Bait-mousees

[bluegillbasher]

At $40 -1000 that is 4 cents each,a tube of spikes is usually 50 to a tube which is $2.00.If my supplier had spikes for sale he'd charge me $1.75 a tube of 50 and they would be resold for $2.25 per 50 which makes a profit of 50 cents on an investment of $1.75. To go a little further pike shiners run $9.00 per lb. and 12 pike bait is VERY close to 1 lb. and are resold at $10.00 dozen which means you've spent $9.00 to make $1.00 which any accountant will say is a poor investment.Now the last time i checked i didn't find any gold bars under my bed after 6 years in the business so how is it again the baitshop owners are robbing the fishermen?I know this is a little off the subject but it gets tiresome year after year on here seeing the guys bashing on the baitshop guys.I'd say if live minnows could be bought online the baitshops would be gone.Nowadays everyone buys from the cheapest guy they can find or on the internet and then complains when theres no baitshops close by.I've been around long enuf to know that the guy who undercuts everybody else to grab the business gets the business at least for a little while and then goes out a few years down the road because his end of the pie was alot smaller then what the cost of things were and he wasn't making enuf to keep his doors open.My supplier is still stickin to no mousees for the season.Anyway,good luck to all this season.

Sorry,my fingers were faster then my mind-the 50 per tube pertained to mousees not spikes.

[trapper2000]

oh  ok  i  was   thinking  your  suppler  was  robbing  you!      i  like  spikes  better  then  mousies  anyways    but  at  4  cents  apeace    for  mousies  you  can  buy  wax  worms  cheaper  in  bulk! 

[oletimer]

That's why a lot of bait shops don't deal in the big pike bait.
All of the owners need to get together and stop the wholesalers. Just like speculators govern the price of many of our commodities. It's time our retailers take back their own businesses. Our country wasn't built on large chain conglomerates. We came from small businesses supplying our goods. Sure buying large quantities is cheaper usually. But that practice has led to mass production of goods which are of lesser quality. Or importing inferior products to make larger profits. Something has to change. We refuse to take a step back to go on forward at a even rate of growth again.
I for one thank all the little guys for being there for us. Just stop and think if through regulation and profit share they were all put out of business. Where would you get bait, or some times some very valuable information that kept you safe on the ice.

[PauliePiker]

That's why a lot of bait shops don't deal in the big pike bait.
All of the owners need to get together and stop the wholesalers. Just like speculators govern the price of many of our commodities. It's time our retailers take back their own businesses. Our country wasn't built on large chain conglomerates. We came from small businesses supplying our goods. Sure buying large quantities is cheaper usually. But that practice has led to mass production of goods which are of lesser quality. Or importing inferior products to make larger profits. Something has to change. We refuse to take a step back to go on forward at a even rate of growth again.
I for one thank all the little guys for being there for us. Just stop and think if through regulation and profit share they were all put out of business. Where would you get bait, or some times some very valuable information that kept you safe on the ice.

You make so many good points ODLTIMER!!

[Gamma Fish]

Trap,that $1.75 price is 50 mousees in a plastic tube from my wholesaler and he don't sell in bulk as if he did i'd do what you suggested.He's the only bait supplier that i know of that supplies the entire area around me and currently has the market cornered.He had competition from one other guy in Mass. but he's gone now and this fellas it,you don't deal with him you don't have bait to sell.Now there's the market to get into if you got the space.

BB.   First thing I'd do is request that your moussee supplier sell you the bait in bulk as you'd like to package them according to how your customers want them.   The plastic tubes are an added expense that's costing you more than you need to pay.   You can find those tubes for .5 to .9 Cents each if you do your homework !   Or, you can sell the bait in those little plastic condiment cups which are much cheaper.   Personally, I don't like to see any form of bait being sold in plastic cups or bags because we all see the containers on the ice at the end of the day !    There are companies that are making bio degradable bait container but again, an added expense but a positive one !
   If you're paying $1.75 / 50 mousee's that figures out to $35.00 / 1000    If your supplier would sell them in bulk, without having to put them in the tubes, you should be able to buy them for $25 to $28 / 1000   ..............IF....Yo ur supplier is a true bait wholesaler and not some guy who's trying to turn Moussee's into an exotic bait  like many shops and distributors do
  It's not easy finding a good supplier who has good business ethics and a set profit margin in his products and who doesn't play games like the the oil industry     There are suppliers out there who, no matter what the other suppliers do or say to inflate their prices, will stay steady and make an honest buck !
   If a bait supplier is only concerned with his profits and not concerned in trying to help keep the shops he supplies to be fluid and in the black, they shouldn't be dealt with !
  Bottom line is that if they won't go with your request to buy in bulk, they're not worth dealing with..........END OF STORY 

  When I get home later, I'll dig through some of my contacts and see if I can find someone who might be able to help you out 

[mikeymjr23]

If I buy 1000 mousies or spikes, how long would they last for me, if I kept them properly?  Also, how do I keep them properly, so that they last the longest possible?

[thesalmons]

I was informed by a old timer that if you know a dairy farm you can get mousees - where the milk runs out of the barn - there's always a milk run off that empties into a yard or field- when this freezes a person can remove a patch of ice where the ice  - stale milk and ground meet - take this and thaw - there will be mousies and a sort of meal worm in this mixture - the flies lay the eggs during the summer and they hatch this time of year and wait till spring  - free bait -- please dont just go over to a farm and start digging - I'm sure the owners won't be happy - I never did this but since I heard of this I was told a number of times it works - good luck

[pipeline]

years ago we couldnt get mousies went to spikes and never went back ! get a bunch of your fishing friends together and buy bulk and do away with getting robbed on bait and compared to the spikes we used to get local bulk is by far better quality not half dead and short count paid 7.50 a thousand this year you can afford to throw some away if you dont use them all

[PauliePiker]

Thats a great price Pipeline,where did you get that deal??