June 17, 2025
By In-Fisherman Staff
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Mille Lacs-area baitshop owner Jason Bahr is joined by his son Tyler as they sit down and talk with host Thomas Allen about baitshop ownership—more specifically Tutt’s Bait and Tackle in Garrison, Minnesota, alongside legendary Mille Lacs. The biggest problem lately is how the state of Minnesota unreasonably restricts livebait importing, which has impacted the sales of golden shiners. The golden shiner is considered the best livebait option for walleyes, especially during the ice season. The state needs to make changes, and this discussion sheds light on a situation that is killing baitshop owners across the state we also talk about good solutions going forward. This one gets a little spirited, you don’t want to miss it.
Truncated transcript:
00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:17.840: We're listening to In-Fisherman Storyline, North America's top voice in multi-species freshwater angling. Here is your host, Thomas Allen.
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00:00:19.800 --> 00:01:03.960: Hey, folks, Thomas Allen here with In-Fisherman. And before we get started today, I wanted to pass along some exciting news as we welcome LL Bean as presenting sponsor of In-Fisherman Storyline podcast. LL Bean is an iconic brand known for its quality outdoor gear and a deeply rooted passion for everything outside. Not to mention they make a pretty mean plaid flannel shirt. Check this thing out. Awesome. This partnership will bring more great stories, expert tips, and outdoor inspiration to anglers everywhere. LL Bean, we are glad to have you a part of this. So welcome to the palatial LL Bean studios nestled atop the twin In-Fisherman towers overlooking beautiful downtown Brainerd, Minnesota. Stay right there, a new episode of In-Fisherman Storyline presented by LL Bean is coming right up. Man, that's got a nice ring to it.
00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:24.480: Thanks for coming, fellas. Yeah. I've got a couple of special guests this week. And we're going to talk about some interesting topics. Jason Bahr is the owner of Tutts Bait and Tackle on Mille Lacs. If you've ever been to Mille Lacs, you know exactly where that is. And he brought his youngest son, Tyler. Yep. Also the better looking of the two, inarguably.
00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:42.200: And we're going to talk about youth fishing. We're going to talk about bait management and importing, exporting in Minnesota. We're going to talk about walleye regulations. And not necessarily to make anybody mad, but really to discuss issues that are affecting anglers all across the state here in Minnesota.
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00:01:42.200 --> 00:02:03.540: And this has been, I think, a year–I think you probably agree, Jason–where we ran out of bait. We ran out of bait. And it's happened before. It's been threatening to happen before. I think conditions have just been getting tougher to get bait. But let's start out with what's going on. I mean, you guys, you have bait tanks at your bait shop. And some of them are--are empty. Yeah. Yeah.
00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:36.240: You know, and the problem in Minnesota–I mean, we truly are the walleye capital of the world, right? We have more shoreline of walleye water than anywhere in the world. And you know, guys--most guys can get away with–you know what? They'll still go fishing, right, in the summertime. If I can't get a shiner, you know, I can throw a crankbait. I can figure something out. But in the wintertime, there is a group of guys that just don't go. If they cannot get a golden shiner, they just don't go.
00:02:36.240 --> 00:03:16.120: And guess what? We ran out of golden shiners about, I mean, literally three weeks into the season. Oh, boy. I mean, it's terrible. It's terrible. And I try not to look at it from a business aspect. But when you're a business owner, you have to, right? And so my average ring in the shop, say, is $42. To be honest, that's exactly what it is. And I can scroll down, and I can see how much of that is live bait. And between $9 and $11 is live bait. So when I don't get the guy in the shop to buy golden shiners, guess what? Not only do I lose out on that dozen shiners, but I lose out on a lot more than that.
00:03:16.120 --> 00:04:09.480: So it's frustrating for us. It's incredibly frustrating for us. And one thing-- something actually interesting happened this weekend. I had Brian Nerbonne in my shop. He's a fisheries manager of Mille Lacs Lake. And he's not on the work group for the live bait, but he gets it. And more and more, I've been getting these guys involved. In fact, this is the third time now Brian's been in my shop. But he noticed. In fact, he even said it. Without me saying anything, he goes, well, that guy's got a Vexilar. That guy's got two fishing poles. Oh, look it. That guy's buying his kid the new tackle box. And these folks, we were busy. We had the Dustin Limited contest. And he said himself, look at all these things that these guys and gals are buying because they came in here for live bait…
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