I'm coming over the mountains this weekend to visit family and want to find a good outdoor store and fishing supply store in the Kent-Auburn area.....any suggestions/directions from I-5?
Need to purchase a camo hunting jacket for my 10 year old son and looking for some elusive Pink Worms along with some Vibrex #4 spinners (black face).
Thanks.

auburn sports and marine @ 810 auburn way north. i think they are closed on sundays. they are the only store in the kent/auburn area that has everything you would be looking for in one place.

15 minutes south on I-5 to the Fife exit... SPORTCO on the east side of the freeway... an orgy of salmon/steelhead gear and Bill Herzog working the counter. Not that they have anything over Teds...

I second that motion. SPORTCO ROCKS for fishing stuff! SPORTCO has a ton o'hunting stuff too. Well worth the trip.
Auburn Sport and Marine will take your wallet without you knowing it.

Thanks guys!

Carl-
Auburn sports may take your wallet as will most other small fishing tackle shops when comapred to the giants like Sportco and GI Joes.

It all lies in the fact that they do an incredible amount of volume and sell other stuff like clothes and shoes and such. Ever notice that you have to walk all the way to the back of the store to get to the fihsing section at GI Joes??...you must pass by the shoes, the clothing and all the other crap to get to the fishing tackle.

Tell me this...can you walk into Sportco and ask any employee to give you specifics in regards to questions like which split should I take at this section on this river??? This is only example but I am sure there are thousands more!!

I work at a tackle shop and I am not trying to piss on Sportco in hopes that you would come spend your money with us but I will say support the little guys like Auburn Sports, Salmon Bay Tackle (great shop!!!), Hook Line & Sinker (another cool shop and Darrell is a super nice guy), John's etc. etc.

How often have you walked into Sportco and been offered a slice of pizza and been directed into the direction of the fridge so you can help yourself to a Coke???

RPetzold, what can I say? When it comes to my bottom line GI Joes and AS&M are my "back up fishing supply stores". I spend at least a 100 bucks a week on tackle and such and I have to shop smart.
Heck, I live within rock-throwing distance of a GI Joes but I would rather spend the gas to go to SPORTCO. GI Joes is always sold out of the stuff that I need.
AS&M is a nice little store with a limited but nice selection (bought my boat motor there) but some of their stuff is tooooo damn expensive. I would go broke shopping there.
Both AS&M and SPORTCO have very knowledgable gents behind the counter which is always nice.

Another thing, Tom, the owner of AS&M, has made a money machine there in Auburn. I am both jealous and put off. I am jealous because I would like to run a small shop like that some day (to finance my fishing trips) but until then I can't see paying the price of being a customer of AS&M on a regular basis.

goforchrome: Funny you should mention Bill Herzog! I was at Sportco on Friday and did a doubletake on the guy working behind the counter. "Is that Bill Herzog," I asked myself, trying to remember the pictures I'd seen in his books. "Nah, probably not," I said...

goforchrome,

You solved my mystery. I was at Sportsco couple weeks ago and I saw a familiar face. After a few seconds thinking, I thought he looks like Bill Herzog but I have never met him in person so I was not sure. I had only seen his pictures in
couple of his books. He looked like the pictures plus some weight ... then I thought, no it is not him. Now I saw your post, I should have said Hi.

Just for the record...If the original post had asked for tackle shops in the NorthKing/Snohomish Co area, Ted's would definitely be the choice. Amazing selection for a moderately-sized store and helpful and knowledgeable staff. Also, higher end gear than the mega-stores.