Bass Pro buying Legend Boats 2025
Glenn reply :
Looks like the cat is out of the bag - thoughts on Bass Pro buying Legend Boats?
fishnkamp reply :
There goes another brand down the tubes. Get ready to see those boats cheapened up.
Sooner or later there will be JM White River empire, his Nitros and only a few independant boat choices.
I hope he never gets ahold of Phoenix as I hope to make a 618 my next vessel in a few years.
I wonder how long Bass Cat can hold out?
38 Super Fan reply :
Dang, I always like Legends. Never owned one, but if I ever got the money for a big glass boat that's the brand I wanted.
Redlinerobert reply :
I'm so glad I found a new Z522 before Ranger was bought out.
The bean counters at BPS will find a way to produce parts that you'll find on all of the brands they now own. It's really too bad.
Catt reply :
Question is how long before BPS over extends & has to start liquidating?
Jig Man reply :
That is one that I don't understand at all. That boat is not widely enough marketed to be any kind of competition to him. He has bought up a lot of brands to get them off the market but this seems like a waste of money to me but what the heck. John L. has more money than he can count. He has spend millions and 7 years just redoing the Wonders of Wildlife Museum at the main store.
slonezp reply :
On 8/11/2017 at 4:41 PM, Catt said:Question is how long before BPS over extends & has to start liquidating?
Overextends OR buys the competition and then dissolves them.
Legends are sharp looking well riding rigs priced at a premium. They have not been without issue though, and never really made it "big" as far as branding. No dealers, at least in my area, only manufacturers reps. Not many being run in the professional circle either. Only guys I know who run them have won them in tourneys.
There are Ranger tin boats with Tracker parts in them already. Is that a bad thing? Maybe...Maybe not. It will certainly help keep pricing down for all brands involved. I also believe it is not in his best interest to allow Ranger quality to suffer.
I envision Johnny Morris's goal is to be the GM of fishing boats and eventually offer a "Chevy" line, a "Buick" line and a "Cadillac" line of boats, and get rid of the "Pontiac" and "Oldsmobile" lines. I'm surprised Stratos is still around
Catt reply :
@slonezp Legend sold quite well down south
I heard Roark Summerford; THE foremost race/bassboat designer & designer the early Hydrasports V bottom bass boats took the Champion hull twicked it into Legend.
Some average anglers named Jordan Lee, Fred Roumbains & Chris Lane drive em, and some ole guy named Gary Yamamoto
WRB reply :
Legend and Phenix have become popular out west after BPS bought Ranger et al.
Kill the eggs business philosophy, last man standing controls the sector.
Tom
slonezp reply :
On 8/12/2017 at 10:51 AM, Catt said:@slonezp Legend sold quite well down south
I heard Roark Summerford; THE foremost race/bassboat designer & designer the early Hydrasports V bottom bass boats took the Champion hull twicked it into Legend.
Some average anglers named Jordan Lee, Fred Roumbains & Chris Lane drive em, and some ole guy named Gary Yamamoto
Chris Lane won the classic fishing out of a Legend. I used to fish U.S. Anglers Choice trail which was sponsored by Legend for many years. Now Basscat sponsors them. I happened to be competing in the tournament of champions on Guntersville the year following Chris's win. They brought him in to give us a pep talk the night before tournament day. Steve Mui, who runs the pro circuit now, won the Legend that tourney. I fished against him a couple times this year and he still fishes out of the boat he won.
Catt reply :
@slonezp Did the pep talk help?
Not sure what to make of BPS buying up all these boat companies, competition is good consumers.
Jig Man reply :
I thought Legend was basically Charlie Lunas Cobra rebuilt.
Catt reply :
On 8/12/2017 at 7:10 PM, Jig Man said:I thought Legend was basically Charlie Lunas Cobra rebuilt.
Legend is a mixture of Champion & HydraSport
boostr reply :
On 8/12/2017 at 9:44 AM, slonezp said:Overextends OR buys the competition and then dissolves them.
Legends are sharp looking well riding rigs priced at a premium. They have not been without issue though, and never really made it "big" as far as branding. No dealers, at least in my area, only manufacturers reps. Not many being run in the professional circle either. Only guys I know who run them have won them in tourneys.
There are Ranger tin boats with Tracker parts in them already. Is that a bad thing? Maybe...Maybe not. It will certainly help keep pricing down for all brands involved. I also believe it is not in his best interest to allow Ranger quality to suffer.
I envision Johnny Morris's goal is to be the GM of fishing boats and eventually offer a "Chevy" line, a "Buick" line and a "Cadillac" line of boats, and get rid of the "Pontiac" and "Oldsmobile" lines. I'm surprised Stratos is still around
I think Stratos is already done. Info on some other boards are saying they aren't taking any orders for 2018.
On 8/11/2017 at 7:22 PM, Jig Man said:That is one that I don't understand at all. That boat is not widely enough marketed to be any kind of competition to him. He has bought up a lot of brands to get them off the market but this seems like a waste of money to me but what the heck. John L. has more money than he can count. He has spend millions and 7 years just redoing the Wonders of Wildlife Museum at the main store.
What I've been hearing is he needed a production plant and Legend fit the bill.
boostr reply :
A lot of companies own multiple brands, it's not something new. They have cheaper brands and expensive brands and still make quality products. The brands that don't sell they get rid of. A lot of these boat brands can still be quality built if they keep the same QC on these present brand names. Who knows maybe JM and Co. see how glass bass boat prices are ridiculous and want to do something about it. Just my 2 cents.
OCdockskipper reply :
In thinking about this, I wonder if Johnny Morris's philosophy is that BPS influence on bass fishing tournaments (their sponsorship of tournaments and involvement in events) is making the number of bass boats being sold increase, therefore they want to reap the benefit of said involvement by owning nearly every brand of bass boat.
Whether or not BPS actually is influencing the number of bass boats sold, JM might believe that it is the case. If so, it would be frustrating for him to think that others not doing such promotion were benefiting from his actions.
Just a hypothesis...
slonezp reply :
On 8/12/2017 at 7:07 PM, Catt said:@slonezp Did the pep talk help?
It helped Steve Mui 
Day 1... I weighed in 19lbs. Day 2... Not so much
rangerjockey reply :
On 8/12/2017 at 7:23 PM, Catt said:
Legend is a mixture of Champion & HydraSport
Legend originally was a splashed cobra / viper which was a splashed Ranger 482 with some modifications.
John Storie had a no compete clause when he left Champion and couldn't duplicate the hull.
It's been my understanding when Storie left Cobra he and a partner started hawk . The molds eventually
then got bought to start Legend
Nothing in common with Champion except John Storie was involved champ and cobra.
NHBull reply :
While many times company acquisitions can lead to a larger quality product, often it is about positioning products ie premium, mid market and entry market products. This has happened throughout the marine industry over the last 10 yrs. I don't have a crystal ball on this one, but withhold judgment for a little bit..........can't help it, I am a half full kind of guy
Catt reply :
On 8/13/2017 at 7:12 AM, slonezp said:It helped Steve Mui
Day 1... I weighed in 19lbs. Day 2... Not so much
Well it lasted 1 day, he should gave pep talk on day 2 as well!
@rangerjockey my information comes from guys working on the floor building the boats then & now.
Thr originally was a splashed cobra/viper didn't last a year before they were scraped & Roark Summerford was brought in.
As per Legend web site!
ARE LEGENDS JUST A NEW VERSION OF CHAMPION, COBRA, OR HAWK?
No. While the LE-series of Legends in the early days were based from the Hawk Boats by John Storie, design changes were made before boats were ever produced. Our current lineup was formed from the ground up completely in-house with only Legend employees and is built with techniques and materials far stronger and more durable than any other boat. Viper/Cobra, while a similar hull in general design, holds no affiliation to our line of boats.
Notice they discount Viper/Cobra but fail to mention Champion!
rangerjockey reply :
My info comes from a employee as well..The lineage goes back to Cobra/viper/Hawk.
And originally a splashed 482, nothing to do with Champion or Hydrosport.
Catt reply :
On 8/13/2017 at 9:40 AM, rangerjockey said:My info comes from a employee as well..The lineage goes back to Cobra/viper/Hawk.
And originally a splashed 482, nothing to do with Champion or Hydrosport.
Agreed but they didn't stay in the lineup long.
Walk up to a Legend & tell me ya don't see Champion/Hydrasport, look at the hull shape from the cockpit back.
rangerjockey reply :
Sorry , I don't . I haven't seen a Hydrosport in 25 years though.
GetBent reply :
I read he bought it for the facilities to expand building capacity?
Sam reply :
On 8/11/2017 at 4:41 PM, Catt said:Question is how long before BPS over extends & has to start liquidating?
True statement. I remember Swegmann's in New Orleans that was the leading discount grocery store in south Louisiana.
When the children took over the company they expanded too fast and went under.
Same with Martin's grocery stores in Richmond. They bought Ukrops, a great chain, and have just closed their last stores in the greater Richmond geographical area.
What bothers me is where is the federal government looking into a monopoly situation with bass boats?
Catt reply :
My point exactly @Sam
Y'all correct me if I'm wrong but that's Nitro, Ranger, Triton, Legend, Stratos, & Champion is buried somewhere in there.
That's a lot of $$$$ tied up right there!
Pretty sure Stratos was in the red, boat building is a fickled industry. How they handle each brand is in question.
Add to this the merger with Cabela's
Edited by CattOperator error
Jig Man reply :
Pro Craft was also absorbed by Johnny. He has also bought out a lot of aluminum competitors and center consoles that competed with his Maco boat.
boostr reply :
Question, Is Phoenix next? Ive been watching some earlier episodes of MLF and notice some of the Nitros have Phoenix wraps on them. Any Idea? Or is just to let everyone know that the Pro who is using the Nitro is still sponsored by Phoenix.
12poundbass reply :
On 8/14/2017 at 9:50 PM, boostr said:Question, Is Phoenix next? Ive been watching some earlier episodes of MLF and notice some of the Nitros have Phoenix wraps on them. Any Idea? Or is just to let everyone know that the Pro who is using the Nitro is still sponsored by Phoenix.
I think it has more to do with how their sponsorship contract is written out. Iaconelli has Basscat and his MLF boat says Basscat. Other things it doesn't a seem to matter. KVD is sponsored by Motorguide and Humminbird but on MLF he uses MK and Lowrance
boostr reply :
On 8/14/2017 at 10:05 PM, 12poundbass said:I think it has more to do with how their sponsorship contract is written out. Iaconelli has Basscat and his MLF boat says Basscat. Other things it doesn't a seem to matter. KVD is sponsored by Motorguide and Humminbird but on MLF he uses MK and Lowrance
Your are probaply correct. I did see a Basscat wrap also.
Gundog reply :
On 8/11/2017 at 4:41 PM, Catt said:Question is how long before BPS over extends & has to start liquidating?
My guess is its gonna have to happen very, very soon. I've lived through a similar thing where I work. Company I worked for insisted that if you aren't acquiring other companies, you are losing ground. Shortly after the buying spree ended, the purge began. They centralized manufacturing into just a few factories and shut down the rest. That's what they will probably do here.
Bulletman20XD reply :
Legend also built a Bullet knock-off in their early days. Friend of mine in San Antonio just recently sold his. Terry Oldham of Oldham Jigs bought the blown motor off of it.
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