I saw this on a Facebook group. I guess it’s not surprising since the rest of the building they are in was recently taken over by a gym. I hope they or someone else can start up another one in the area. This location served a crucial need for the NW metro.
Wayzata Bait & Tackle told me they were closing at the end of August. Musta moved it up a month. Wayzata Bait & Tackle and Big B’s are the only two bait shops even remotely close to me.
As of right now though, Wayzata Bait & Tackle is still open. When I was in there a couple times in May he said he would likely be done by July 1 so I’m not sure how much longer they will be there either.
Just a sign of the times I guess. Small local independent bait shops have been slowly declining for years.
It’s the plastics that are doing these guys in. Especially with so many shopping online. You will hear of many more going down.
Dennis Anderson mentioned Wayzata Bait in a recent article and said they are good ’til October.
I’ve been amazed that Big B’s has stayed in business this long. Nice little shop but kind of an odd location.
The small “strip mall” Wayzata Bait and Tackle is in got bought out and being torn down to build a car dealership. Sure I’m sure business is down for them with online, but I’m not sure even a successful tackle shop could stop that, especially when leasing the building space.
Bait shops have been closing right and left on the middle teen pools of the Mississippi 13 to 16. Besides the obvious, internet and artificials being more popular. Bait is very profitable, but with every convenient store farm supply store Walmart carrying bait. With the cost of doing business, you can only get wacked from so many directions. Other thing I noticed knowing 3 owners very well. Most are family businesses, dividing the hours amongst themselves and maybe an employee or two. Comparing hours to pay, they would have quit a while ago. Most are in paid for buildings with no debt to contend with and shaved overhead. Now many are reaching retirement age. 3 shops in the area the last few years have set for sale for multiple years. Buyers interested, but not one bank would touch them. Keeping up with the current cost of living at home and trying to pay few hundred-thousand-dollar loan off would be a tough nut to crack. Lastly unlike lake country shops, the last few years on those pools the time between when the ramps are underwater and completely out of the water seems to be a month or two at best. Really picking away at the fishable months. I try to buy almost everything I can from a local sole proprietor sporting goods store and local bait shops. Of a couple thousand I’ve spent this year, Simms waders and boots along with new boat seats etc. All but less than $100 went to them. The service I got especially getting the wader boots fit I wanted was well worth the price, that wasn’t much higher than the internet. So, I feel I’ll be intitled to complain when the last one closes.
Sad to hear this. Big B’s is/was the closest bait shop to me, been there many times. Not surprised given the times though
MN killed them when bait movement restrictions went in years ago. Caused major shortages in supply. Increased prices.
Between paying ridiculous prices and not being able to find bait at all… market phased them out.
Thank your Governor
It’s the plastics that are doing these guys in. Especially with so many shopping online.
I think so too. I rarely if ever buy live bait but I am almost exclusively an in-person shopper for all my rods, reels, line, and lures.
Really the only time I see a line in a local bait shop here is during the winter. I don’t think anglers who are specifically looking for a certain style artificial lure are heading to a bait shop. They are going to a Scheels, Cabela’s, Dicks, Fleet Farm, Thorne Bros, etc. or buying it online, as you stated.
Wayzata bait has been saying they’re closing for the last year. When I talked to the owner last fall he said they were closing before the ice season. Obviously that didn’t happen. He seemed like he was sick of keeping it open. Not sure why it still is if that’s the case.
There’s a new tackle shop in Savage that the Line Cutterz guys opened recently. Not sure how stocked it is yet but they are open.
Wayzata bait has been saying they’re closing for the last year. When I talked to the owner last fall he said they were closing before the ice season. Obviously that didn’t happen. He seemed like he was sick of keeping it open. Not sure why it still is if that’s the case.
When I talked to him in the spring, he said they would sell bait until the bull dozers showed up, wasn’t sure on how long that would be at the time. They are hanging it up and going to enjoy some time on there property up on Lake Shamineau.
From Dennis Anderson’s article from July 15th.
Readers may recall that the Sonenstahls’ popular shop in a strip mall on the north side of Hwy. 12 in Wayzata was due to close last fall to make room for a car dealership. Wayzata Bait & Tackle was founded in 1975 by the brothers’ dad, Archie Sonenstahl, a Hennepin County Sheriff’s detective and avid hunter and angler who owned the business on the side. (Archie Sonenstahl died in 2005 at age 73.)
Last fall’s doomsday deadline for the Sonenstahls’ business came and went while Wayzata officials negotiated with the car dealer. A few more deadlines have been missed in the months since.
“Now we’ve heard we’re good through Oct. 1,” Bob Sonenstahl said.
What I don’t get about the Wayzata location is that it doesn’t seem big enough for a car dealer. Isn’t it all wetlands beyond the shops?
I’ve been amazed that Big B’s has stayed in business this long. Nice little shop but kind of an odd location.
But that odd location meant cheap rent and everyone knew where it was, so location didn’t matter. And in a good location to serve those going to Eagle, Fish, Medicine, and out from there. I know I stopped more than a few times on my way to Tonka.
I think I remember talking to one of the staff and they said that the owner trapped his own bait, too. So more profit there.
I just hope one of the local gas stations or Ace Hardware starts carrying bait to fill in the gap. If not a true bait shop.
For all the guys fishing plastics these days, there are still a ton of us who still use live bait. Especially going out with a family or group.
What I don’t get about the Wayzata location is that it doesn’t seem big enough for a car dealer. Isn’t it all wetlands beyond the shops?
Yes I believe it is. One of the reasons they stayed there so many years was because they had a private well for water there. Well water is better for minnows than treated city water.
If you locate a gas station or hardware store in that specific little area as a replacement, please share it. I know that ARCO on hwy 7 has live bait but that’s beyond where I’d like to go and I’d be back tracking.
There’s a new tackle shop in Savage that the Line Cutterz guys opened recently. Not sure how stocked it is yet but they are open.
Good to have options. There is also a new tackle shop that opened in Mound next to Back Channel – Waypoint angler. Mostly catering to bass guys with higher end gear and JDM stuff not typically found around here. Worth checking out if in the area, lot of stuff and knowledgeable. They are offering a Minnetonka boat ramp delivery option- if you are on the water and need something they will deliver
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