Local Bait Store fishermen

First time this has ever happen to me, most people seem to take an intrest when I talk about fish. A few days ago when I was buying minnows a guy got angry at me because I was buying the last half dozen they had. He overheard that I wasn't going to fish with them and he got even more pissed. He mocked me for buying them for my fish tank. They also had a good laugh because I was riding a bike.

My response was just to smile, but the more him and his friend acted like loud mouths the more I became angry. The owner had a chuckle with them, he usually catches the minnows himself. When I left the store the guy pulled out of the parking lot like a idiot, speeding off

I asked the owner on a few ocasions what type of minnows did he have/sell, he always says "creek chubs". He calls them either Bass minnows or Crappie minnows, when he's referring to the size. What he sells is a mix of things: Creek Chubs, Stonerollers, suckers, Goldfish, etc... I bought 12 madtoms from him before, without knowing what they were, tried keeping every one of them in a 10 gal

This time I lucked out, I got 3 stonerollers (replacements), 2 creek chubs (never kept before), and 1 rosyside dace (at least that's what I think it is). I usually go to the bait store to see what he has, I'll usually buy 1 or 2 fish at a time. My last stonerollers jumped out and died they were doing so good...

Anyway, has anyone ever had that happen to them? Also has anyone ever come across ill informed bait collectors/store owners? Tell me about some experiences

Edited by factnfiction101, 10 February 2009 - 07:50 AM.

My bait store experiences are usually pretty positive. That's at least partly because I'm a fisherman and have been patronizing the same shop for close to 20 years.
Most of the shops around here [in Ma] purchase their bait in bulk from commercial suppliers. They rarely have "contaminants" aside from the occasional sunfish or tadpole.
In Maine however it is illegal to import bait from out of state so all bait shops get their bait locally. Depending on where and how the bait is collected, various minnows, chubs and dace will turn up mixed with the golden shiners.
One thing I have found is that busy bait shops don't want to spend any extra time trying to fish out an oddball minnow from a few hundred shiners. Best bet is to buy a couple dozen and ask him to try and grab the odddballs in the mix.

In my experience bait & tackle store owners are cranky, with a bad attitude about anybody doing anything different than they would. The whole idea of species of fish, rather than size grades, is effete as you noticed.

When you start getting into species of bait being sold you start getting into what is allowed, disallowed, banned, approved, etc. and whose responsibility, wholesaler or retailer, is it to abide by those rules. It comes in on the truck that's about all that matters. Bob DiStefano at the University of Missouri has some nice work coming out about crayfish as bait and we're in the middle of a similar survey.

I think just about all of the bait is caught locally. Quite a few people hunt/trap bait here. Usually he has girls working the counter and they don't mind if I catch the minnows myself. Saves them the trouble of washing their hands. Also the store isn't that busy.

I know mealworms and nightcrawlers comes from Don's Wholesale Bait, but most of the store owners collect their own (or have people collecting it for them). I've spoke to a few bait hunters that collect without a bait selling licence, they're pretty common.

I'm wondering why the guy cared that you bought the last 6 minnows. That's only going to last a very short time anyhow.

In my experience bait & tackle store owners are cranky, with a bad attitude about anybody doing anything different than they would. The whole idea of species of fish, rather than size grades, is effete as you noticed.

Yes many of them make little profit if any at all and that's also why they are cranky. Some are terrible businessmen. Just wait a while and he will be out of business. Most of the Mom and Pop bait and tackle stores are gone in my area. They can't compete against Wallmart, K-mart, Cabelas, Gander Mountain, and Bass Pro Shops. The worst part is many of these larger stores don't sell minnows! My nearest Mom and Pop Bait and Tackle store is 35 miles away! I do have an Amishman that did sell live bait on the honor system closer (left his cash drawer open) but some jackass cleaned him out so that is history.

BTW ever thought of raising your own feeder fish? A very small pond in the backyard planted with a handful of fathead minnows will produce thousands in no time. I have put a handful in one of my larger ponds and I now have hundreds of thousands of them due to a lack of serious predator fish in the pond. Some of the males are five or six inches long! I've never seen fathead males this large!

Edited by az9, 10 February 2009 - 10:43 AM.

You're right about the squeezed small business aspect of the story. Most of the ones I've dealt with lately have been on the coast, near or part of marinas so that they have a steadier stream of business. But I'm sure it's a low mark-up business with lots of pressures I'm glad I don't deal with.

I guess I'm lucky that I have a very good shop two miles from my house. They really are a true Mom & Pop buisiness. Actually they now have the grandson of the owner running the register while his Dad and Grandad sell the guns and fishing gear. The owners wife [who passed away a few years ago] always made a big deal over my kids when they were little. It always made them feel special. They'd actually ask to go to the store just to see all the mounted fish and be spoiled by the owner's wife.
He's got a good gig going in that shop with a high end gun and flyfishing clientele that would not shop at the chain stores. The bait probably doesn't amount to much of his profit.

You're right about the squeezed small business aspect of the story. Most of the ones I've dealt with lately have been on the coast, near or part of marinas so that they have a steadier stream of business. But I'm sure it's a low mark-up business with lots of pressures I'm glad I don't deal with.

plus thay have bad hours up early and open late even weekends.this alone would try most of the best personalities.
we have 4 local bait shop in my area say with in 30 minutes and they will sell any bait from any creek or lake for fishing @ paylakes
but they use weird names for the small fishes like (pond chubs)= Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides),
and (gravelpit perch)= crappie White Crappie (Pomoxis annularis).then the large baits for big catfish some are carp i think they call them izzys
but im not real sure i do know they get big later in life in the past few years im starting to see these large carp in the area i fish.
every now and then you will see the men drop off this kinda bait from old trucks or mini vans full of BUDLIGHT CANS with broken windows and little spare tires.I'm willing to bet they don't have there bait dealer permits.but then again i have never seen anyone with more then 500 bait fish.
im also very sure this is how fish born illness starts in many areas, i have never seen a fisherman clean and disinfect his buckets or nets before going fishng or at the lake after they were done they just get dumped in and thats it fish water and all into the lake it goes.

Edited by CATfishTONY, 10 February 2009 - 01:21 PM.

I'm wondering why the guy cared that you bought the last 6 minnows. That's only going to last a very short time anyhow.

Seriously Some people can be so rude...

My bait store experiences have been nothing but a good ole pleasurable experience. I love talking to people so who ever may be in there when I may be waiting on something I will stike a conversation. Personally I would have given the minows to the guy and said good fishing. But thats me.

I never use minnows for bait because I usually buy wax worms for panfish. I always try to see how small of a long ear I can catch or any other lepomis species. I am sorry your experince was so negative but like I said I would have just given the minnows the the good old boy and said happy fishing. The bait store I go to always manages to make talk time. They are never cranky, When I go to louisiana the bait store I use down there is nothing but pure old good conversation with the lady that works there. They have a small tank with some sort of Lepomis species in it so I always strike up a conversation about that. And if I would ask either bait store clerk to fish for an odd ball they would happily say yes if there were no cusomers to wait on.

I suppose I just live a Charmed life. "grin"

Take care,
Daniel

My bait store experiences have been nothing but a good ole pleasurable experience. I love talking to people so who ever may be in there when I may be waiting on something I will stike a conversation. Personally I would have given the minows to the guy and said good fishing. But thats me.

I never use minnows for bait because I usually buy wax worms for panfish. I always try to see how small of a long ear I can catch or any other lepomis species. I am sorry your experince was so negative but like I said I would have just given the minnows the the good old boy and said happy fishing. The bait store I go to always manages to make talk time. They are never cranky, When I go to louisiana the bait store I use down there is nothing but pure old good conversation with the lady that works there. They have a small tank with some sort of Lepomis species in it so I always strike up a conversation about that. And if I would ask either bait store clerk to fish for an odd ball they would happily say yes if there were no cusomers to wait on.

I suppose I just live a Charmed life. "grin"

Take care,
Daniel

You southern folk are so laid back.

My wife and I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Massachusetts that was a tavern back in the 1700's and run by my ancestors (It's called the Baird Tavern which is my surname) Anyway the woman that runs it couldn't believe how easy going we were. (We are from Indiana). She said she got customers from New York City and they were high strung and hard to please. She said there definitely was a difference regionally on temperment.

I agree with the Bed and Breakfast lady. I live in Tennessee now but I was born and raised in Lafayette Louisiana. It is so pleasurable to make a trip to the bait store down there. And not just my favorite one. The people just love to communicate. If you ask how are the fish biting in a certain place you better get ready for a conversation.

I have expienced many "regions" in my life. I have lived in LA as stated then I lived in TX, then I lived in NV, then I lived in CA "that would be Oh Canada" and now in TN and I must say that there are genuinually nice people everywhere but I must say there is a certain warmth about the Southern Folk.

About the banded sunny photo I attached. How easy are these to keep. Or if I rephrase what are the requirements to keep these fish very successfully.

Its all good,
Daniel

You southern folk are so laid back.

My wife and I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Massachusetts that was a tavern back in the 1700's and run by my ancestors (It's called the Baird Tavern which is my surname) Anyway the woman that runs it couldn't believe how easy going we were. (We are from Indiana). She said she got customers from New York City and they were high strung and hard to please. She said there definitely was a difference regionally on temperment.

Edited by nativecajun, 15 February 2009 - 12:17 PM.

I agree with NativeCajun about the warmth of the southern folk. I've been going down there for vacation every summer for the past 7 years and never get tired of it. I'm planning to go again this August and will be definatley be checking out many bait shops for any "unusuals" (fish, not people ).
D

I agree with NativeCajun about the warmth of the southern folk. I've been going down there for vacation every summer for the past 7 years and never get tired of it. I'm planning to go again this August and will be definatley be checking out many bait shops for any "unusuals" (fish, not people ).
D

Funny but>>> There are unusuals every where you go. And I must admit, Cajuns know how to party. And yes there are unusuals down there but even most of those are friendly. And where is it you are going on vacation and what time of year. If it is around the South Louisiana area "mainly Lafayette" I can direct you to some prime spots for, yoy O-spots, yoy red spots, banded pygmies so many you could never use them all, pirate perch, sailfin mollies. Of course on the sail fin mollies they are everywhere. I know there are others I am forgetting but ya give me a PM if you are heading to or around the Lafayette Louisiana area. And I hope you do not prove me wrong about bait store folks. I had the few in mind that I go to when down there. There may be some in the back woods of the swamps that yeild shotguns for all I know.

Daniel

Not to stir the waters anymore than they are, but I feel quite sure that selling native fish species of certain kinds is illegal in WV.

He may have just wanted to fly under the radar. A lot of folks do that only "sort of" knowing what potential damage they can cause... Like you said, GOLDFISH?!?

A lot of times, the grumpy ol' bait dude gets even grumpier when he thinks a meddling minnow expert is there to potentially blow the whistle on an operation that may be unlawful...


Just something to think about.


- Scary

He may have just wanted to fly under the radar. A lot of folks do that only "sort of" knowing what potential damage they can cause... Like you said, GOLDFISH?!?

I live right above what use to be a hunting/fishing store that sold Goldfish as bait. He also sold bluegills and redeyes as "catfish" size bait.

It really depends on the shop owner, when I was down on the gulf coast I worked with 3 types:

1) Those who thought catching out the oddball fish was a waste of their time: many of them actually think that by helping researchers/aquariums they're dealing with the "enemy" trying to regulate them and all fishermen out of business

2) Those who thought it was genuinely cool for their oddball fish to end up being admired by people, and would go out of their way to call you up whenever thay had something interesting or different (the best kind of shop owner!)

3) Those who would call you up when they had something interesting and wanted to sell it to you, even if they knew such a transaction to be highly illegal. Here's a phrase I have actually heard uttered by a shop owner: "$1500 for the [half-dead] eagle ray, so long as you don't ask any questions about permits"

...if you develop a regular working relationship with any shop owner it can really only work to your advantage- especially in states where the bait is caught locally...all kinds of cool stuff will pop up, when I had to do a collection of 50 spp. in at least 35 families in college for ichthyology I went to about 1/2 dozen bait shops 1st thing in the AM every weekend- they recognized me after a few weeks and I ended up getting about 5 or 10 species from them I never would have been able to collect myself...

In the March 2009 issue of Aquarium Fish International there is an article called "Clubs & Stores Working Together" John Todaro lists 15 ways aquarium clubs and pet stores can have a great relationship...... I think the same concept could be used with most bait shops..... If you haven't read the article pick up a copy of AFI and check it out......