Live Minnows in Ukiah??

So, now that I have your attention...let me ask a question.  I have been trying to convince my shop, Pacific Outfitters, to invest in minnow tanks to supply live baits year round.  There are only a few places I know to get them semi-locally (both in Lake County).The question posed is this...Just how many minnows do you think would sell in a given week or month?  I can figure out if it works out financially from there.  I have looked into pre-fab tanks and I'm also exploring tank construction and where to procure the wee fishies.  Any input here would be great as it helps me in my quest to take over the world, err..I mean create an even better fishing experience in the North Bay!

Thanks!

I guess 112 minnows a weeks at 1.50 per

Dude, I'm horrible at math.

Are you going to adj. your hours? Opening at 10 is late to buy bait.

Have you checked out the coming quagga mussel rules that outlaw live bait stored in water at Mendo and Sonoma?

Are you going to adj. your hours? Opening at 10 is late to buy bait.

Have you checked out the coming quagga mussel rules that outlaw live bait stored in water at Mendo and Sonoma?

The 10:00 is out of my control, but I can say that it probably wouldn't go earlier than 9:00.  No, I haven't seen the new quagga rules yet.  Where are they listed?  DFW website?

I'd be into buying about zero minnows a year.

I'd be into buying about zero minnows a year.

I'm the same way.  I never use live bait, ever.  However, I seem to get a ton of requests for them.  Just wanted to poll the peeps and get some input.

I think you are looking at a small target audience.

You might get guys headed to Clear Lake buying minnows, but I would think that those guys are buying them in CL earlier in the morning.

You might get some guys going to fish lake Mendocino, but with the low water the last few years and closed ramps I don't see many selling.

You might get some guys fishing lake Sonoma, but how many people will be driving south to lake Sonoma to fish?

I have a few fish tanks that I keep at home. They require time and money for maintenence and keeping the fish alive. It may be more work than you realize you're getting into.

Are you going to adj. your hours? Opening at 10 is late to buy bait.

Have you checked out the coming quagga mussel rules that outlaw live bait stored in water at Mendo and Sonoma?

The 10:00 is out of my control, but I can say that it probably wouldn't go earlier than 9:00.  No, I haven't seen the new quagga rules yet.  Where are they listed?  DFW website?

The ladies with the dog doing the inspections at Sonoma told me and I saw an article in the Press.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2617076-181/fight-against-quagga-mussels-comes?artslide=0

I sold live bait when I ran a tackle shop back in Florida.  It was an absolute PITA to deal with + we had to open at 5am to have any chance at selling them.  I'm sure it depends on the bait type.  In our case, it was live shrimp which required cooling (which we didn't have).  Made for a LOT of frozen, zip-lock baggy shrimp by the dozen.  I'd check with Coyote Bait & Tackle to see how they deal with live bait, maintenance, store hours, etc...

If u had bullheads, mud suckers n and bloodworm ghost shrimp..... Now we're talking. There hasn't been a good live bait shop in Sonoma co. For a long time.

Ukiah is Mendocino

If u had bullheads, mud suckers n and bloodworm ghost shrimp..... Now we're talking. There hasn't been a good live bait shop in Sonoma co. For a long time.

Ukiah is Mendocino

If u had bullheads, mud suckers n and bloodworm ghost shrimp..... Now we're talking. There hasn't been a good live bait shop in Sonoma co. For a long time.

i know.... Still 707

I'm not sure if it's worth the investment.  Your target species with jumbo minnows in Lake Mendocino would be largemouth bass and stripers, right?  You might initially sell a lot of minnows...until all the stripers are kept or are deep-hooked and subsequently die from their injuries.  That leaves the largemouth bass, which from what I understand bite live minnows best when the water is very cold.  So it'd be a winter fishery with the live bait.

With the current lake levels being below the boat ramps, your minnow sales would probably be nil through the winter months.  Then, if water levels rise with a massive influx of water from the EF Russian, how murky does the water get?  I've heard it can turn to chocolate milk when it rains a lot over there.  In which case, fishing for largemouth will probably be tough even with live minnows.  Once the water clears, it's probably spring and bass are hitting artificials so well that there'd be no point in using live bait.

I'm not sure if people would be convinced to buy live minnows for catfish, just because dead minnows work just as well and tend to be a lot cheaper.

I guess the one exception would be crappie.  Seems like there's a decent crappie fishery in Mendocino.  If you could promote crappie fishing, maybe there'd be a market for selling crappie minnows.


Just thinking out loud here, I rarely ever use live bait so I know very little about it.

Tanks are simple with a under gravel filter and a siphon, but the water will require a cooler which may prove expensive ( We have sold minnows in the Manteca FW store for years) question is who is your target? Seems like most of the "Minnow" lakes are quite a drive from Eureka and 10am is a little late to buy bait and head out.