Where find shiners & suckers on the way to Mille Lacs from Forest Lake?

I buy a lot of bait for ML. My preference, 65 Bait and Tackle on 65. I mainly fish the SE side and if 65 is not open, or I need once I hit the lake, then Trailside. Absolutely do not buy any bait from Johnson’s Portside. He rips you off, always more expensive and takes advantage of supply. In the fall I have seen his prices at $2.25 per a medium 5-7″ sucker when Trailside will be at $12/doz, Reed’s at $8.00/doz and Malmo Market and Sue’s at about $9.00/dozen.

Up at the lake, Friday is bait day for bait stores around ML.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Mike’s on 8. They always have good bait.

Was at Mike’s yesterday no Shiners there. In my experience, I have found some at Portsides in Isle and fish lake bait on 35 by Harris.

I wish the Rainbow minnow crisis brought the same amount of attention as shiners or suckers. The rainbow minnows now are tiny and limited in where you can even find them. Quality Rainbow minnows have disappeared. It is a shame!

gonefishin wrote:

I buy a lot of bait for ML. My preference, 65 Bait and Tackle on 65. I mainly fish the SE side and if 65 is not open, or I need once I hit the lake, then Trailside. Absolutely do not buy any bait from Johnson’s Portside. He rips you off, always more expensive and takes advantage of supply. In the fall I have seen his prices at $2.25 per a medium 5-7″ sucker when Trailside will be at $12/doz, Reed’s at $8.00/doz and Malmo Market and Sue’s at about $9.00/dozen.

Up at the lake, Friday is bait day for bait stores around ML.

I’m no Mille Lacs expert and don’t fish it much at all, but my college friends have the same exact take on the situation. They’ve went to multiple places on the same exact day and experienced similar pricing differences like those you note. I think we’ve only grabbed bait from Trailside and Reed’s in my trips up with them. They’ve routinely noted that Johnson’s has the highest prices by a substantial margin.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Both lakes I fished this weekend had a finicky bite. We caught fish but they were not aggressive. That’s when a fat head comes in handy on a very small plain red hook

When the going gets tough, hooked upside down in the B-hole.

grubson wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Justin Schneider (Woods & Water Insurance) wrote:</div>

Bait prices have gone up at every bait shop in the state.
Fish lake’s prices are better than a lot of places like Trailside in Isle, I can promise you that. Trailside was charging $6/ each for large suckers last fall, and not decoys either. Supply and demand I guess. We laughed at them and went elsewhere.
Im curious to know what kind of minnows you were trying to buy in bulk from fish lake. You shouldn’t blame them for not selling you bulk, bait has gotten harder and harder for them to get ever since the state of mn outlawed importing minnows from Wisconsin. The ponds and creeks in this area don’t produce enough anymore, “they’re too polluted” is what I was told. With a limited amount of bait (especially shiners and leeches) you shouldn’t expect to get bulk quantities, of course they’re going to ration them out and get them to as many different fishermen is possible. It’s called smart business. Realize you were probably the 20th person to ask for bulk bait that day, of course they’d love to have enough to sell everyone what they want. I’ve wanted a quart of spot tails in may the last couple years but I’ve had to live without, or with a dozen at a time.
Maybe he didn’t handle it the most professional way possible, but understand the stress involved in taking over a failing/ poorly ran business and turning it around to make it profitable again. Especially in this economic climate.
Trust me, I was friends with the previous managment, yes bait was cheaper sometimes, but he ran that place into the ground. If it weren’t for the new people we’d be driving to pine city for bait.

Pre-Purchasing or reserving minnows at the normal shop rate is quite commonplace at various bait shops around the state, but knowingly informing a customer that you plan to price gouge them at a rate of 3 times of what’s listed on the price board for other customers is an unprofessional practice and why I choose to spend my money elsewhere nowadays. This was for 3-4 dozen minnows so hardly a bulk purchase that would have disrupted supply for any other customers.

Pre-Purchasing or reserving minnows at the normal shop rate is quite commonplace at various bait shops around the state, but knowingly informing a customer that you plan to price gouge them at a rate of 3 times of what’s listed on the price board for other customers is an unprofessional practice and why I choose to spend my money elsewhere nowadays. This was for 3-4 dozen minnows so hardly a bulk purchase that would have disrupted supply for any other customers.
[/quote]

That is odd, I guess I couldn’t picture it happening. Been going to fish lake for years. Since Todd owned it to the first day of the new owners. I was actually in there last night before we ran out to the lake. The prices are better then any one around and I’ve never seen the prices rise. They have a bulletin with prices on there. You must not have talked to the chick who runs the place and I couldn’t imagine Corey doing that. Maybe one of there helpers that didn’t last?
Or maybe they just like me because I’m a regular.

Bearcat89 wrote:

You must not have talked to the chick who runs the place and I couldn’t imagine Corey doing that. Maybe one of there helpers that didn’t last?

It most certainly was Corey. The gal who also runs the place had always been great to deal with however I will say that.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Pre-Purchasing or reserving minnows at the normal shop rate is quite commonplace at various bait shops around the state, but knowingly informing a customer that you plan to price gouge them at a rate of 3 times of what’s listed on the price board for other customers is an unprofessional practice and why I choose to spend my money elsewhere nowadays. This was for 3-4 dozen minnows so hardly a bulk purchase that would have disrupted supply for any other customers.

That is odd, I guess I couldn’t picture it happening. Been going to fish lake for years. Since Todd owned it to the first day of the new owners. I was actually in there last night before we ran out to rush. The prices are better then any one around and I’ve never seen the prices rise. They have a bulletin with prices on there. You must not have talked to the chick who runs the place and I couldn’t imagine Corey doing that. Maybe one of there helpers that didn’t last?
Or maybe they just like me because I’m a regular.
[/quote]

It used to be commonplace, not so much anymore.
Now days 3-4 dozen walleye minnows of any kind is buying bulk.
It’s frustrating for all of us. Especially for the guys selling bait for a living.

Stopped by Trailside on Saturday morning. 1/2 scoop fatheads and 1/2 dozen small suckers (and they we not very small). Less than $10.

nordern wrote:

Stopped by Trailside on Saturday morning. 1/2 scoop fatheads and 1/2 dozen small suckers (and they we not very small). Less than $10.

Thats a good price