Illinois Bait Shops - Neelys Bait Shop
On our way home from the Sanganois duck blind drawing, we swung by a local bait shop to do our first segment on Illinois Bait Shops. As we walked in we were greeted with a friendly hello and smile.
After introducing ourselves and explaining what we wanted to do, he happily gave us permission and started responding to our questions. His name was Sonny, "I have a first name but, every buddy calls me Sonny" he said.
Sonny is the owner of Neely's Bait Shop outside of Chandlerville, Illinois and has been running the shop for the past 18 years. "As a retired mechanic, I don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have my shop" Sonny said.
With the small town hospitality of Chandlerville, Sonny gracefully discussed what it was like to own a bait shop. "It's a roller coaster, there's good days and then you have your bad days, but I enjoy what I do". "There's not a lot bait shops anymore, they've all closed up". What a shame... we all agreed and discussed that bait shops have much more to offer than the big box stores. Owners of bait shops want you to succeed, want to hear your stories and have great intel about local lakes. Good experience on the water is just good business for bait shops.
The majority of his customers fish the Illinois & Sangamon River. However, this year high waters have his customers fishing Jim Edgar Panther Creek. "People from all around and as far north as Peoria buy their goods here to go fishing" he said.
He's got everything you'll need, from fishing crappie to catfish. Like most bait shops his biggest seller is live bait. But he has all the accessories to make a successful day out on the water. Most importantly he's got ice and soda for those hot summer days. As we continued our conversation... I looked at his prices... Very reasonable. In fact, one reason to stop in at Neelys is to check out his inventory and to pick up those odds and ends you've been missing.
As we began wrapping up our conversation, I thought to myself what a great bait shop. Good people, good prices, willing to help you succeed on the water and best of all, it has that bait shop feel.
If you're going fishing or just want to get some insight on local condition check out Neelys' Bait Shop. You can't miss the shop. There's a sign outside that says Live Bait Sold Here.
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