Steve & Lisa Spencer give tips and conditions for local fishing holes in Saline County in this column. See more info about Steve and Lisa at the end.
This week, we’ll show the recent catches first and then Steve and Lisa have a special message about changes in the way bait is being sold locally, and as an industry.
Katie Specht caught this nice catfish at Bishop Park using stink bait.
Peter Whitfield caught this cross between a smallmouth and Kentucky bass known as a Mean Mouth Bass while fishing on the Saline River with artificial bait.
Angie Bright was using brooder minnows to catch this bass at an old Game & Fish Pond, down past Holland Chapel.
Allie Goshien daughter of Rob & Rebekah caught this bream at Bishop Park.
Happy Fishing Everyone,
I’m gonna try to keep this simple and explain the affect the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the bait and tackle industry nationwide.
To be straight to the point, it’s causing shortages like we’ve never seen in the 35 years we’ve been in the business. Record numbers of people across the country have been fishing since they haven’t been able to do much else.
The increase in the demand for live bait has been extreme and farms can’t keep up. Crickets have been rationed for the last couple of weeks and are now unavailable.
We hope to get more Tuesday but don’t really expect to. They tell us it could possibly be up to two months before they have adult crickets for sale again. Minnows are beginning to run short and the farms that still have some ready to sell have placed purchase limits on some sizes and require us to call, check availability, and give an approximate time of pick up if they are available.
While we do have all minnows in stock at this time, I was just informed that I can’t get more until Monday afternoon.
Also, worm prices have increased and packaging has changed. Once the 18- and 24-count night crawlers we have in stock are gone, they will only be available in 12 count boxes. Red worms are still available but we anticipate the lack of crickets will cause a shortage of them in the near future.
With all that said, you all know we do everything we can to keep all the bait you need. It’s just simply not possible at this time to do that. Please try to remember that this situation is out of our control and not our fault.
We will keep you all informed as we are informed and hope to have good news sooner than expected. We plan to remain open as usual at this time but that could change if the bait runs out completely. If that should happen we may choose to take a day to relax and recouperate. We sincerely appreciate you all.
-Lisa and Steve
