Bait Fish Costs

[overparr]

Have you seen the price of bait fish lately $13.00 for a package of herring.
I went to the local grocery store and purchased smelts and herring for a 1/3 of the cost. And yes I caught with them as well. I dont mind supporting our local sporting stores but is my local store the only one with this pricing. Where do you purchase your bait

[Rikkles Fisher]

I think a decent sized bag of herring at wholesale sports is only 6 bucks.

[Esox]

If its good quality I have no qualms about paying that much. The stuff from superstore and places is usually starting to get freezer burnt and IMO not good quality bait. The only thing I buy from there is big Spanish mackerel for under tip-ups. Somedays you may catch with any kind of bait just like some days it doesn't matter what hook you put in the water, you catch fish. But when its one of those days that fishing is tough, I want good premium bait. We spend loads of money on rods, reels, line, hooks, gas etc, but then you get cheap on bait? Makes no sense to me.

[Astrocyte]

You could try T&T supermarket if you have one near you. Cheap and bigger bags but freezer burn could be an issue. I was there the other day and they had quite the selection of possible bait fish. Safeway had some 3-4 inch smelts too.

We usually just end up at Mohawk gas station for our bait before we hit the road. We do not bother driving into the city to find a sporting store just to pick up a bag of maggots if the gas station has good lively ones. We get our maggots, leeches, dew worms, and smelts from there. Not so much on the leeches anymore though.

[fishdude17]

I have been buying my smelts and herring at T&T Supermarket and have never had an issue with freezer burn. Cannot beat their prices IMO.

Once at home I split them up into smaller bunches and package them with the Food Saver...takes the air out and they last forever in the freezer. When I say freezer, I mean deep freeze and NOT the freezer on your fridge.

[overparr]

Great tip Thanks for your input

[chriscosta]

Any of yall get creative with different types of fish for bait i know t n t has some different types of fish sometimes

[chriscosta]

I had good luck with scads i think they were called

[Mike_W]

Bait quality is your biggest difference you pay for the fact that they have all scales fins and are in prestine condition.
You can buy all sorts of baitfish from superstore or T&T but the quality (appearance wise) isn't comparable.

[fishdude17]

Bait quality is your biggest difference you pay for the fact that they have all scales fins and are in prestine condition.
You can buy all sorts of baitfish from superstore or T&T but the quality (appearance wise) isn't comparable.

All the herring I have ever purchased from T&T have had their fins intact and scales on. Condition wise they have been excellent. The smelts are a different story, some missing heads and some all mangled up...but when I am paying $4 for a 3lb bag, I am not gonna complain about throwing a few in the trash...

[Mitchthefisher]

I always slay with herring and smelts from superstore and they are super cheap!

[Red Bullets]

I m amazed that people don't get their bait fish licence and go collect their own fresh minnows. In many lakes a person can catch all the bait fish they need in the shallows. I have gone to lakes in the late spring when the dacy or spottail shiners are congregating and could have gathered a years supply of minnows in 10 minutes. I used to just catch enough minnows to use for the day.

Then you are using the minnows that are native to the waterbody too.