The Bait Buddies

Hello everyone! We have moved to our fall/winter hours. Our current hours are now as follows: Monday 7AM-6PM Tuesday CLOSED Wednesday 7AM-6PM Thursday 7AM-6PM... Friday 7AM-6PM Saturday 7AM-6PM Sunday 7AM-6PM. Masks are still required to enter the building, and limiting the number of people in the shop at one time is still in effect. Archery is in full swing. We've had weather that runs the gambit from feeling like it's almost November to the more typical early October warmth. We hope you have gotten a chance to get out in the forest and fields. The deer are moving most days it seems with their mind still on food and water. In our parts, the acorn crop was not good this year. Most acorns seem to be a dry shell with not much in them. The hickory nuts and walnuts seem to have done good this year however. There is still plenty of succulent greens for them to munch on too. For your archery needs we have scent killer products available, cover scents, and attractants. If your broadheads seem a little less than sharp, we have a selection of those in stock as well. Prefer the feel of a fish fighting on a rod rather than flinging sticks at furry critters? Don't you worry, we still have you covered there with plenty of live bait in stock, as well as the essential tackle you need to snag some lip. With the cooler temps mostly in place, the fish will be on the move looking for forage to fatten up before things freeze. Thank you to everyone this summer and now fall that have helped us keep our business safe for everyone, including us, so we may continue to bring you the bait, tackle, and archery gear you need to enjoy the outdoors. Be outdoors, be safe, FISH/HUNT ON!!

As the daylight hours wane, cooler weather starts to tease us. Thoughts of being in the woods may be on your mind. Stands going in and up. Preparing gear for the coming archery season in a few weeks. During your preparations, don't forget we have a few archery tools for offer on our shelves. From string wax to string silencers/suppressors, we've got the basics covered. We have a selection of broadheads in stock spanning a spectrum of the most popular brands: Rage, Swacker, Mu...zzy, and G5. Need arrows cut or fletched, or just need to grab a few extra to sling down range? We've got those too. If you haven't been shooting yet to get in tune (and we know you all have ;) ), dust off your bow and check it over. If there is something you're lacking, we'll see what we can do for you. But, don't forget this is also the best time of the year to snag some big fish as they prepare to fatten up for the coming winter. Bass should be active on the fringe of cover, catfish sucking in all the delicacies laying on the bottom, and the panfish are usually going crazy. To cover your needs there, we are freshly stocked with medium shiners, fathead minnows, night crawlers, redworms, waxworms, and mealworms. As always we have the basics covered with line, bobbers, hooks, sinkers, and swivels. We are currently open 7AM-7PM every day except closed Tuesdays. Be safe, have fun, FISH ON!!

We know you all have been waiting with bated breath....the winners from this year's raffle benefiting the Sweet Valley Vol. Fire Department. We want to sincerely thank each and every one of you that bought chances for these great prizes. Your participation allowed for an awesome donation to the department in a year when they could definitely use it. A huge thank you goes out to all of you that got involved. Also a big thank you goes out to Rich DeRemer's Custom Woodworking for the donation of the fishing plugs. Congratulations to Frank (winner of the Barnett Raptor Pro STR crossbow package), Andrew (winner of the custom knapped American flag knife), and Gary (winner of the 3-pack of fishing plugs). This year was the biggest year for the raffle and we couldn't have done it without any of you. Thank you.

We're still waiting to hear back from our 3rd place winner. Once we do, we'll post the winners of last weekend's raffle results.

We made our drawings for the raffle benefiting the Sweet Valley Vol. Fire Department yesterday. We had representatives here from the department to make the draws. We will be posting winners as soon as we hear back from all the lucky entrants. Stay tuned as we'll be posting them soon.

Here it is folks! The end result of several months of work. Leaf through the pics to reveal the spectacular finish of this one-of-a-kind work of art. Once you have, how do you get your hands on this beautiful piece? Well, for that you have to have your name in the bucket of chance tickets to have a chance to make this piece your own. How do you accomplish that? Simple.... Stop by the shop any time we're open (7AM-7PM every day, closed Tuesdays) and enter for a chance to win. ...This year's annual raffle benefiting the Sweet Valley Volunteer Fire Department includes 3 prizes: -1st Prize: a Barnett Raptor Pro STR crossbow. All setup will be done for you so you're ready to shoot. This crossbow package comes with everything you need to sling sticks down range. -2nd Prize: the American flag glass knife featured in this post. Read the shared post below for details on this wonderful work. -3rd Prize: a 3-pack of homemade poppers made and donated by Rich DeRemer's Custom Woodworking. Entries can be picked up at The Bait Buddies and are 2 for $5 or 5 for $10. Entries will be accepted until we close Saturday night. Drawing will be held Sunday, August 2nd. Need not be present to win. All winners will be contacted via telephone and posted here. Stop by and throw your name in the bucket for a good cause and awesome prizes. So far, this year has been a big one, let's make a final push to the finish line and make it even bigger for the fire department. See more

As the post says, progress is being made. With projects that one slip can cause the whole thing to start over, his pace has been set to ensure the chances of that are minimal. Pieces should be going together soon with glue-up looming on the horizon. What's this all for? Well, let us fill you in on the details: For our annual raffle benefiting the Sweet Valley Volunteer Fire Department, we have been taking chances for you to have the opportunity to walk away with several prize...s. -1st prize is a Barnett Raptor Pro STR crossbow. All setup will be done by our certified bow techs so it's ready to shoot when it hits your hands. This package includes bolts, a quiver, cocking assist device, and scope and is valued at $651.99. -2nd prize is the knife in the works, the handle parts in this post's picture. The blade, in case you haven't been following along, is an approximately 6" glass American flag knife knapped by our son of NorthernThunder Primitives (seen in the cover photo of this page). As the piece comes together and nears completion, more pictures are sure to come. A shadow box display case will also be included to showcase this one-of-a-kind work of art. -3rd prize is a 3-pack of custom made wooden bass poppers donated by Richard DeRemer Custom Woodworking. This 3-pack of eye-popping poppers includes 3 different sizes for catching those finicky fish. So, how do you get in on this awesome benefit raffle? That part is simple. Stop by the shop anytime we're open to purchase chances. Chances are 2 for $5 or 5 for $10 and all proceeds go to the fire department. We're taking chances through August 1st with the drawing being held August 2nd. Need not be present to win. All winners will be contacted via phone and posted here. Stop by, get your name in the hat, and let's make this year's raffle the best one yet! Shop hours: Open every day 7AM-7PM, except CLOSED Tuesdays.

Alright ya'll!! Belay the post earlier about our license system being down. We are BACK IN ACTION! We can now issue licenses again! We are open 7AM-7PM every day except closed on Tuesdays. We thank you all for your understanding in these regards. We look forward to seeing you all that still need to get your licenses.

Good Day everyone! It has come to our attention, with the impending doe application acceptance date closing quickly, that the address for the Luzerne County Treasurer's office is incorrect in the printed PA Game Commission's law digest. Though we know that you know the printing of the digest is not up to us, we feel it is our duty to get the message out to as many as we can to inform you of this incorrect address. ---The address printed in the book is written as 20 North Pen...n Street. This is INCORRECT. ---The CORRECT address, as confirmed in the link below to the PA Game Commission's website is: 200 North River Street Wilkes-barre, PA 18711. We hope this mistake in print does not hinder your chances of getting a doe permit this season. Please feel free to share this post or tag anyone you deem needs to have this information before doe applications start being accepted this Monday, July 13th. We're going to take this opportunity to remind you of our raffle benefiting the Sweet Valley volunteer fire department. -1st prize this year is a Barnett Raptor Pro STR crossbow. All setup will be done for you by us. -2nd prize is a hand-crafted glass American flag knife made in-house by our oldest son of NorthernThunder Primitives. -3rd prize is a 3-pack of homemade topwater poppers made and donated by Richard DeRemer Custom Woodworking. -Raffle chances are 2 for $5, or 5 for $10. Raffle chances will be available through August 1st, with the drawing to be held August 2nd. Need not be present to win. All winners will be contacted via telephone and posted here on our page. All proceeds go to the Sweet Valley fire department. Stop by the shop to pick up your chances to win! As always thank you for your support. Be safe, be outdoors, and FISH ON!!!!

Though Luzerne county is "Green phase" when it comes to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we would like to remind everyone that masks/face coverings are still required to enter our shop. There was some miscommunication over the weekend, and we hope this message helps clarify things. We're doing everything we can to ensure everyone stays safe and that you can enjoy the outdoors for many years to come. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in these regards. Be well, stay safe, FISH ON!!

Available here. With another run of mid-grade and economy-grade knives on the way in the coming days. Inquire within or you can private message us here or our son on his page NorthernThunder Primitives. And don't worry, he's still hard at work on the knife for our raffle to benefit the Sweet Valley Volunteer Fire Department. What raffle you say? Well, let us fill you in on the details: We are holding our yearly raffle benefiting the Sweet Valley Volunteer fire department. Usu...ally our raffle is held over the Memorial weekend fair, but with the lack of the fair this year we decided to make this year the best one yet for them. All proceeds go directly to the fire department. So what is on table for offer this year? First prize is a Barnett Raptor Pro STR crossbow. This model is a slick shooter that comes with everything you need to get in the woods. We will set it up for you out of the box and you'll be ready to go. Second prize is a hand knapped glass American flag knife knapped by our son of the shared page of this post, NorthernThunder Primitives. He has been making ancient technology for the last 8 years and is hard at work of crafting a work of art worthy of anyone's showcase. Third prize is a 3-pack of homemade wooden poppers donated by Richard DeRemer Custom Woodworking. His daughter has graciously crafted and donated these. Interested? Chances will be taken until August 1st with the drawing being held August 2nd. Winners will be contacted via telephone and posted here as well. Chances are 2 for $5 and 5 for $10 and as mentioned, all proceeds go to the Sweet Valley fire department. Stop by the shop to get your name in the hat! As always thank you to everyone for your support. We hope you all are getting a chance to enjoy the outdoors. Be safe, Be outdoors, and FISH ON!!

Alrighty Outdoors-people!! We are back up and running with license sales! The new printer came in this afternoon and is now installed. Using it to issue our own permits, it appears to work like a charm. The printer is visibly an upgrade to the old one and with its added features, should (I emphasize "should") provide flawless service. To that end, we are able to serve your licensing and permitting needs! Hunting licenses are currently on sale! Doe permit applications are beginning acceptance at your zone of choice July 13th. See the PA Game Commission's website for the specific information on where to send your applications. Follow this link to get the information you need. Thank you all for your patience and understanding. Be safe, be outdoors, FISH ON!!

Here's our good news-bad news: -Good News: Our internet issues do indeed seem behind us. The adapter installed easily and the net is holding strong. This gives our system access to the PA Fish/Game Commissions' licensing system. With Fishing licenses still selling and hunting licenses going on sale this morning (YAY!), all this is great news. We could once again serve your licensing needs...... -Bad News: The state's license printing system/equipment keeps proving to be flawe...d in so many ways. Upon trying to issue hunting permits today, the license printer wants to eat the paper with as much care as the Cookie Monster eats chocolate chip cookies. With a call to tech support, a new printer (we'll see how "new" it is since last time this happened, the "new" "updated" printer was the exact same printer it was replacing) is on it's way. AT BEST, we will not be able to sell any licenses until the new printer comes in and is installed for Thursday morning. We cannot apologize enough for this inconvenience to our outdoors-people. We just wrapped up over an hour-long session of trying to print a license for a customer/on the phone with tech support to no avail. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding while we tackle this setback. We appreciate each and every one of you that have supported our little endeavor through the years (whether you're a regular or new customer), and this setback could not come at a worse time for all involved. -In case you're not in the "know", hunting licenses went on sale this morning with doe permit applications needing to be in by Monday, July 6th. We are doing everything we can to ensure those deadlines can be met for you. Thank you to all for your support. We sincerely hope you've had a chance to get out and enjoy some fresh air whether it's on the water, in one of our glorious state parks, or even just a stroll through your own backyard. Be safe, Be Outdoors, FISH ON!! We'll update you all as updates become available. See more

As promised, some update photos as our raffle benefiting the Sweet Valley volunteer fire department continues. The three lures (our third place prize) were graciously donated by Richard DeRemer Custom Woodworking. Made and painted by his daughter, this three pack of poppers includes one-each of a 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 ounce size popper. The fluted handle is the progress so far on the handle for our son's hand-crafted American flag glass knife that will be 2nd prize. More to come ...as he progresses. In case you're not in the loop, the raffle is running through August 1st with the drawing being held August 2. Chances are 2 for $5 or 5 for $10. Winners will be contacted via phone and posted to our page here. All proceeds go directly to the Sweet Valley volunteer fire department. Let's make this year's raffle the biggest one yet for them. Stop by any time we're open to pick up your chances. We're open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 7AM-7PM. Closed Tuesdays. Good luck to all!