{"id":264386,"date":"2026-04-24T13:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/264386\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:52:10","slug":"bryan-bait-shop-featured-in-texas-monthly-after-74-years-in-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/264386\/","title":{"rendered":"Bryan bait shop featured in Texas Monthly after 74 years in business"},"content":{"rendered":"

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – A Bryan bait shop that has been a community staple for more than seven decades is getting statewide recognition. <\/p>\n

Texas Monthly<\/a> is featuring Bait Barn Fisheries<\/a> in its latest issue, calling it a \u201cmonument\u201d to the Texas fishing community. The magazine highlights how the bait shop has survived and thrived while others have disappeared, praising its hand-painted signs and deep roots with generations of Brazos Valley families.<\/p>\n

The red wooden storefront sits on East State Highway 21 in Bryan and has been part of the community since 1952.<\/p>\n

How the feature came about<\/p>\n

Owners Paul and Stephanie Patranella told KBTX that the feature piece came after attending a singer-songwriter event in Galveston.<\/p>\n

\u201cMet some folks down there and one of them happens to be a writer. She decided that she loved this place. She\u2019d been coming here since she was a kid and pitched the story to Texas Monthly, right? So, Texas Monthly said yes, and here we are,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n

The Patranellas knew in early January the feature was going to happen. When the writer first asked if it would be okay to pitch the story, the couple said they flipped out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you kidding? It\u2019s Texas Monthly,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n

The Patranellas have owned Bait Barn Fisheries since 2003. They raised and homeschooled their kids on the property for about eight years, and a couple of their children still work at the shop.<\/p>\n

\"BaitBait Barn Fisheries is located at 2704 E, TX-21, Bryan, TX 77803.(kbtx)<\/p>\n

Paul said the family is thrilled Texas Monthly allowed them to be part of the magazine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled that, you know, it seems what we\u2019ve done here over all these years, maybe it\u2019s worth it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are part of the community. It\u2019s evolving around us all the time.<\/p>\n

What the shop sells<\/p>\n

The shop sells bait fish, including perch and goldfish. This week, customers are buying bait for catfish tournaments in the rivers, Paul said. The bait is used to catch large catfish or gar.<\/p>\n

Bait Barn Fisheries also stocks lakes with fish for recreation and holds government contracts for fish hauling.<\/p>\n

Expanding into food sales<\/p>\n

The shop is currently licensed to sell catfish, bass, hybrid striper, redfish and oysters for food. Paul said the next step is offering live fish that customers can buy in their store for food rather than just bait. He says the goal is to launch the expansion before the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\"BaitBait Barn Fisheries in Bryan plans to expand its operations after gaining attention from a recent Texas Monthly feature.(kbtx)<\/p>\n

He added that it\u2019s not just about boosting business. The expansion is about helping neighbors afford fresh food as grocery prices climb.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeef is high, everything\u2019s expensive. We\u2019re hoping to be able to put something out there that, you know, will help people who need it,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n

He said they are hoping to put live fish out there for a price point that makes it affordable for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor anybody who really wants to have fresh fish,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Next year will mark the shop\u2019s 75th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KBTX. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – A Bryan bait shop that has been a community staple for more than seven…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[254,2055,2060,2058,2057,2059,2061,27,29,28,2056],"class_list":{"0":"post-264386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breaking-news-video","10":"tag-live-speeches","11":"tag-live-updates","12":"tag-live-video","13":"tag-press-conference","14":"tag-real-time-coverage","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-texas-headlines","17":"tag-texas-news","18":"tag-video-updates"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}