Live bait nearly non available in my town

[airborne_angler]

Found out yesterday that the vendor that supplies the Local Walmart with Nightcrawlers and mealworms had a falling out with the management and pulled his product.

Talked to sporting goods associate and he said Walmart has no interest in looking for another vendor.

Theres only 1 place in town(50,000 population) that carries live bait they get wiped out and only reorder every 2 weeks.. What to do? Could this be an opportunity to open my own bait business?

[Hammer 4]

Use plastic's...?  

[Wayne P.]

I prefer to do the fishing and catching and don't feel the need to have some creature do the fishing for me. Artificial is my choice.

[bilgerat]

I recently re lived my childhood by catching my own nightcrawlers in the backyard the old school way - soaking the grass then going out after dark with a flashlight. I forgot how fast those little buggers were.

I still use bait when taking the kids out or going for catfish. No baitstores where I live either.

[Jake.]

You could either quit using live bait or catch your own.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Get ur self a 3 X3 umbrella net,some crackers throw it overboard and bring up ur own bait .You would be surprised what you catch

[bigtimfish]

If you want nightcrawlers, I just found a way to get a lot of them. I was cleaning out an ice chest and put some bleach and dish soap in it . after I let it soak , i pulled the little plug on the side and let the soapy bleach water run into the grass. Within 1 minute max, about 10 big a** worms came up from the ground. I was amazed. If you need shad just get a castnet.

[InLikeFinz]

Affirmative on the bait business. There has to be more people just like you in need of good live bait in your area!

-jason

[1inStripes]

If you want nightcrawlers, I just found a way to get a lot of them. I was cleaning out an ice chest and put some bleach and dish soap in it . after I let it soak , i pulled the little plug on the side and let the soapy bleach water run into the grass. Within 1 minute max, about 10 big a** worms came up from the ground. I was amazed. If you need shad just get a castnet.

I wouldn't worry about the bleach, the soapy water alone does the trick.  

[Fishing Rhino]

I prefer to do the fishing and catching and don't feel the need to have some creature do the fishing for me. Artificial is my choice.

Seems you are looking down your nose at the use of live bait.  I'm curious to know why.  If I misunderstood, disregard the rant below.

I mean, if you prefer to do the fishing and catching, why use any method other than your bare hands?

Do you use electronic devices of any type to help locate fish?

Heck, do you ever fish from a boat?

All of these, including artificials are designed to give anglers an advantage over the fish.

I'm sorry, but I've read that some consider the use of a landing net to be unsporting by those who pursue bass in 60,000 dollar boats with GPS, color fishfinders, side scanners, and several thousand dollars in tackle.

But let some guy fish from shore, a dinghy, kayak, canoe, jon boat, zero electronics, a couple of zebco rods and a few lures pull out a net, and he is unsporting.

[airborne_angler]

I like to use artificials as well,but when I fish with my kids or with my wife,they havent gotten confidence in Artificials. I did, however, introduce my wife to the dropshot rig with some small dropshot baits yesterday.

My wife did really well,had a good time,but she says she still prefers live worms.

Besides fisherman,arent worms sought after when gardening? If I opened up a small worm business I can target 2 types of customers.

[Big Bait Fishing]

i say you should get into worm farming , get a bunch of flyers made up and post them around the fishing holes you know of and get the word out that you can supply them with worms and you should make a few bucks for your self and always have them for your own use . i like to use jumbo sized nightcrawlers for catfishing , and meal worms for bluegills .  

[Red Bear]

I prefer to do the fishing and catching and don't feel the need to have some creature do the fishing for me. Artificial is my choice.

Seems you are looking down your nose at the use of live bait. I'm curious to know why. If I misunderstood, disregard the rant below.

I mean, if you prefer to do the fishing and catching, why use any method other than your bare hands?

Do you use electronic devices of any type to help locate fish?

Heck, do you ever fish from a boat?

All of these, including artificials are designed to give anglers an advantage over the fish.

I'm sorry, but I've read that some consider the use of a landing net to be unsporting by those who pursue bass in 60,000 dollar boats with GPS, color fishfinders, side scanners, and several thousand dollars in tackle.

But let some guy fish from shore, a dinghy, kayak, canoe, jon boat, zero electronics, a couple of zebco rods and a few lures pull out a net, and he is unsporting.

i agree, people shouldnt stick their nose up to live bait. after all the artificial baits theyre using are all designed to emulate live bait. just ask Fish Chris about live bait/night crawlers. he posted links to very informative articles about fishing with night crawlers that he wrote. some of the biggest bass ive ever heard of were caught on night crawlers. and from my personal experiences sometimes it can be just as tough fishing with live bait as artificial and vice versa. to me, when it comes to the love of fishing, you dont have to have the best and latest equipment to enjoy yourself.

[Koop]

Airborne -

My grandfather had about 180 acres of land, which about 80 acres of which being farm / garden.  He would sell nightcrawlers just outside of Milwaukee WI.  You would be surprised how far people would come to get them (30-45min, sometimes farther) and the only advertisement he had was word of mouth and a little road sign next to the driveway to his house.  I used to make some serious dough when I was a little guy, going out harvesting them with him, packing them up and selling them.  They are low maintenance, they wont make you a fortune but it would be some nice little money on the side.  Don't make it a career, just sell them while your home.  People stop by after 5pm grab a few tubs and head on their way.  You make some nice change on the side.

[SirSnookalot]

It's one thing to sell them out of your home to pick up as few extra bucks, but another to open a bait store.  Lease commitments, equipment, taxes, insurance and the list of expenses goes on forever.........imo a road to disaster.

Catching your own bait is not difficult, it's a mainstay here in Florida, both fresh and saltwater.  I see may guys tossing cast nets in canals for freshwater shiners and in saltwater I bet 80% of the people catch their own bait.

[Fishing Rhino]

I prefer to do the fishing and catching and don't feel the need to have some creature do the fishing for me. Artificial is my choice.

Seems you are looking down your nose at the use of live bait. I'm curious to know why. If I misunderstood, disregard the rant below.

I mean, if you prefer to do the fishing and catching, why use any method other than your bare hands?

Do you use electronic devices of any type to help locate fish?

Heck, do you ever fish from a boat?

All of these, including artificials are designed to give anglers an advantage over the fish.

I'm sorry, but I've read that some consider the use of a landing net to be unsporting by those who pursue bass in 60,000 dollar boats with GPS, color fishfinders, side scanners, and several thousand dollars in tackle.

But let some guy fish from shore, a dinghy, kayak, canoe, jon boat, zero electronics, a couple of zebco rods and a few lures pull out a net, and he is unsporting.

i agree, people shouldnt stick their nose up to live bait. after all the artificial baits theyre using are all designed to emulate live bait. just ask Fish Chris about live bait/night crawlers. he posted links to very informative articles about fishing with night crawlers that he wrote. some of the biggest bass ive ever heard of were caught on night crawlers. and from my personal experiences sometimes it can be just as tough fishing with live bait as artificial and vice versa. to me, when it comes to the love of fishing, you dont have to have the best and latest equipment to enjoy yourself.

Just for the record, I have not been using live bait, and haven't for years.  But, that's about to change.

Years ago, I did use "mumpers" a couple of times to catch largemouth, and they worked quite well.  They are, after all, just another bit of ammo.

I bought a minnow seine and along with a friend am going to use it in the marine estuaries of the Westport River.

He'll use the smaller ones for fluke bait, and I'll use the bigger ones for largemouth.

I prefer them to shiners for a couple of reasons.  I can get them myself, and they are very hardy.  They can be kept in an aerated bathtub or other large container for months.  Just feed them cornmeal.

They are chunkier than shiners and more durable.

In salt water, I've fished with sea worms, herring, makerell, pogies (also known as bunker, mossbunker, and menhaden),  crabs, clams, etc.

I may set a couple of traps to see if I can catch some crawfish in the pond where I fish.  One of the little used, if ever, docks where I fish has several bird droppings that have been washed by rains.  All that remains are piles of crawfish shell pieces.

[Chris at Tech]

Build yourself a plywood box, order a bunch of worms online and then you can simply go to your wormbox and take what you need before each fishing trip.

[Busy]

I can tell you how I get great huge live worms but this option may not be available to you.

If you have a farm with lots of round bales that sit in rows, you can pick the bales up with a tractor or bob-cat and there will be lots of big fat worms and grubs under them.  Get 'em quick because they'll head for China once the light hits 'em.

I prefer not to use live worms because in the ponds I fish you just can't catch anything other than perch and bluegill when you start using live worms.  Seems your ratio of bass to other fish caught increases when you use artificials.  That said, bass will sure eat a live worm as well.

[RoLo]

I personally would not become involved in selling live bait where the history was not promising.

If two businesses have failed to flourish in your area, you'd probably be investing in a downtrend.

If you're just interested in obtaining live bait,

the Internet has several sources of redworms, nightcrawlers, mealworms, et al.

Roger

[Tim1980]

The greens on a golf course is where we got night crawlers.  Don't know why but they love the greens.

[DawsonH]

Its not a big money business but it mite do ok for you as a side job.

[Sam]

from a business perspective, you have to:

locate a farmer and come to terms;

secure retail outlets with contracts;

have a proper storage facility;

be able to deliver fresh bait and pick up dead or old bait; and

pay taxes and a CPA to handle your books.

WalMart is a pain to deal with.  It is their way or the highway.

So do the math and determine if this enterprise can be profitable.