Wow. Bad time to need to restock on baits.

[Glaucus]

I need a lot of hard baits and soft plastics as my stash has dwindled down quite a bit so far this season. Walmart has been out of everything. Dick's is out of everything. The nearest Bass Pro is over 2 hours away. And our trusty Tackle Warehouse is out of soooooooo much stuff that won't be available again in some cases until August. What's a guy to do?

[Brian_Berbati]

Try to find some local tackle shops, might have some more luck with that. Near Chicago no one has anything except a couple local guys. Dick’s, Walmart and BPS are out of EVERYTHING. Bass Pro doesn’t even have any line at all!

[FishinBuck07]

22 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

I need a lot of hard baits and soft plastics as my stash has dwindled down quite a bit so far this season. Walmart has been out of everything. Dick's is out of everything. The nearest Bass Pro is over 2 hours away. And our trusty Tackle Warehouse is out of soooooooo much stuff that won't be available again in some cases until August. What's a guy to do?

Fisherman's Central website!  They are a local place to me, was in there the other day and it is stocked to the gills!

[looking45]

35 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

I need a lot of hard baits and soft plastics as my stash has dwindled down quite a bit so far this season. Walmart has been out of everything. Dick's is out of everything. The nearest Bass Pro is over 2 hours away. And our trusty Tackle Warehouse is out of soooooooo much stuff that won't be available again in some cases until August. What's a guy to do?

Find a hand pour guy. You might not get the exact baits you want, but he should have plenty of good options

[Koz]

Worm grunting and minnow traps.

[TnRiver46]

3 minutes ago, Koz said:

Worm grunting and minnow traps.

Plus cast net and hot dogs 

[Glaucus]

Never lol. If it ain't artificial, it ain't a sport, and I'm not here for it haha. I'd rather take chicken livers for catfish than fish with worms and get 50 gills and 99/100 annoyance.

[Born 2 fish]

Bass pro on line.

[Bankbeater]

Just bought the last spool of 1500 yd 10 lb line at my BPS.  It's BPS Excel brand.  That place is completely wiped out of fishing line.

[Dminor9]

I have gotten 3 orders from MegaStrike.com in the past 2 weeks. They have a good selection of soft and hard baits. That is my only suggestion as everyone else seems to be out of everything.

[gim]

Lotta local places by me are low on stock too. Fleet farm, cabelas, dicks, etc. A mammoth new Scheels is set to open nearby in July though and I expect everything to be fully stocked for their grand opening...

[Oresti]

1 hour ago, Bankbeater said:

Just bought the last spool of 1500 yd 10 lb line at my BPS.  It's BPS Excel brand.  That place is completely wiped out of fishing line.

Is that the one in St. Charles? I’m heading over there this weekend.

[GReb]

Took this pic at Academy last weekend. BPS looks the same 

[NYWayfarer]

Couldn’t find a split shot to save my life at the local Walmart’s in my area. The shelves were quite bare. 
 

Luckily I have a doomsday prepper type stash of baits and hooks. I am low on my most used stuff. It might mean having to dip into less used other baits and styles.

[DitchPanda]

I've got so much crap I'm good! I'm talking 50+ spinnerbaits, 30 poppers, 100+ jigs, 100+ cranks..and oh God the soft baits. Bags  and bags of essentials like ultravibe speed craws, trick worms and hundreds of stickbaits. Oh and another essential this time of year frogs...I've got probably 15 or 20.

4 hours ago, Glaucus said:

I need a lot of hard baits and soft plastics as my stash has dwindled down quite a bit so far this season. Walmart has been out of everything. Dick's is out of everything. The nearest Bass Pro is over 2 hours away. And our trusty Tackle Warehouse is out of soooooooo much stuff that won't be available again in some cases until August. What's a guy to do?

What in particular are you looking for?

[Fishes in trees]

I don't know about where you shop but I went to Rogers in Liberty (KC Metro area) and I didn't find it too hard to drop a C note on a few favorite colors & shapes that I was low on.  The only thing that they didn't have that I specifically wanted was some 6 lb Seagaur Invizx and I didn't want to buy the bulk spool, so I bought a different brand.  They did seem to be low on braid, but I didn't need any braid so it wasn't a big deal.

 

In the 2 Walmarts that are near to me, they are pretty much picked over, but there is seldom anything there I need anyway.  Haven't been to Academy lately.

[Koz]

For all the folks on BR that have been bitten by the Bait Monkey and aren't sure how or why their garage is wall to wall with baits and gear they don't use, now might be the time to open your own shop on eBay.

 

You might even be able to turn a profit.

[CT Sam]

As unlucky as I am to be a resident of Connecticut, I am lucky enough to pass by Tackle Supply Depot on my way home from work. They are also out of a lot of things but have a pretty large selection and awesome customer service. Check out Tacklesupplydepot.com. From what I've seen in their reviews they ship pretty fast and all over the country.

[TnRiver46]

14 hours ago, Glaucus said:

Never lol. If it ain't artificial, it ain't a sport, and I'm not here for it haha. I'd rather take chicken livers for catfish than fish with worms and get 50 gills and 99/100 annoyance.

Clearly you’ve never tried catching bait. It’s quite challenging at times. I often opt to use artificial because it’s easier than catching bait. Catching hot dogs is reliable tho and you can eat them when the bite is slow 

[Ravox]

Not just baits i can't find worm weights anywhere, looks like everybody decided to fish and also there is logistic issue its insane don't remember anything like that before

[plawren53202]

15 hours ago, Oresti said:

Is that the one in St. Charles? I’m heading over there this weekend.

Good luck. I was in there yesterday. My little guy has taken an interest in fishing so I needed to get a couple of essentials for little kid bank bluegill fishing--hooks, split shot, and bobbers. The St. Charles BPS was completely out of split shot of any size, only hooks they had in under a 1/0 were some red ones, and they had just a couple of bobbers left.

 

Granted, I recognize that my purchase needs fell right in line with, I'm sure, the majority of Covid newcomers to fishing. But...while I was there I also wanted to grab a Loon size 90 Whopper Plopper. Good news there, they had any color you wanted in the size 75 and 90, so long as it was bone. ?

[NYWayfarer]

17 hours ago, Glaucus said:

Never lol. If it ain't artificial, it ain't a sport, and I'm not here for it haha. I'd rather take chicken livers for catfish than fish with worms and get 50 gills and 99/100 annoyance.

Worms catch Bluegill, Bluegill catch Bass. 

 

When live bait fishing I bring a light spinning set up to catch Gills with worms. I put the Gills on a circle hook and use Casting gear and a big bobber to catch Bass.

[Glaucus]

8 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

Worms catch Bluegill, Bluegill catch Bass. 

 

When live bait fishing I bring a light spinning set up to catch Gills with worms. I put the Gills on a circle hook and use Casting gear and a big bobber to catch Bass.

I guess I'm an elitist in the sense that bass fishing only feels right with artificial lures.

[MN Fisher]

16 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

Worms catch Bluegill, Bluegill catch Bass. 

 

When live bait fishing I bring a light spinning set up to catch Gills with worms. I put the Gills on a circle hook and use Casting gear and a big bobber to catch Bass.

Long as it's legal - which it isn't in MN. Worms, leeches, crayfish, frogs, insects and minnows - that's what you're restricted to here...and no, a baby bluegill doesn't qualify as a 'minnow'.

[TnRiver46]

6 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

I guess I'm an elitist in the sense that bass fishing only feels right with artificial lures.

You are the perfect candidate for fly fishing for trout haha. I bet flies are still fully stocked!