At any given time this spring and summer, Cathy Winkler easily has several thousand heads of critters on her farm.

But we’re not talking about cattle or pigs.

From a 60- by 80-foot steel sided building tucked at the end of a tree-shrouded lane off of County Road 5 north of Mankato, she rides herds totaling thousands of nightcrawlers, minnows, leeches, and whatever other kinds of critters anglers use as fish bait, at Winkler’s Bait Farm.

A former telephone operator, Winkler got involved in the wholesale/retail bait business by marriage.

“I married Vernon Winkler in 1986,” she said. “Vern started the business on his own in 1976 — got a loan, bought an old bait shop down here, and trapped and delivered his own minnows.”

A key to it’s location was and remains the artesian well that gushes some 100 gallons per hour of fresh, cold spring water, which ensures that minnows and leeches remains fresh and frisky.

“I didn’t know anything about trapping, grading or selling minnows or packaging crawlers until then,” she said.

In the early days, the couple would trap their own minnows together. “It was lots of hard work,” she said.

In 2001, shortly after they took the financial plunge to upgrade their operation which included the existing building, a back-up generator, three walk-in coolers and a battery of aerated stainless steel tanks, Vernon unexpectedly passed away.

Nevertheless, Winkler decided to continue the business on her own.

“But working both ends of the business was just way too much work,” she said. “I don’t trap anymore. I have trappers who catch minnows for me, the ‘crawlers come from Canada, the leeches from northern Minnesota.” she said.

Nowadays, she wholesales bait to many bait dealers from just south of the Twin Cities across southern Minnesota.

Early in the week, with the help of her mother and summer help, she spends much of her time taking deliveries of bait from suppliers, developing new accounts, sorting, grading, packaging and, of course, selling retail bait to anglers who follow the sign along County Road 5 just north of Mankato to her business.

“On Thursday and Fridays, I drive a route to all of my accounts. I basically follow the potato chip and beer trucks and make a big circle across southern Minnesota,” she said.

Several of her accounts are major outdoor retailers but the majority of her accounts are the small resorts, convenience stores, and tackle stores.