John Henry's Bait & Tackle

Our Mission Statement:

To supply the best live & fresh & frozen bait,  along with other fishing, clamming & crabbing supplies.   And also treat every customer as we would like to be treated, as family and friends, with outstanding customer service. 

Our Business

We started our business July 21, 2006, accross from the Greene Turtle in West Ocean City, MD.  John Henry was able to realize a life dream, having a bait & tackle store!

During our first full year we made alot of changes to the pre-existing store.  All changes for the best we believe!  John Henry was very busy last winter building crab pots. As a high school student, his first job was working on a crab boat on the Chesapeake Bay.  During that first job he learned alot about crabbing & building crab pots!

Who We Are

Some Family history...

As a young man John Henry was growing up in Baltimore County, and his first job, with a family friend, was crabbing on the Chesapeake Bay.  As soon as he graduated high school he moved to Ocean City!  During his childhood his family had spent their summers in Ocean City, actually they lived right here in Dr. Hall's West Ocean City mobile home park.  He grew to love this area as much as if he was born here!

John Henry worked on commercial Clam boats in the West Ocean City harbor, many years ago when we first met,... 1984.  He also traveled on those boats to the northeast.  Until 1998 he was on several boats, working almost all of the time for two families.  He was on clam boats, fishing boats & scallop boats!  (I even went to Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1985 to visit him!) 

In 1998 he decided to stay onshore to pursue turning his part time seasoned firewood & tree service into a full time profession.  He still sells firewood, and has the best firewood too!  He purchases the logs, cuts to a vairety of lengths, & splits them.  His wood is seasoned long before the fall comes and it's time to light the wood stove or fireplace.

But when fishing is in your blood, you can never get too far from it.  So... I was told by John Henry that he'd always yearned for a bait & tackle store, and it came to be, July 21, 2006.  John Henry loves this business, and enjoys being in the store, knowing our regular customers, and offering new customers any help, or fishing advice. 

We hope that you will come visit our store soon... have a cup of free coffee, and get to know us.  From May through September we have a monthly drawing for a rod & reel combo.  Come enter the contest!