Me and my dad are thinking on starting a bait shop I'n the Texoma area. And selling shad by the dozen/pound. But would like some input frome the guides and every day fisherman. On what you would spend to get shad any time of the year both threadfin and gizzard shad I'n 3 sizes. Small medium and large.

Small being 2-3 inches
Med. Being 4-6 Inches
Large being 6-10 or bigger.

Thanks for y'all input on this. I don't want to over charge but need to make a little money. Also we well be delivering for a mim. Order.

N/A ....Find 'em myself.

This may sound like a dig at you, but not intended that way at all... I dont think you will have much business, Guides that use live bait pretty much know where to find them all the time, Yes, sometimes its tough, but for the most part its not. You will have some business from the "weekend" fisher folk, but i dont believe it will be enough to profit, I believe you have to have a license to sale, dont quote me cause im not sure.

As always, good luck on your venture.

Winter you might have some business but the rest of the year they are too easy to catch yourself.

Winter bait is easiest to catch...would not buy it then..spring is easy would not buy it then..summer is fairly easy, would not buy it then,,,fall easy would not buy it then...would be nice to sleep in occasionally,but would rather save money and get it myself...the only times i could see guides buying it would be for afternoon trips and in emergencies..which are few and far between.

Shad are extremely hard to keep and I wonder how you would be able to do so on a commercial level for any length of time.

Good luck if you try it !! Where would your shop be ? Traffic would be important for sure.

Hate to crash the party of the negative crowd, but how about packaging 4-6" shad frozen. Very tough to find, and an outstanding bait. Searched a couple of hours unsuccessfully today for them myself. Going rate is about $6.00 a bag retail, so probably $3.00 wholesale. If that would work, I'll bet you could sell them to every bait shop in NE Texas.

Although I would prefer live, the story is they are almost impossible to keep. Most of us don't have the time to cast for live shad, so frozen 4-6" are the ticket.

Cut 'em in three pieces and they are killer for cats, LMB's, and the infamous bowfin.

What JD said.

i for one would buy shad during the winter. I can catch shad when i have time especially in the summer months....but my time is limited in the winter. Shad is harder to find and takes time. You would need a license to sell....but i think there would be some business. Most avid fisherman do catch their own....but at times there are plenty of fisherman pinched for time and would make a purchase-especially large gizzards during trophy catfish months

This subject comes up a few times a year, No one has come back and said they have live Shad for sale.

But hey, there is a niche market there if someone figures it out.

I have the tanks ect I have around 3000 thredfin that have been alive for about 2 weeks now and only lost 20 over the the two weeks now. I got the trick to keeping them alive and the transport to and from the lakes ect. But the question would is "What would you pay for live shad?" or a fair price as the bait license and the shad one I'm working on it. I wanted to start something up here I sell bait on the coast 6-7 months out of the year but looking to expand closer to home.

So "What would you pay for live shad?"

$10/ dozen for 6-8" gizzards

zero for live threadfins except jumbos. I throw all those back or keep some for chum. However some guys may use them like minnows. In May, I have caught quite a few crappie on small ones while drifting for hybrids close to shoreline. However I have caught a lot more sandbass on small ones and that isn't worth it for sandies- just drop a slab which is better, cheaper and easier than catching or buying bait. Consequently it is jumbo threadfin or big gizzards for me, or else big lures. Live big gizzards, which are harder to keep, would be at least 10 for a dozen. Catching just any shad isn't the big issue, it is finding and catching the big ones and the time of dumping or sorting out the small ones. Cat guys would buy them or buy fresh dead or frozen all year long. Keep in mind that outside of Texoma in North TX, there are a lot more lure guys than bait guys and the bait guys often don't stick with bait all year long even if they could buy it cheap.

I would pay an arm and a leg.

boat $20,000
gear $5000
Yearly gas $2000

Being able to buy bait priceless!!!

I don't go fishing to save money on bait. There are days I would spend $100 bucks on bait. If its a strange lake I had to travel to I buy everything the bait store is selling cause it must work for somebody.

I would also be looking for larger, say 4-6". They're going to get cut in thirds alive or frozen, but fresh would probably produce better. For that size $6 a dozen.

"Live big gizzards, which are harder to keep." i have about 300 10-12 inch gizzards right now in a small tank.

I can keep any shad alive gizzards and threadfin but for the last 3 mounts i have a harder time keeping threadfin alive then gizzards. Ill let everyone know when i get my licensed to sell live shad also thinking about putting on hwy 75.