ABOUT ARMSTRONG’S WHOLESALE TACKLE
In 1945 Tal’s son, Gene, originated the venture by dropping a few crickets in a bucket with sand on the bottom. Three weeks later he discovered that Mother Nature had provided the family with a month’s worth of live bait! This was an exciting discovery to the Armstrong Family and the elder Armstrong saw an opportunity that no one had seen before.
Within a year the elder Armstrong was growing not only crickets but also a new commercial industry. The idea of having crickets, known as “the best” live bait for bream, perch and catfish, year-round, proved to be a very popular one among fishermen all over the South.
Armstrong also soon realized a whole new demand for crickets and worms: a choice pet food for many reptiles and amphibians. High in protein, live feeders are an important part of herpetological diets. His ideas and determination paid off and the new business was a success from the start. South Georgia anglers who had spent hours scouring fields for crickets, found it much simpler to buy Armstrong bait. Until our original farm in Glennville, GA was started in 1947, there were NO commercial cricket growers on the American scene.
The second farm was added in West Monroe, Louisiana in 1954. By 1955, the farm was producing over 20,000,000 crickets a year.
In 1985, our family ventured into the fishing tackle wholesale to accent our live bait sales.