Fly the Team Iceshanty Flag! Iceshanty Proshop
I think one thing that's hurting the live bait sales is that more and more people are switching to artificial baits. They're cheaper and you don't have to worry about trying to keep them alive.I used to fish for Crappie exclusively with minnows... until I learned how to catch them with soft plastics, now I haven't bought a live minnow in nearly a decade.The bait shops I see now are gas station/convenience stores that sell live bait as a side item, and some of them are still owned and operated by mom and pop.
Had a guy come in the shop the other day and wanted some plastics he bought last year. Whips. He bought 20 last year and is down to a few left. The color he wanted we were out of. The thing is those whips had sat on the wall for 4 years. At $2 for ten. Yes plastics are not helping bait shops.
I can relate to this topic and have an inside view. I'm located in SE Pa, my family has owned and operated a "mom and pop" baitshop for over 30 years. I was a junior in high school and was a avid fisherman along with a friend of mine. We would pic night crawlers at every opportunity. so we decided to start selling bait. This was a great idea until trout season came along and we didn't want the responsibility of tending the shop. My parents explained this was not good business. So they decided to take over, slowly building up merchandise in a room off the back of our house that we refered to as the "Shanty". 31 years later we are still in business and its been a wonderful experience. The thousands of people we have served have all been the nicest people you'll ever want to meet. Within an area of 30 miles we've had about a dozen other "baitshops", over the last 12 years we have watch all but one other shop disappear. You would think we would be happy for this for a business sense but its actually dis heartining. Here in SE Pa our big season is state stocked trout season, over the past 15 years I've watched the state slowly decrease stocking in number and quality. WE have never had a problem getting bait from Wholesalers and sell everything from night crawlers,mealworms,redworms,blackheads,waxies,spikes,butterworms and medium night crawlers. Fathead minnows as well as a variety of sizes of shiners. We have generations of customers who I can recall them in the shop as a child and now bring their children. I am concerned about the future of fishing in Pa seeing the decline in recent years. I do believe that the "big" chain stores are helping the situation. We have a Cabelas about 25 miles away that's been open for about 10 years, also a Dick's sporting goods etc. We have alot of customer loyalty, people who will drive a good distance for the experience. As far as internet sales I think they are convenient I'm not sure how much they hurts our sales. One thing in our favor is hours, 6:00 am to 8:00 pm. Fishing is a morning sport as as you all know, and you have to be willing! I was at the shop yesterday and had a customer who just happened to be a Pa conservation officer. Him and I had a discussion about the state of fishing in pa and both agree that the sport has declined. We,however, strongly, disagreed on the reasoning? He also stated that this is true of many states in our country. I don't know where it goes or how it ends, but overall it is sad. Enough rambling, just thought I'd give an inside view. Tight lines and BE SAFE.
There are certain "perks" that can only be had at a local baitshop. Since our start we've always had a cork board for pictures, the kids really love it. To be truthful many of the adults aren't much different, but if they want to have a pic of there 14" brownie on the board, so be it. It's just another indicator of the decline, by the end of the year the board was overflowing with pics. As the years went by Iv'e sadly seen # of pics drop. The cool thing is that I have every year of pics in yearly photo albums, It's nice too look back on. Its always been our policy that all out bait (worms) are dumped out and checked at the counter before you leave. its something simple that is a great perk. Theres nothing worse than getting to your favorite hole to find dead bait. Its always been extremely rewarding to see a kids eyes lite up for something as simple as a free bobber. As you can probably tell this is a sentimental subject for me