A large majority of fisherman who use minnows or other type of live bait, purchase the minnows from bait shops and marinas. Bait vendors frequently maintain minnows alive in large quantities in refrigerated and aerated tanks and dispense small measured quantities which necessitates the use of small nets to remove the proper quantity of minnows from the tanks to count and place them into the customer's minnow bucket. This procedure not only requires an attendant, but frequently results in annoying delays to the customer while waiting for the attendant to arrive and then collect and dispense the minnows. Also, some of the minnows are injured by the handling and soon die.
Various dispensing machines have been proposed, some coin operated, for assisting the attendant to more easily catch and count the minnows. Machines have been proposed to dispense a predetermined number of the minnows without the assistance of an attendant. However, most machines have been complex and involve a large amount of machinery to function.
Thus, a need exists for an apparatus that is simple, fast and efficient and whereby the operator may serve him or herself without assistance from an attendant whose attention is required only when the apparatus is empty.