Cost of Minnows?

[schr0563]

How much are you willing to pay for bait?

A friend of mine is involved with the bait industry in Minnesota and for the last month has been warning of changes that are occuring that could significantly impact the bait business.

Yesterday's StarTrib had an article that outlines one of the challenges that bait dealers, and all anglers, will be facing.

StarTrib - Wisconsin Bait Deal

[Questor]

Not much.

What kind of changes?

[ocf1]

what really shocksme is that we spend almost 2 billion a year

[Scott M]

Minnows are going to get very expensive! VHS virus is locking down transport of bait, so competition is really scrambled. Local dealers will need a premium for bait because they can't reach some of the markets they used to. Also, rigorous testing is SUPER expensive. On the order of 1-2 thousand PER LOT OR POND. Those costs of testing to the virus are handed down to the consumer.

The USDA APHIS order banning interstate shipping really hurts the Great Lakes States. Funny no restrictions were handed down to other big bait industry states in the south, even though they are connected via the rivers to the Great Lakes and VHS.

Check out save the bait business ((Contact Us Please)) you know what to see what a few bait raisers in Michigan think.

[LocalGuide]

good thing I like leeches and crawlers... crawlers are free as I get them in the back yard and leeches I get by the pound, but they're getting expensive too..

[cold one sd]

Gulp and Power Bait are starting to look better too. I also have a yard full of crawlers.

[Black_Bay]

I may be looking to by stock in Rapala and Pure fishing(Makers of Gulp and Power Bait).

[sparcebag]

I read the artical you put in your post,I thought it would be the same as the reading I've been doing about how the minnow industry is ruining public waters (ponds)by raising minnows DU and water experts and some public people are complaining,because they destroy the aquatic vegatation for ducks and invertabre.Their talking about taking back ponds to natural states and renting some to bait growers.Right now the bait growers are getting permitted for free to raise their bait and put up no tresspassing signs in public waters.

[schr0563]

The individual I spoke with mentioned issues with DU but I don't have all the facts so I'll refrain from getting too detailed with those issues. Apparently there could soon be new legislation preventing bait dealers from taking bait from any water that has been improved by federal money (ie. duck stamps). He also went into some of the misconceptions that exist about the bait industry. One being that minnows aren't raised, they're simply harvested from natural populations. I have no way to verify this information, and I realize I was certainly getting a one sided opinion. His biggest complaint was that there aren't any large fishing organizations that can stand up to new legislation being handed down by groups like DU.

Bottom line - the bait business is important to our state, but our lakes and rivers need to be taken care of too. I'm sharing simply to start a discussion and to see if anyone on this site knows the facts about this.

[sparcebag]

I really dont know the facts! but I did read roatone (SPELLING?) to kill off all minnows,to restore ponds,but that kills everything so where do the invertabre come from? also dont fish & minnows get transported by birds,The Greatblue Heron on their legs?

[BobT]

How costly will it get?

I guess I don't know since when I go to Canada and figure the exchange rate and all, we pay about 6 times the price for bait that we do in Minnesota.

Of course, I have a good source for trapping my own just a mile down the road if it gets too expensive.

Bob

[swampman]

I will try to answer some quetions on this thread to the best I can. Wild bait we are basically talking fathead minnows here are trapped from shallow lakes and ponds and are a native species. spotail shiners golden shiners emarld shiners dace minnows and some other misc ones like redails are all caught wild too but volume wise the fathead minnow is what drives the bait buisness in minnesota. When people talk raising minnows your talking suckers. Some of the bait dealers also raise walleyes and other fish too but most don't.

I have stayed out of the other thread in the brainerd area about the proposed legislation because there was enough rock throwing going on in there already.

here is some of my thoughts though on the whole minnow/ duck/bait buisness thing.

fathead minnows have been here long before people.

the bait industry in minnesota is older than anybody posting on this board.

all the talk about fatheads ruining duck habitat is something relatively new and pretty much started with a twin cities outdoors columnist article and opinions on the matter largely based on limited studies on a handful of lakes. do a internet search on what fatheads eat and you will find a whole bunch of studies with alot of differnt findings as to what they eat, it isnt as simple as the fatheads are eating the invertbrates and thats why there isnt many ducks around here anymore.

as far as public waters bait dealers can't trap in wildlife areas or waterfowl production areas. they can legally trap in public waters with a public access or legal right of way again this is harvest not raise minnows. The dnr can raise walleyes in public waters though.

roetnone kill offs are expensive and almost always a temporary fix.

something like 75% of the wetlands in minnesota have been drained.

70,000 miles of drainage ditches in minnesota I couldnt believe that figure when I read it.

frogs and salamanders have basically dissapeared, sure you still see some but the numbers have plummeted to a fraction of what they once were, nobody talks about it.

I apolagize this has gotten long and rambling there is just so much involved in all of this. I will shut up for awhile.

[bassguru]

Some, if not all, bait shops now have a "hand out", explaining what is going on in regards to the future of live bait.

If you go to the State of Mn.web site, Legislators, more detailed info is available.

Look for bills, H.F. 1188, S.F. 919, H.F. 593.

As well as greatly increasing the price of live bait, these bills could also reduce the number of walleyes stocked state wide.

To the best of my knowledge, this bill is not sponsored by the DNR, but by a legislator that probably has little or no concern for fishing people, or the dollar impact this will have, just my opinion.

bassguru