Preparing for a summer of fish tales

Apr 10, 2010

They won't arrive until Memorial Day weekend, but at M&D Bait Shop on Main St. the 32-pound stripers have already got fishermen talking.

"We've got clients who make every tide on the canal," said shopowner Michael Thomas, who reluctantly said he can no longer make that commitment. "They'll be casting in rotation," to avoid tangling lines.

But the clients always bring back the proverbial fish stories, even now as they arrive to tune up their gear and buy their line.

Brandon Byther of Onset wonders if the $200 titanium reel, which has attracted so much interest that Thomas just keeps it out of the glass case, will be strong enough for tuna. Unlike previous years when the stripers were pursued by porpoises and a very persistent seal, Byther can do something about the tuna that fouled his dreams of a big striper last Memorial Day.  Thomas reminds Byther jokingly that Father's Day is coming up - last year Byther "borrowed" the lure that he bought for his father at the shop.

But although the fish come every year, M&D has had to adapt to best serve a changing clientele.  The region has lost five bait shops in just the past six months, according to Thomas, who blames the recession for not only decreasing business, but also causing the State to increase the price of a license and adding issuing fees to decrease revenue shortfalls. Combined with a predominantly older clientele and 'kids who sit in front of videogames,' the economic outlook for a bait shop is bleak.

But Thomas has found a new love, and source of revenue, in making lures. Hand-made wooden lures made by Thomas and a network of fellow fishing enthusiasts arrived from across the country for the store's annual sale last weekend, selling at $20 a pop. He has also become the go-to supply shop for lure "parts." Last year, the store sold over 100,000 plastic eyes, and feathers and bucktails hang along the shop walls. He also will build a custom rod, and offers everything from frozen squid to sunscreen.

And the constant stream of visitors keep the shop lively... even when Thomas isn't there.

"I don't open until 7 a.m. for the sale," he said. But I leave chairs and a coffee pot set up outside."