Mcbride area baitshops??

Can someone point me to a baitshop in the Lake Mcbride area? Other than the gas station/subway off of I-80.
Every time we get minnows there, half of them die before we get to the water..

Cleppe’s in Ely is one of the better bait shops in the area. I’ve always had good luck with them.

It’s the older gas station right north of Casey’s on Ely Rd.

Haven’t bought any for a while but the supermarket on main street in Solon had good minnows and crawlers back in june and july.

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Every time we get minnows there, half of them die before we get to the water..

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That is the case for pretty much every place that sells bait in the IC area. I can’t speak for the quality of bait purchased in Ely, or in Cedar Rapids, since I haven’t gotten any up that way.

When I want minnows around here, I go out and seine them up myself. Fresh caught wild bait works way better than baitshop minnows, even when the baitshop fatheads aren’t half-dead. I have a ten-gallon aquarium and filter set up just to keep them in good condition. If I can keep bait alive and healthy with equipment I bought for ten dollars at a garage sale, you would think one of the bait-selling places in Iowa City could do the same.

Seined wild minnows I think are the best too. If you don’t want to seine try to get one of the little air pumps that clip to the top of a 5 gallon bucket that has an air stone, these work for keeping minnows alive.