Palmetto Bait & Tackle weathers change to provide fishing supplies in Manatee County
In 2019, Brian Wilson was at a crossroads in life. As a director of operations for a pizza box company, he was on the road more often than at home.
“I would fly out on a Monday and come home on a Friday most weeks. I was going between Washington, Ohio, Texas and more … I was getting tired of being gone every week,” said Wilson, who grew up in Central Florida.
“That’s when I had an opportunity to partner with a bait shop in Apollo Beach and got into the bait business.”
While COVID-19 changed business for many in 2020, Wilson took a chance to do it alone after leaving the Apollo Beach store partnership. With his wife Jenn’s support, he rented a space off Eighth Avenue in Palmetto near the Palmetto boat ramp. In September, Palmetto Bait and Tackle opened at 708 Eighth Ave. W., but not many were aware of its new presence in the area.
“I had a hard time trying to advertise the business when things were changing so much. I didn’t know what avenue was best. I wanted to go to boat ramps and leave cards on cars to incentivize people to come in but wasn’t sure if anyone would be offended at that time with someone leaving a card there,” Wilson recalled.
“From September until January 2021, I was really trying to figure out where to focus. It turned into a sort of hybrid store, offering bait, tackle and apparel. Now revenue is split pretty evenly between them.”
As the business grew, Wilson developed plans to expand. He signed a lease on the space next to Palmetto Bait & Tackle and wanted to offer more tackle, bait and recreational items, as well as a place for meet-ups and seminars.
But this summer, a large percentage of his business was lost due to a situation beyond his control when an empty lot across from the Palmetto boat ramp started development.
“Palmetto boat ramp changed from having 50 to 60 parking spaces down to 12 or 13. It really affected our weekend business. Closing that down, I lost a lot of Bradenton customers, and I don’t blame them. Those guys would come over, get bait then use the Palmetto ramp. But now they don’t have the space to use the Palmetto ramp, so they go to Bradenton ramps instead.”
The change caused Wilson to lose an estimated 20-30% of his weekend income and as a result, he closed the extra space in October. But looking long term, he renewed his lease on the main space for another three years, meaning many more shrimp will be coming through the Palmetto shop.
“Shrimp come in almost every night when the weather is good. I’ve got guys in Port Richey and Cape Coral who go out shrimping and they catch about 30,000 a night,” Wilson said. “Some days, one area is better than the other so we’ve got options. During weekdays, we order about 2,000 a night and they are dropped off between 2 and 3 a.m. On Fridays we get about 4,000-5,000 and on weekends about 8,000 shrimp a night. About 30,000 shrimp a week. All are caught locally and dropped off fresh.”
Wilson says shrimp can live up to a week in his tanks, but he tries to order only what is needed to minimize dead loss.
With a slow week of bait sales behind him due to bad weather, Wilson’s expansion into the tackle and apparel business has kept customers coming in for gifts.
“There’s only been a few people buying bait. They might be fishing off a dock or in the backwater. Sales this week have been people getting gifts for friends and family. Our apparel says ‘Palmetto, FL’ on it and they like to send it for gifts. Tackle we’ve sold quite a few combos, rods and reels, for people who want gifts. We’ve got plenty of options.”
Voted Bradenton’s Best Bait & Tackle shop for 2023, Wilson encourages consumers to buy local. There are many great local tackle and bait shops that are supported by the in-store business, his included.
“We always try to support local businesses. We shop local and eat at local restaurants,” Wilson said. “It’s a small community so it’s what we like to do.”
