Growing up, after moving to the place I ended up finishing out what would be my teenage years, we had a shop. It started out as a resale and commission type shop and a side for what would become a bait shop. Oh the memories of this place, from early spring to late fall and sometimes the beginning of winter, we even lived in the shop. You see it started out in a big pole barn about 60 ft by 120 ft (its just an estimate in size because I have never measured it). We sectioned off one entire side by length, it had a room that we used like a kitchen with a Coleman stove, a small refrigerator and ran water by hose to it. In the front on the one side we had a large minnow tank, a sales counter, a display cabinet with antiques, a snacks stand, refrigerator with other baits and soda. The other section had all the resale items such as clothing and odds and ends.
This place ended up becoming where I would spend most of my time from age 11 until I graduated highschool and moved out. We had another building that we moved the bait shop part into later on when I was in highschool but we didnt live in it. By the time I was in highschool, I had pretty much started running the entire store inside and out as well as doing all the paperwork for it. It was open 24 hours a day mostly and only closed when I could sneak off, which was usually on the evenings that it was slow or when it seemed there was no business. Most of the time I could predict what days this was going to be, I actually used the business as a project for one of my highschool classes to get extra credit.
Before my stepdad passed away, he had told me that he had been so hard on me about the business because, it was his legacy to me to run it and make sure I always had an income and he knew that none of his kids wanted anything to do with it. He wasnt wrong, his youngest son has told me that he cant even think about fishing because it makes him sick from running that store while in highschool. He didn’t really run anything to do with it other than picking up nightcrawlers to make extra money at night and didn’t do that very often either. I did though.. lol I was picking upwards of over 1000 per night and getting paid .02 cents per worm. That was $20 per night in just a matter of a couple hours.
I was also the one that would go with my stepdad and sein the back waters of the lake for crawl fish to sell and dip net or cast net for other bait fish to resell. I seem to remember only twice did my stepbrother take me to catch bait fish and both times he took his girlfriend with him and only once did he help but was only for a little while. When we could go for getting bait fish, we would fill about 10-15 totes to bring back and then I would help my stepdad process and portion them to be frozen as bait.
We also made our own lead weights, specialty bobbers, plugs and sometimes dough type baits to sell. It was just me and him doing that, and my step siblings didn’t help with that either. Yes, back then I was angry that I was the one that “had to participate” but I am not since growing up.
Over the years, I have often thought about reopening the bait shop again, but would probably be harder than it was back in the 80s. Its a new time and you can get bait at any gas station or supermarket around here now, so not so sure I could work that out.
Anyways, thanks for reading ~W
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