The ultimate bait shop

[scavengerj]

Must admit, a selection of hot fresh soups would be a pretty good idea.

[Fyrwlkr]

Bummer I missed the picture....

My local baitshop has started a punch card program where you buy 8 of an item and get the ninth free. Good concept...A bar downtown does the same thing with pitchers of beer to get a free tshirt.

[Fyrwlkr]

Refreshing one of my favorite threads once again.

Good bait shops are coming hard to come by in my area. Another baitshop in the area closed and another opened at a area junkyard. Guess you can get your spare bumper while you pick up some fatheads.

Adding another idea to the list.....It would be nice to have a online fishing log at the baitshop. If you are in buying bait you can see what and where people are catching fish with lake updates. Using iceshanty.com of course. 

Keep the ideas coming out there. Good luck.

[Flypopper]

There's a bait shop in Hayward WI right by Wally World that has everything you want (except girls and
food) also the liquor store is next door, There's a doorway connecting them. They have a BIG ice selection,
shantys set up,flashers,poles and 3-4 guys working there. Last year the had the Clam 4X set up inside!!

[Melbs7]

There's a bait shop in Hayward WI right by Wally World that has everything you want (except girls and
food) also the liquor store is next door, There's a doorway connecting them. They have a BIG ice selection,
shantys set up,flashers,poles and 3-4 guys working there. Last year the had the Clam 4X set up inside!!

I've been there before. Not during ice season, however. But it would make sense that after Musky season is over and done.... they do something with all of that space.

[deeman]

I hope not everyone misses the irony of a lot of ideas in this thread.

Long hours and knows everything about the area lakes - ummm, if the owner did not hit the lottery and wants to waste his money away - he will HAVE to work AT THE STORE to make any sort of profit. Period!!  He is not going to hop from lake to lake and gather reports for us...sorry!  Only intel will be from the guys coming in, who, let's be honest are pretty tight lipped about honey holes, hot spots and hot baits.

Not unreasonable prices on equipment or last minute repairs.   Common, to compete with a BassPro or worse yet Walmart is IMPOSSIBLE!!  Period.  When you buy jigs/lures/line/equipment a couple dozen at a time vs. Walmart who may purchase 200,000 Zebco reels nationwide and has a direct relationship with Zebco, it's impossible to compete.
They have to make a profit to stay in business, and in order to make a profit on equipment it will seem outrageous, but that's life.  Yea, they may have stuff on the shelve from 1986 because no one will pay what the store needs to sell to make a profit.

Here's a secret - there is not a place in the Virgin Islands or Aruba where all the rich, billionare's who retired from their lucrative business selling worms, frogs and minnows go to retire!  These people barley make a living.  If it was a lucrative business opportunity, they would not be going out of business left and right.

Let's face it, 95% of the places I buy bait from have a small section of equipment, but their main purchases and sales are live bait.  How many dozens of minnows would a guy have to sell PER DAY to make rent, wage for himself, insurance, utilities and upkeep?  Now factor in the days it rains and the guy does not get a single customer - happens more than you think - so now he needs to sell double or triple the bait the next day.  How about the time when the water is too cold to fish, but not enough ice to ice fish - maybe a month - where he's not getting much traffic in the store at all!

It's sadly a horrible business to get into that is very likely to fail.  Lewiston Michigan had a really nice bait shop that opened two years ago.  Really nice guy.  They are now boarded up.


Now, there are some great ideas here like offering soup, etc.  Hopefully the owners can get creative and figure out how to stay in business....for our sake.  I know this thread is about ideas, not how to run a business but please keep this in mind.


Just my 2 cents.

[canthookit]

I don't mind paying high prices for the exact equipment/tackle/bait I want at my local bait shops.

They don't even really need to be friendly, as long as it's a hop, skip & jump away I'm happy that I don't have to buy online or buy garbage stuff at Walmart or try to piece together what I'm trying to do at Dicks.

As far as bait, it'd be nice if I didn't have to plan my fishing trips days ahead of time and get bait, try to keep it alive or freeze it.

Otis mentioned a bait club..that would be AWESOME to have, but keeping track of the bait inventory and people grabbing more than what they've paid for would be hard to do. Just how many people are honest these days?

[Fyrwlkr]

I agree with your issues Deeman. I know its hard out there to make a business work. Business owners need to get creative to make a profit nowadays to make ends meet. I work in a industry where I need to tackle several different types of income generators to make it work out. If one part of the business is slow I hope the other part of the business can pick up the slack. Thats why I hoped this thread might spur some ideas for the little guys out there too. It does amaze me how some people have this thought of , How hard can it REALLY be, but it REALLY is.

Thanks for the info. Keep it coming out there.

Looking for my property in Aruba right now.  (Loved that part Deeman)