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Live bait machines lure fishermen

By Rose Hooper
Local fisherman Michael Johnson puts $2 in a refrigerated live bait machine Herald photo by Rose Hooper

Local fisherman Michael Johnson puts $2 in a refrigerated live bait machine at Triple B convenience store and takes out a dozen night crawlers packaged in an insulated Styrofoam container. Such machines make worms available to area anglers 24 hours a day.

Four o'clock in the morning and you're heading out for a long-anticipated fishing trip.

As you secure your rod and reel in the back and hop in the truck with your buddies, you mentally go over your stuff: New number six long-shank hook; trusty Old-timer pocket knife; small split-shot sinkers; extra reel of 8-pound test line; bait.

Ah, yes, the bait. You packed a can of kernel corn because you forgot to get bait yesterday.

"Hey, who's got the worms?" you ask, hoping to snag a few.

No answer.

"Nobody's got any worms?" you ask, looking at your buddies in dismay.

"We're going to stop down the road and get some out of a machine," says Darren from behind the wheel.

"Yeah, right, you think. Four o'clock in the morning and some store's going to be open. Bait in a machine. Who ever heard of such."

But next thing you know, you're at Triple B convenience store and the guys are pumping dollar bills in a machine and Styrofoam cups of bait are popping out.

"I like these containers," Darren says, holding up one with four dozen red worms inside. "If you drop them in the water, they float."
He shows you how the pull-tab lids fit snugly. "Not only does the Styrofoam float, but it insulates and keeps the worms fresher than those plastic containers."

"Well, all right," you decide. "About time somebody thought of some convenience for us fishermen." You put $2 in the machine and select one dozen night crawlers. Ah, what the heck. You decide to splurge, putting in two more dollars and selecting two dozen wax worms.

"Everybody wants convenience, and that's the beauty of these live bait machines," said Triple B's Ronnie Setzer. "Think of somebody who wants to go catfishing at night. Where's he going to get live bait in the middle of the night?"

As part of Smoky Mountain Tackle Distributors, Setzer is in charge of distributing the machines in Western North Carolina. Currently he has the one machine at Triple B in Sylva, two in Cherokee and three in Franklin.

"Convenience stores can't carry bait inside the store if they sell fast food or have restaurants. Like the Casino Mart in Cherokee has a McDonald's, so the bait machine outside is perfect for them," Setzer said.

"Smaller stores have to put their bait in the milk cooler, for instance. With people opening and closing that cooler all day, the temperature for bait is not going to stay regulated. But the live bait machines are refrigerated and climate controlled at 45 degrees. They burn no more electricity than a regular coke machine - 110 volts."

Inside the machines are 16 vending motors that rotate the compartments, guaranteeing freshness.

Back to Archive: 02/24/00.