Minnesota Bait & Tackle Shops

Every listing is a licensed Minnesota bait or tackle retailer, paired with the lakes it sits closest to and what's biting there this month.

🪱 204 shops📍 110 cities🎫 89 DNR license agents🐟 194 sell live bait

This is a directory of 204 bait and tackle shops across 110 Minnesota cities — the places that sell live minnows, leeches, nightcrawlers, waxworms and the tackle to fish them. Listings come from two sources we trust more than a generic business directory: the Minnesota DNR's licensed license-agent list (a shop that sells fishing licenses is a real, currently-operating, fishing-focused retailer) and Google-verified business records for hours, phone and ratings. Minnesota is one of only two states that requires 100% in-state minnows, so a licensed local bait shop is the only place to buy them.

What makes this different from a list of addresses: each city page tells you which lakes are nearby, which species are biting this month, which live bait to ask for at the counter, and which listed shop carries it. Each shop page shows the two closest public boat landings and the lakes within a short drive. Pick a city below or start from a lake page — every lake on the site links to its nearest bait shops.

Listings refreshed August 23, 2026. Hours change seasonally — call before a long drive.

Most bait shops by city

Twin Cities Metro

31 shops in 23 cities

Brainerd Lakes

16 shops in 8 cities

Mille Lacs

14 shops in 7 cities

Alexandria & Central Lakes

13 shops in 9 cities

Detroit Lakes & Otter Tail

19 shops in 12 cities

Bemidji, Leech Lake & Park Rapids

25 shops in 11 cities

Iron Range & Grand Rapids

30 shops in 12 cities

North Shore & Arrowhead

19 shops in 5 cities

Lake of the Woods & Rainy River

14 shops in 5 cities

Southwest Prairie Lakes

7 shops in 6 cities

Southern Minnesota

16 shops in 12 cities