You know Van’s Sport Center for our selection of outboard motors, marine parts and accessories. But we’ve gotten to know many of you for your fish stories when you drop by our Grand Rapids store. Frankly, we’ve heard too many of your “One That Got Away” stories. So we decided to help you do something about that.

Van's Sport Center is now carrying a but essential tackle selection for a number of reasons besides helping you catch the Big One. First, and probably most obvious, we deal with a variety of boaters and fishermen who swing through the shop on a regular basis for service, new and used outboard purchases, marine parts, and other boat accessories. We hope that by having some basic tackle here we can supply them with the ability to "one stop shop" on their way to the lake or river.

Secondly, the area on the Northwest side of Grand Rapids is missing a tackle shop with the closing and moving of tackle shops in the area.

Lastly, Van's doesn't intend on carrying a huge variety of tackle like some of the larger stores in the Greater Grand Rapids Area. Instead, we hope to stock the items that anglers need or can't find consistently at other stores. Some of the big box tackle stores don't carry the smaller brands that we stock, and if they do, they seem to be missing specific items that anglers actually need. In the long run we hope that our selection of quality items and consistency of stock will even attract some tackle customers who don't currently use us for boating needs.

Currently we are carrying name brands tackle that include: Yakima, Blackbird/Redwing Tackle, Raven, and Brad's Killer Fish Gear. We are also a dealer for Gary Yamamoto and have access to just about any tackle brand made.

We are not stocking a large quantity of tackle because we’re not trying to become a tackle store. Instead, we are going to focus on the basic needs and most popularly purchased items for our customers who spend time on the water fishing. This may include certain brands of tackle, colors, or sizes, depending on what's "hot" for each season. We look to have those heavily sought after items in stock and ready to go for customers who may need to make a last minute stop on the way to the water. For our river anglers in particular, we aim to keep the terminal tackle items stocked to make us a one stop shop for their needs whether they are regular Van's customers or are from out of town just passing by Alpine Avenue on their way to rivers north or south of Grand Rapids.

Yes, the tackle selection will be available year round. We will stock our shelves according to the fishing seasons with bass, walleye and panfish tackle available in the spring and summer months. During the fall, winter, and earlier spring months we will have a special selection of river tackle for salmon, trout, and steelhead anglers. This is a niche that we want to specialize in for customers who need specific tackle for river fishing that is hard to find elsewhere. We'll stock popular split shot, hooks, floats, line and other terminal tackle, along with plugs (diving body baits), specifically for river fishermen. Both boat anglers and shore anglers will benefit from shopping our selection of river tackle.

With the 6th Street Dam just a few miles away and our location being on the way north and west for many river fishermen, we are in a great location to cater to their needs.

You’re always welcome to stop by Van’s Sport Center on the way back and tell us about the big ones that did NOT get away.