Author: Bullbuster Team
Have You Ever Wanted To Farm Your Own Salt Water Baitfish?
Have you ever wanted an unlimited supply of baitfish so you could skip the hassle of catching bait or stopping by a bait store on your way offshore. Now your dreams can come true - by farming your own bait. It turns there is a good amount of research available on farming baitfish.
A Few Videos On Farming Your Own Baitfish
Below is a video for a shiner hatchery, you know, that live bait you use while bass fishing for largemouths or peacocks. We included this video so you could see what a freshwater farm might look like (although a Salt Water Farm may be a little bit more complex).
Below is a picture via Paloma Aquaculture of what an outdoor setup could look like.
Learn How To Farm Your Own Baitfish Using These Resources:
1) Growing Marine Baitfish - A guide to Florida's Common Baitfish & Their Potential For Aquaculture :
We can give you the spark notes summary of this 34 page, technical article, if you'd like. Read on.
Bait Fish With Potential:
- Pinfish
- Goggle Eyes
- Croakers
- Killifish
- Pigfish
- Blue Runners
What makes these fish have higher potential than other baitfish:
1) They are hardy and do well in captivity (you've probably seen this in your baitwell).
2) There is a consistent market for them, should you want to sell the ones you don't use.
3) There have been studies performed on these fish and they have been able to to reproduce in captivity. * If you want to focus on just one specific baitfish to farm take a look at the article and read up on the studies for each different fish.
2) Initial Studies To Farm Goggle Eye:
3) Market Evaluation For Pinfish Aquaculture:
This is a USDA articles on the potential market for a pinfish farming. Its a great article but again, if you don't want to read all 50 pages we can provide you with a few important factors.
1) There are only 2 baitfish farms in Florida
2) The study showed that most people were willing to pay the following for pinfish on average:
Small – $8.50/dozen
Medium – $10.70/dozen
Large – $12.56/dozen
XL – $15.06/dozen
3) The biggest complaint people had about buying baitfish from a store was availability.
4) Killifish Farming Project Video:
This is a small scale salt water baitfish farm in Louisiana
5) Farmed Shrimp!
We hope that you enjoyed this article on farming your own baitfish. Our mission is to help you spend more time fishing. Get started by getting a hold of our brand direct fishing lines!
