Berkeley Bait and Tackle

After an exhausted search of the local nurseries, I had almost given up trying to find red worms for composting. As a hell Mary I thought «Why not. I’ll call the Bait shop!» Low and behold, they had red worms! It’s nothing fancy, it doesn’t need to be it’s a bait shop. Just a jammed pack room with an older gentleman at the desk and some deer heads on the wall. $ 20 got me about 500 worms, I was 80 cents short and he let me get by. They only take cash or check, just an FYI.

friendly staff, if you’re looking for something very specific, this probably isn’t’ your place. it’s sort of like your old uncle’s garage… a mess, but interesting!
however the staff, very very friendly. priced fine for small tackle (weights, beads.)

totally legit. came here looking for some hand lines to use on a sailing trip. he didn’t try to sell me anything, just referenced me to another shop.

I love this place. CJ has been doing the Berkeley Bait Shop for 40 years. Maria, his lovely wife, is a very nice and engaging hostess. He has lots of stories and plenty of bait. Place does look like a garage — don’t let it fool you. We needed to purchase some circle hooks for cat fishing. He brought out the best circle hooks I’ve ever seen — better/​stronger than the Gamakatsu ones. Charged a reasonable price for everything we bought. This place has the soul and charm of an old-​time bait shop — I will be checking here first before buying anything from now on. Cash only.

We were waiting for our sushi to go at Temari next door, and it wasn’t quite ready. We could see this store was open still at 6:45 pm, so we stopped in for a look. This place is the ultimate man-​cave. There is a fridge filled with beer and soft drinks, a TV on the wall, a couple of older guys watching the football game on broadcast TV, really dusty deer head trophies, and fishing supplies. The fridge/​freezer that contains bait (I assume) was covered with old polaroids of past local catches. We learned that right off the Berkeley Pier, you can catch halibut, striped bass, and sturgeon without a license. So, now we are inspired to retrieve our fishing poles and tackle boxes from the attic. Then, we will have to head into Berkeley Bait and Tackle for supplies. Even if we don’t catch anything, it will be a day to remember!

I’ve never bought bait or tackle here, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: you can buy BEER here at 6AM.