What do you purchase

[addictedangler]

  I helped start a bait and tackle store in the spring this year. We would like to stock some basic items for ice fishing. I do ice fish but would like to know what you guys buy. No we will not have a unlimited budget and we usually only get 30 days plus a year on safe ice on our smaller lakes. Mainly smaller items such as preferred bait,lures and so on is what we will be stocking. I am sure most are glad to hear of a new small town shop you can get a free cup of coffee and purchase some bait and tackle for your day on the water or ice!

[joedevera]

I would carry a small selection of jigs and micro spoons. Stopper Lures, Akara or something like those. Bait pucks, micro spikes, ice picks and maybe a few rods. don't have to go crazy your first year, if you do well you can expand later on. There's a shop by me that closes the week of Thanksgiving and reopens all ice fishing and then flops again in the spring.
If you have any other questions feel free to pm me

[HWeber]

When I stop at a small shop I'm usually looking for something the big box stores don't have.  Little shops seem to stock what works and also seem to have some unique stuff. While I'm sure you can get some good info here I'd be asking local guys

[Baetis62]

Have good bait bait in stock consistently, know your local fisheries and engage with your customer base every chance you get.  Beyond that consider cash reserves and managing costs/overhead are  essential.

I'm envious...best of luck!

[RyanW]

My uncle Dave owns a bait shop/gas station here in central Michigan. For ice fishing, he stocks a rather decent selection of Jigs & Spins jigs/spoons (a few different sizes of each selection along with glow jigs/spoons). His jig display takes up a 2’x4’ area. He also carries a peg board display (about 18”x5’) of Skandia tungsten jigs. An assortment of Trilene line (including braid and tip-up line). His accessories are mostly HT (spring bobbers, picks, cleats, etc.). HT Polar tip-ups. Strikemaster mora augers. Replacement blades for StrikeMaster and Eskimo augers (along with 2-stroke gasoline mix and miscellaneous gas auger parts [a few gas caps, spark plugs, etc.]).

His bait is leeches, wax worms, spikes (white and also red), mousies when they are in season. His minnows consist of emerald shiners, golden shiners, sucker minnows, and fathead minnows. He carries schooley style rods along with some affordable (like $20) Southbend and Shakespeare combos along with some individual rods and reels. He also carries an assortment of barehooks (including trebles), weights, bobbers, leaders, swivels, etc. You don’t want to stock a lot of pricey items because, frankly, they won’t sell well at all especially in a small town that sees a month of ice unless your demographic has $$$. He does have some items that date back to the early 90’s.....still in stock. It also doesn’t help his cause that our county has a fairly expansive outdoors store (Jay’s) that sells several high dollar items on a somewhat  regular basis (from $1000 sonars to $3000 rifles). However, having a select few “higher-priced” items certainly wouldn’t hurt.

HWeber, joedevera, and Baetis62 also give sound advice. Get to know the locals and what they use in your area, have a consistent supply of HEALTHY bait, and don’t go to overboard on gear the first year. The locals will tell you what they want to buy. After a while, you will know what the people want.

Oh, don’t forget about cold weather outer wear. Decent hats and gloves go a long way. Some cheap polarized sunglasses wouldn’t hurt either (I wear $5 YUM glasses from Walmart that work well). Also, I’d get some hand warmers and a stack of 6-gallon buckets with a few of those cushion seats that fit inside the rim (HT makes them). Lead clip-on depth finders are a must. Hemostats for hook removal. Nail clippers for line nippers (not everyone likes  to use their teeth). You could even get some of those key-chain style tape measures even if they are for novelty (kids love them) and they make for a quick, accurate, fish length.

Also, for what it’s worth, my uncles minnow wells are just a standard plastic wash basin (around 30 gallons, he has about 9 of them that he will rotate usage of) with a PVC pipe overflow (directly down the drain which just leads outside) with a constant intake of fresh water (coming from the tap and matching the overflow rate). All of the basins have air driven aeration stones in them. He runs about 6-7 of these at any given time throughout the entire year. Daily netting of dead minnows is a must. He puts them in an old coffe can then dumps them at the end of the day. At any given time during the ice season, one of his wells will carry about 1000 of the smaller minnows (1-2 inches) and there’s usually two-four ofthose. His golden shiner wells will have a couple hundred in them (usually two wells) and his sucker wells will usually hold under 100.

I kind of rambled through this whole thing thinking of items so I’m sorry if it’s not cohesively presented.

[FG Steve]

  I helped start a bait and tackle store in the spring this year. We would like to stock some basic items for ice fishing. I do ice fish but would like to know what you guys buy. No we will not have a unlimited budget and we usually only get 30 days plus a year on safe ice on our smaller lakes. Mainly smaller items such as preferred bait,lures and so on is what we will be stocking. I am sure most are glad to hear of a new small town shop you can get a free cup of coffee and purchase some bait and tackle for your day on the water or ice!

Um, sorry if I missed it, but where?  That makes a difference IMO.

[DaveSS1]

My uncle Dave owns a bait shop/gas station here in central Michigan. For ice fishing, he stocks a rather decent selection of Jigs & Spins jigs/spoons (a few different sizes of each selection along with glow jigs/spoons). His jig display takes up a 2’x4’ area. He also carries a peg board display (about 18”x5’) of Skandia tungsten jigs. An assortment of Trilene line (including braid and tip-up line). His accessories are mostly HT (spring bobbers, picks, cleats, etc.). HT Polar tip-ups. Strikemaster mora augers. Replacement blades for StrikeMaster and Eskimo augers (along with 2-stroke gasoline mix and miscellaneous gas auger parts [a few gas caps, spark plugs, etc.]).

His bait is leeches, wax worms, spikes (white and also red), mousies when they are in season. His minnows consist of emerald shiners, golden shiners, sucker minnows, and fathead minnows. He carries schooley style rods along with some affordable (like $20) Southbend and Shakespeare combos along with some individual rods and reels. He also carries an assortment of barehooks (including trebles), weights, bobbers, leaders, swivels, etc. You don’t want to stock a lot of pricey items because, frankly, they won’t sell well at all especially in a small town that sees a month of ice unless your demographic has $$$. He does have some items that date back to the early 90’s.....still in stock. It also doesn’t help his cause that our county has a fairly expansive outdoors store (Jay’s) that sells several high dollar items on a somewhat  regular basis (from $1000 sonars to $3000 rifles). However, having a select few “higher-priced” items certainly wouldn’t hurt.

HWeber, joedevera, and Baetis62 also give sound advice. Get to know the locals and what they use in your area, have a consistent supply of HEALTHY bait, and don’t go to overboard on gear the first year. The locals will tell you what they want to buy. After a while, you will know what the people want.

Oh, don’t forget about cold weather outer wear. Decent hats and gloves go a long way. Some cheap polarized sunglasses wouldn’t hurt either (I wear $5 YUM glasses from Walmart that work well). Also, I’d get some hand warmers and a stack of 6-gallon buckets with a few of those cushion seats that fit inside the rim (HT makes them). Lead clip-on depth finders are a must. Hemostats for hook removal. Nail clippers for line nippers (not everyone likes  to use their teeth). You could even get some of those key-chain style tape measures even if they are for novelty (kids love them) and they make for a quick, accurate, fish length.

Also, for what it’s worth, my uncles minnow wells are just a standard plastic wash basin (around 30 gallons, he has about 9 of them that he will rotate usage of) with a PVC pipe overflow (directly down the drain which just leads outside) with a constant intake of fresh water (coming from the tap and matching the overflow rate). All of the basins have air driven aeration stones in them. He runs about 6-7 of these at any given time throughout the entire year. Daily netting of dead minnows is a must. He puts them in an old coffe can then dumps them at the end of the day. At any given time during the ice season, one of his wells will carry about 1000 of the smaller minnows (1-2 inches) and there’s usually two-four ofthose. His golden shiner wells will have a couple hundred in them (usually two wells) and his sucker wells will usually hold under 100.

I kind of rambled through this whole thing thinking of items so I’m sorry if it’s not cohesively presented.

Wow, know that small store near a numbered lake well since it was near my old stomping grounds.  He usually had what you need.  Always had the basics and catered well to the local demographic.  I don't get up that way much but usually try to stop by when I need bait or when I forget propane cylinders, jaw spreaders, etc. on any given trip.

[addictedangler]

  The shop is in South central Pa. It is a fly and general tackle store currently. Opened in March. Not sure if it is OK to mention but the name is Precision fly and tackle. Justin specializes in the fly fishing part. He asked me to help out with conventional tackle,bait and some ice gear. As a youngster I always liked going into any fishing ( outdoor) type store. As mentioned the desire is to keep it a local store where you can have a free cup of coffee. Unfortunately there are more closing down then opening up. All information is greatly appreciated and my hope is to be able to please most customers.

[Light liner]

Find out what the more common tip ups locals use spare for those.
1 pound propane tanks
Creepers
Things that people need.
Plastics like maki.
Colored maggots I gave up on our shops and order my own beginning of the season because they can't keep them in stock.
5 gallon buckets/covers
Good luck

[ajv5148]

  The shop is in South central Pa. It is a fly and general tackle store currently.

where at in South central, pa? I've been looking for a good fly shop and would love a place open during ice season

[addictedangler]

  We are in MtHollysprings PA. It is south of Carlisle. Go to precision fly and tackle for more info. Thanks for asking. I am sure you will be happy with the shop personal and our products- price.  Tell them Tony sent you.