How to find awesome fishing baits at grocery stores and pet shops

When you can’t find what you want at your usual bait store, sometimes it pays to think outside the tacklebox and head to your local grocer or pet shop. They carry a wide variety of relatively inexpensive items that can also make for very effective—and perfectly legal—baits. Of course, be sure to first check your local bait restrictions, which vary from province to province, and sometimes from one body of water to the next. And never use exotic live fish or other critters as bait, which can devastate native populations if they survive and gain a foothold. Otherwise, a whole new range of bait options awaits.