It's been years since I've bought bait, but needed some blocks of squid for some boat fishing since I've been out in a while.
I stopped into my bait shop and almost lost my mind when I saw the bait prices! I decided to head to Ranch 99 and get some good old boxes of human consumption stuff. At $17 for a 3# box, I was a little taken back. Literally the last time I bought a 3# box of squid, it was only $6 (That'll tell you how long it's been). I picked up some bigger squid for swords also while they had them and before those prices go up from all the sword guys grabbing them up.
On the way home, I stopped at Turner's to see if there was anything I needed and to check on Bait Prices... WTF????
(https://i.imgur.com/E0l8sSP.jpeg)
One big mack (or two small ones) are $7???
Almost $30 for a 3# box of squid?
Steve and I used to yell $3 every time a mackerel was pulled on board my boat... Now we're going to have to start saying $7!
Yup! I think Charkbait has everything for about 20% cheaper than that if I recall, but it's a lot. Squid was $5/lb for a good long while and its steep ascent since 2019 makes me wish I owned some squid ETFs.
They spelled mackerel wrong on the sign, second spot I've seen it misspelled in a public place lately. This one got me paranoid that maybe I was wrong...
Just about worth the boat gas to harvest your own squid, mackerel, and sardines!
I just used up 3 pounds of squid yesterday, time to re stock but I'm afraid to walk into Turners now :o