Water Ways

Murray’s Bait and Tackle Shop, Cedar Neck, Delaware (near Bethany Beach), typical of small “mom and pop” bait and tackle shops in the Mid-Atlanic region.

The front of Murray’s Bait and Tackle Shop is adorned with maritime folk art, including fish and crabs cut out of metal and plywood.

Shirley Price and her mother, Mrs. Murray. Shirley’s father, the late ‘Crabbin” Jim Murray, founded the shop.

Shirley Price runs Murray’s with her mother, Mrs. Murray. Shirley poses here with fishing items inside the shop, which include lures, sinkers, nets, gloves, rods, reels, fishing line, and much more.

A freezer inside the shop holds a variety of bait types, listed on this hand-lettered sign. Live bait is kept in an old bath tub at the side of the shop. Shirley Price often catches small bait fish for the shop, or for her own use, on the canal near the shop.

Everything an angler needs for a day of fishing

Small shops like Murray's Bait and Tackle in Cedar Neck in southern Delaware sell everything an angler needs for a day of fishing the local inland waters, including live and frozen bait, lures, rods, reels, line, nets, hooks, shad darts, foul weather gear, and snacks. Bait shop owners can also hook fishermen up with local charter captains or guides, tell them where to rent a boat, and recommend a good fish taxidermist. These shops often also act as local hangouts, where many a fish tale is told.

Shirley Price began helping her mother run Murray's after her father, "Crabbin'" Jim Murray, passed away. "A lot of places where Dad and I used to haul seine for bait are being bought [for real estate development], so it limits where you can go. Things have changed," Shirley says. Development is impacting water quality as well as access to fishing grounds. A former state legislator, she is considering running again. "If you're ever going to make things better, you've got to be willing to participate."