Obviously a labor of love, this family movie will appeal to a very limited audience. Definitely not a chick flick, unless your girlfriend or spouse is into fishing. I suppose fishermen, and anybody who tolerates goofy characters doing stupid things, might find it bearable. The actors are definitely limited by the overly simplistic script. Richard Riehle, and Harve Presnell are welcome additions to the supporting cast. In fact, Harve Presnell's character is not unlike the abrasive Fatherinlaw he played to perfection in "Fargo". "Bait Shop" is an effective time waster, if you happen to be in the mood for mindless entertainment. - MERK

Shift into neutral and relax. Blue collar comic Bill Engvall plays Bill, a small bait shop owner about to lose his life-long dream to foreclosure. One way to round up the dough to keep his bait store open is to enter the big bass fishing tournament. Of course, having the worst looking boat on the lake isn't enough to stop him; going up against his business competitor Hot Rod Johnson(Billy Ray Cyrus) brings about an all-out fishing war. Its the good old boy against the flashy ego driven fishing champ. There are some knee-slapping belly-laughs, but not award winning memorable. Also in the cast: Billy Joe Shaver, Mary Rachel Dudley, Harve Presnell and Vincent Martella.

I was told by a 10 year old girl (the one who sold it to me at the flea market) this was a real good film. This film is to bass fishing what Rocky is to boxing...almost. Bill Dugan (Bill Engvall) owns a bait shop on a lake. He has a cast of regulars in the shop which reminded my of the scenes by the fence in "King of the Hill" which include one man (Rus Blackwell) into conspiracy theories. Bill has a wonderful wife (Mary Rachel Dudley),a son (Vincent Martella) who needs some adjusting, a father-in-law (Harve Presnell) who is wealthy, and unfortunately a balloon payment on his shop.

To make matters worse the flashy bass fisherman, Hot Rod Johnson (Billy Ray Cyrus) has opened a fish emporium store next to Bill's Bait Shop. Bill enters the local fishing tournament were the prize is $50,000 in order to save his shop. Bill uses his old fashion fishing methods, while Hot Rod uses the latest high tech fish finders.

The comedy was simple. The story ignores the fact of any zoning discussions, or how one must legally land a fish in a tournament. While the movie creates characters, most of them were caricatures.

A fairly good film for family night. Only very slight innuendos, such as when Bill and his wife wake up, he places his arm around her and she says, "No." Girls in bikinis.