baitshop's false reports

[spoonfed]

i know -- business.but what kind of business is that.tell you something to get you to drive hrs away.think you will listen again?not! and if your like me i pass the word on to everybody i know.
  see, i own my own construction co. and is it ok if id tell you( yeah sure i know how to build a house, in the end you have garage) that ok word of mouth is everything.thats why each of us is here.we are taking for granted the other guy knows what he says.id respect and visit an honest baitshop continuously if they would just say " hey you know its kinda hit or miss right now" .if i really wanted to fish id probably go anyways.

just something that bothers me i guess and wanted to vent.thanks for reading.

[PIKEGUY]

 .  ok?  have a bad experience?

[coldbum]

we see reports from baitshops unfortuneatley a little to frequently that are inaccurate and the sole purpose of this is to generate sales!

"Yeah the ice is great, the lakers are hitting on the white spoons, gotta tipem with these smelt for 10$ a dozen, dont for get the mousies!"

Sound familiar? 

[cnyfishing]

.  ok?  have a bad experience?

seems like he did

[IceGeek]

I believe about a third of what I hear and maybe half of what I read.......I never rely on baitshops for info. Your best bet is to find a reliable contact for the given lake you are looking to fish....

[NickP]

Its called bait and switch- It is illegal but impossible to prove... They say they have 9in suckers and there 190 a dozen- You get there and there 5-6in and 11 a dozen.These types of places I stay away from and dont give my business too- its a sleazy dirty move.

[Ray4852]

Bait shops are good for picking up bait and supplies. I like to get what I need and get out. There are a few reliable dealers who will be honest and tell you what’s going on with the lake you want to fish. They get their information from the people that buy bait from them. Being a bait dealer is not an easy business to be in, they have to get up early in the morning so we can have our bait. A lot of these guys do it for a hobby. You can’t get rich in this business.

[reelbigfish]

  It sounds like your complaint is that the baitstore guy told you they were really bitting and when you got there they weren't.  They may have been telling you the truth.  Some of their customers were probably catching them but when you got there they had quit.  Story of my life , a day late and a dollar short.  No one can guarantee you fish.  Sometimes you gotta make your own luck.






Ted

[AugustWest]

I believe about a third of what I hear and maybe half of what I read.......I never rely on baitshops for info. Your best bet is to find a reliable contact for the given lake you are looking to fish....

All a fellow needs is, the Iceshanty and a Vexilar

[spoonfed]

  It sounds like your complaint is that the baitstore guy told you they were really bitting and when you got there they weren't.  They may have been telling you the truth.  Some of their customers were probably catching them but when you got there they had quit.  Story of my life , a day late and a dollar short.  No one can guarantee you fish.  Sometimes you gotta make your own luck.


i guess i need to explain.i know fishing can change overnight.not a problem.but when you get there and fish for hours with nothing after you just purchased bait from this place and went where he/she told you to go and all the locals look at you like your crazy about a good bite.its not just one expierience but alot.just sucks thats all.



Ted

[Big W]

Not much you can do.  You probably just have to check it out for yourself.. DTA...don't trust anyone..

[taxi1]

All I can say is in my area they tend to tell you the truth because they know it's bad business to lie. There are a few exceptions of course.

Mom and Pop stores are becoming extinct anyway at least in my area. It's hard to find live bait anymore -- expecially minnows -- as even if the convenience stores carry refridgerated bait they won't carry live minnows. They don't want to deal with the minnow tank.

[qflies001]

Unfortunately there are bait shops like that .It really stinks when your out of town or country and rely on that ,i got burned alotthat famus saying"YOU SHOULD OF BEEN HERE YESTERDAY" boy how i hate those words.lol 

[marshrat]

All a fellow needs is, the Iceshanty and a Vexilar

Hey don't forget your bait and poles!!!! LOL well i have had pretty good luck from all the bait shops i have gone to when we go up to NY state we always stop at this guys store and buy bait really nice guy. Always tells you the Truth if they are bitting or not and he even some times gives you extra fish one time his wife was there and went back to scoop out some Rosie reds for us and we said we wanted 2 dozen and she gave us about 100 !!!!

[fishmix]

I believe about a third of what I hear and maybe half of what I read.......

this is true.... listen to what you are being told then formulate your own opinion.

[WAN2PHISH]

Gotta go on what you know! Seems to me fish pretty much do the same thing every year. It all goes back to weather! I love to look at those new lures,fact is I do just as well on the old junk! 

[rumblefish_1]

The shops in my area are very honest with us.The problem is with the fishermans pride.Alot of guys want to be a hero when they go into the baitshop and tell everyone what a great day they had even if they didnt catch squat.I feel most bait shops give out the info they receive which unfortunately is bogus half the time.I personally have heard guys that fished right beside me tell guys at the shop how they slayed em...and I saw them catch 1 or 2 fish. I personally dont blame the Bait shops.

[taxi1]

The shops in my area are very honest with us.The problem is with the fishermans pride.Alot of guys want to be a hero when they go into the baitshop and tell everyone what a great day they had even if they didnt catch squat.I feel most bait shops give out the info they receive which unfortunately is bogus half the time.I personally have heard guys that fished right beside me tell guys at the shop how they slayed em...and I saw them catch 1 or 2 fish. I personally dont blame the Bait shops.

I know for a fact that half of the fish that I get as a taxidermist don't come from where they are proported to. I know of one incidence where a larger nothern I took in was reported in the local paper as being caught from a totally different lake than it was actually caught at. A multitude of people headed for that bogus lake to catch a big one too. 

[fishnut]

Gotta go on what you know! Seems to me fish pretty much do the same thing every year. It all goes back to weather! I love to look at those new lures,fact is I do just as well on the old junk! 

Couldn't of said it better myself.  Use traditional meathods on traditional lakes, that have worked year after year, and you should do O.K.  Fish are very unpredictable creatures, except when it comes to weather patterns and time of day and time of year. 

For example, if one evening in May you went out for an hour and caught 20 Walleye on Lake dfghyerjkjrewkjrjhsjhs jh, and you went out to that exact same spot 365 days later around the same time of day, and the weather was the same as it was 365 days earlier, your chances would be pretty good, that you'de catch a few.  If you didn't catch any than you were either a week early or a week late.

[HiRanger]

When you travel it WOULD be nice to get accurate information. You have to remember its called "fishing " not "Catching" even though it is better on the catching side.

[oldken]

over the years i have made it a habit to get info and then check i5t out when i fish very seldom is it true such as the ice is 14 inches when there is only 10 or 12 in the same spot i was told about. and i have had plenty of experiences where the guy told me put this way  when i got home i had 20 when  they grew on the way

[FishDaddy09]

In my area there are several bait shops.  I take what they say with a grain of salt. One shop I for the most part trust the owner because I know him, but I have heard him stretch the truth. In another shop I've been there when a guy comes in and says he caught some on lake x and then the next guy in they tell him that they are kill'en em on lake x, on this jig with this bait ect. I just shook my head and left, but I tell everyone not to believe them. It really sucks when you plan to drive a long distance and call for a report and you are told the fish are biting great. So you make the long drive and the locals tell you that the bite has been off for weeks.

[Powder River]

I hear about this stuff all the time around the office and through phone calls, but it usually all comes back around in the end.  One funny story a few years back was when I had a creel going on at a local reservoir.  One of my staff had been checking fisherman randomly all summer (including the local guide) and things had really shut down on this fishery.  Now this guide also owns the only bait shop in the area.  So one day this guy calls the bait shop and asks how the fishing has been lately.  Bait shop owner/guide says Oh we have just been killing them all week, haven't seen the fishing like this all year! (Side note: my creel clerk hasn't seen him with a fish all week.)  So the men that made the phone call take vacation, pack up the gear, drive 4 hours each way, and drop $125 a night at the guides motel.  You know what, they didn't catch 3 fish between the 3 of them in half a week.  So now these guys are a little pissed.  So they go inside the bait shop to talk to the owner/guide and he says the fishing has really been off for a week or two(Doesn't know these are the guys that called earlier in the week).  But one of the guys noticed a pay phone outside the bait shop so as they walk to the truck, they decide to give the bait shop a call ( remember this is the same shop they just walked out of, and are standing in front of ) and see how the fishing has been.  Oh, we have just been slaughtering them lately, today I came in early with some clients because we had our limits!  Be sure to stop by the shop and say HI, if you need a place to stay I just had 3 gentlemen check out from my motel.  Well the guys walk back in say HI, and proceed to drag the guy over the counter, out the door, and treated him to a black eye, and a broken rib.  When the sheriff (he's a fisherman too) showed up he really didn't do much, just told him to start telling the truth and this stuff won't happen.  Sorry to make this thing so long winded, but it's good to hear people being kept in check from time to time.   If you want reliable reports remember you can always call your local game warden, if their doing there jobs, they should tell you if they have been seeing anything lately.  It also helps to have a face to put with a caller, when they check you out there.  I know the wardens in my office have made a lot of friends out there this way.

Powder River

Powder River