmart put them out of business.

Do older catalogs exist??? You must continue the journey!!!

Great video

Great video glad you mentioned grass frog bring it back strike king i took a buddy fishing pull out the pink one he laughed said what you gonna do with that I said catch fish he laughed again two days later he told me he went and bought 10 of them

I got me a 1988 Bass Pro world fishing fair catalog off ebay recently. Like a dummy, I opened it up from the clear wrapper and ruined its mint condition. Like a time warp of reading my Pop's BPS catalogs back in the day. My Pop's got more punishment from my mother for having a BPS catalog than having a Playboy. But thanks to BPS, we were able to have fish all throughout Lent and Sundays year round.

As we grew older it was greater than the Sear Christmas Catalog!

hey you need to get a SKYLINE ROD.. the original Graphite rod that was made in TEXAS.. you will be shocked by the feel of the rod...its outstanding..

Great video and I’m digging the ‘stash. Not sure if you look like Tom Selleck or the motorcycle cop from the Village People. Either way it’s retro. Keep the videos coming and get your butt to Florida. Big bass are waiting

I have a handful of those killer bs in old school colors. One of them is chomped up with teeth marks from a walleye. I dont think they are too extremely hard to find but certainly dont see many balsa baits with paint jobs like that anymore.

Wow I have the big single strike King spinnerbait s and I have the the one with the dual blades and

Great show

Used to use those timber king spoons quite a bit caught three over 9 lbs on them with a straight tail worm on it ,in the lily pads.

I would order my SPINNER BAIT skirts. In multibul colors & Mr Twister Tripple tails in white & chartruse they were the only shop that had them🔥🤠

What? 70's stache, drinking a tab? You might be taking this retro trip a bit too far!!!! LOL Love it