Everingham Bros Pricing

[Rusty]

I don't know if this is old news or new, but I decided to go to the Mission Bay Bait barge and grab some 'Chovies to go look for halibut yesterday. The guy at the dock told me there is no longer a kayak scoop, so it would cost $25 instead of $10. I thought he was ripping me off, so I wrote an e-mail to Everingham. Here's what they sent back.


"Dear Rusty

Thank you for the inquiring about the bait. Unfortunately we have found it is not cost efficient for us to sell less than a 1/2 scoop. We work very hard to provide the best live bait possible 24 hours a day 7 days a week all year long, and we feel for the service we offer the prices are reasonable.

The price for a 1/2 scoop of bait (5 pounds) is $25.00 and a full scoop (10 pounds) is $35.00.
Kayak scoops are $10 for about 5 fish, and our policy has always been the Kayak scoop is ONLY to be sold to Kayakers with bait buckets and NO Plumed bait tanks.

Our Scoops are designed to hold 5 pounds when it is ¾ full. One ¾ full pass is20equal to a ½ scoop (5 pounds). Two ¾ full passes are equal to 1 scoop (10 pounds). Smaller and or more passes may be need to be served if they are not able to fill the scoop ¾ full. As you may know when you buy a ½ scoop of live bait you should not receive more than 5 pounds, but most likely you receive more. The Kayak scoop was set up for kayakers ONLY with a bait bucket NOT a plumed bait tank and is about 5 fish. It seamed it got out of hand and the kayak scoop was being sold to boats not just kayaks, the scoop was getting bigger as customers push our employees for more bait than 5 fish. We need our employees to follow company regulations and in order to do so we need to keep the scooping as simple as possible because of the delivery process. In order to continue to server our customers 24/7 we need to keep our policies as is. We hope you understand our desire to continue to serve you and all the fishing community year round.
Sincerely,

Everingham Bros. Bait Co.
P.O. Box 2449
La Mesa, CA 91943
baitbarge@aol.com
(619)696-6673 Fax (619)696-6674"



...Oh well, plastics it is.

[dgax65]

I have to give Everingham Bros. the benefit of the doubt here. They have published their pricing policy and they should expect that their employees follow the policy. I can see where they have tried to accommodate kayakers and it has led to some confusion and hurt feelings. It is best if they just serve everyone with the same policy.

Live bait operations are somewhat of an anomoly. In many parts of the country the first part of any PB fishing trip is making bait. We should be thankful that we have the Everingham Bros. here. They do an awesome job and it isn't exactly a high-profit industry. The bait business is really geared towards larger volume clients. Unfortunately, kayaks don't quite fit into their business model that well.

[THE DARKHORSE]

But, I know exactly what company I will continue to purchase bait from, and it's not Everingham.

Great points Doug, and It's quite obvious the bait barge wasn't created for the kayak community, and without the sporties they wouldn't even exist. That being said, to say it's not worth their time, and they aren't able to make a profit off us, is complete . $10 for 5 Sardines, wow I made $100 worth of bait at the pier yesterday in ten minutes, and how many guys use a Plano bait bucket (less than 1% of the kayak community)? Irony, the fact that the giant Yellowtail bite that has been going off up north has died down, after the bait boat has wrapped and raped that area for a month now, is pretty funny. I had a conversation about a month ago with the Everingham guys, and they told me the reason for the 100% mark-up from the previous kayak scoop of $5 in May was for gas. I had to call him out, as I knew exactly where the 8" Sardines came from, and it doesn't take too much gas to go to Blacks Beach . Now charging $25, and not even allowing a "kayak scoop" is ridiculous, period.

I don't think losing "all the kayak business" will affect them at all, but unless we made a serious dent in the bait supply, and causing a shortage for the sporties (impossible), this is a lose-lose situation. I only buy bait when heading inshore/offshore, leaving in the middle of the knight to maybe make it to the zone by morning, since making proper bait in the dark or well offshore is....well not realistic. If anything, they will only hurt their own employees, as I won't be able to be as genorous ($4 tip for $10 kayak scoop) when paying $27 for a Coors Light, robbery .

[bearlythere]

there still cheaper than most....been to Dana Point latley....lot more money for bait thats to big....

[trob]

Originally Posted by dgax65

They do an awesome job and it isn't exactly a high-profit industry. The bait business is really geared towards larger volume clients. Unfortunately, kayaks don't quite fit into their business model that well.

don't kid yourself, the bait industry is BIG money.

[forefrazier]

Originally Posted by bearlythere

there still cheaper than most....been to Dana Point latley....lot more money for bait thats to big....

Dana recently raised their prices to $10 from $5 and are still giving a 'yak scoop plumbed bait tank or not. My only complaint with them is they give me too many fish! Bait rolls too fast when crammed in my X-Factor tank. Guys are all cool over there and probably hooking me up since I tip them a bit extra each time..

BTW...I asked once how many dines they were supposed to give for $10 and their answer was about 20.

[dgax65]

Originally Posted by trob

don't kid yourself, the bait industry is BIG money.

Yeah. That's why they have such a modern fleet



I wouldn't argue that there is big money involved, but big money does not necessarily equal big profit. I would imagine that their operating costs are enormous. Fuel and upkeep for their boats, labor, bait loss and damage caused by sea lions; it all adds up. Just like the sportfishing boats, they are reluctant to pass on all of their additional fuel costs to the customers. The higher fuel prices are also limiting the number of trips made by private boaters; and that directly impacts their revenue.

[Rusty]

I can see where they're coming from by saying that the "kayak scoop" has turned into a cheap nearly 1/2 scoop that has even been extended out to PBs. That is a loss, but I think there is plenty of money to be made by charging $10 for 10 baits (five is a joke). It wouldn't be that hard to make a small "kayak net" that hods ten baits. A kayaker gets one pass on the little net and pays $10. 10 or 15 kayakers in a day would nearly pay the wage of an employee standing there all day, and I don't think they would be losing a dime by selling one bait for one dollar, especially when they are collecting bait at Blacks, just a few miles from the bay.

[Handymansd]

A lot of good points here. But the one that every one seems to be missing is that somehow their overhead is smaller by not serving the kayaks? The overhead to supply bait to the barge is the same whether they sell to kayaks or not. They do not have to staff any extra people to keep up with the kayak demand, they don't catch or purchase more bait to keep up with the kayak demand, they don't have to spend any additional monies one way or another to supply yaks with bait. That being said, offering to serve kayaks with bait is just an extra little $ to a market designed for sport fishing vessels. I will only use the bait barge if absolutely necessary (when going offshore). I would be a little friendlier with them if they were getting their bait outside of our local kayak fishing grounds, but they are cleansing our grounds of bait pretty effectively; and then offering to sell it to us for $25 a scoop. So, IMO let them rot. When I get my boat I will still be making my own bait when possible, it's easy to do (usually), and it is cool to know that no one assisted you in your fishing effort.

Anyone want to meet at the LJ bait barge tomorrow AM?

[JrBasser]

Chuck-

Excelelnt points. I don't buy bait too often, but I guess that not too often now becomes a never.

[THE DARKHORSE]

Originally Posted by Rusty

I can see where they're coming from by saying that the "kayak scoop" has turned into a cheap nearly 1/2 scoop that has even been extended out to PBs. That is a loss, but I think there is plenty of money to be made by charging $10 for 10 baits (five is a joke). It wouldn't be that hard to make a small "kayak net" that hods ten baits. A kayaker gets one pass on the little net and pays $10. 10 or 15 kayakers in a day would nearly pay the wage of an employee standing there all day, and I don't think they would be losing a dime by selling one bait for one dollar, especially when they are collecting bait at Blacks, just a few miles from the bay.

Ten baits for $10 is retarded, unless it's 8" big brown live squid, then maybe. I can see the point of someone in a skiff asking for a kayak scoop, and giving the employee some grief for not being genorous enough. In this case, I'm completely on the Everingham guys side, as it's a slippery slope that would probably lead to a slim profit margin. Although, most any skiff will problably have a bait tank roughly five to ten times the size of a kayak tank. Then factor just how many kayaks purchase a kayak scoop (99% of kayak fisherman in the bay use plastics and plugs), which I'm sure is less than 1% of total sales, maybe .03%, really. It's pretty simple, "just give a kayak scoop to a kayak". I don't think guys will go put their boat back in the slip and "paddle" back for the discount, seriously. Kinda like "no cover for ladies at the club", sorry dude.

This is one thing, and one thing only. : The guys at Everingham are against the kayak fisherman, and consider us to be a hazard to their potential business. I've had this conversation with them before, and I'm not alone. We are considered a hazard and a nuisance, especially if their is a possible line build-up (which I "kinda" understand). They've come up with this "brilliant marketing scheme" to push us out of the market, by pricing their product to outweigh it's worth (pretty smart).

Let's see, raping my daily fishing spot, not having respect for the good business that I've given them over the years (from the skiff and kayak), pricing the entire kayak community out of the market, hmmmmmmm.

Maybe they should consider the fact that the kayak community is not only strong, but growing by leaps and bounds.

GREAT BUSINESS SENSE!

[Dan]

I got a $5 scoop yesterday.









Just joshin ya! man $25 bucks...that's whack.