Live Minnows

[FatBuck]

Does anyone know if there is such a thing as "Grow your own minnows" kit?

I would like to have a live supply on hand to take from when ever I to go fishing. I know that you can't use them as bait when they are alive, but I don't know if you are allowed to keep an aquarium full of them to "grow"?

I have seen minnow traps, and when I was a kid I used one once, and it worked good. However I don't think it would be legal to take those minnows and put them in an aquarium.

Has anyone ever kelp live minnows? Or know anything about it?

[RyanGSP]

Just use the grey and pink ones you find at the pet store. They stay small (under 3") wont hurt the wild fish, pike and walleye will nab the pink ones fast because they stand out, and they are cheap.

Depending on how long your keeping them buy one of those big blue barrels. Throw few large sponge filters in there and your set. For food just buy cheap flake food get them used to you hovering over the barrel with a net when feeding them and catching is easy. Also do a water change 1 time a week (10% is usually enough just siphon off the bottom) and refill with water from the hose.

Now if you wanted something to set up in your family room I have a 67 gallon aquarium (48"*18"*18") here with a bunch of accessories I could sell you for cheap (as far as aquariums go) but you really don't need it.

[FatBuck]

Thank you for the tip. I will go to the pet store and buy some from there. I will try the barrel approach first. Do you know how temperature sensitive they are? Will I need to get a heater? I can either keep then in my unheated garage, or in my basement.

[re]

I'll buy your tank!! how much??

[RyanGSP]

We keep those minnows in our koi pond over winter so dont worry about them. They are a cold water fish anyway and in a garage nothing will bother them. We have kept koi, goldfish, and those minnows using the method I have described with great success.

Buck Crazy if you want info email me at ryan_doolittle@hotmail.com or phone me at 403 892 6734

[FatBuck]

This might be a silly question, but will they reproduce for me? Or will I have to keep buying them?

[live minnows]

You were saying you had some success with a minnow trap. What is the best bait to put in it. I've had limited success whenever I've put one out.

[jrs]

For a minnnow trap, dog biscuits and potatoe chips have produced very well for me. A stick of gum will work as well but i prefer dog biscuits.
I get all my baitfish via seine net in irrigation ditch in October when they're drained. You have to kill them as soon as they're retained (just like the salvage sportfish which is $5 for 20) but a years supply takes about 15 minutes to get. There's guys driving around every year that come ask for all our foot long suckers for pike fishing. A minnow trap in these ditches would fill your supply pretty quick as well (where legal).

[Duffy4]

From the "Guide To Sportfishing Regulations":

"Bait Fish means any of the following:

suckers (family Catostomidae)
sticklebacks (family Gasterosteidae)
trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus)
Iowa darter (Etheostoma exile)
minnows (family Cyprinidae), except carp, goldfish and the western silvery minnow.
Note: Pet store fish (tropical fish) or crayfish cannot be used as bait fish. "

Pet store fish cannot be used for bait.


And also on the same page:

"The possession of live bait fish is prohibited. All bait fish kept must be killed immediately. Please do not kill more than needed because bait fish are important food for many sport fish.
Fish other than bait fish must be immediately released unharmed. Game fish such as perch must not be kept."

So it seems you cannot keep live "minnows" for bait.

If prerared and frozen properly, Frozen "minnows" will work just as well as "fresh killed" ones, so why would you want to keep them live in a tank?

Have a good one!
Robin

[FatBuck]

I read that in the regs last night. So it seems the pet store minnows are not allowed.

What I am really after is bait I don't have to pay for, and easy to grab when I leave to go fishing. I can freeze them too, that would be ok.

I suppose I could get a minnow trap. Do you think I could put it in the NSR? Or do I need a lake or pond to put it in? How long does it take to get minnows?

[Pigshanks]

I trap minnows a few times a year from the South Sask River. Frozen oatmeal balls in the minnow trap work real well. I put about 20 minnows into a disposable Glad container and cover with coarse salt and into the freezer they go. I will do about 20 containers at a time.

[jrs]

A great way to preserve minnows is to lay them on a old cookie sheet when you get home and freeze the outside of them so they don't stick together. Then you put them in air tight bags and can pick out as many as you need at a time (individually, like smelts are sold). Great for icefishing when a ball of bait is less than desireable. The other way i do it is put a bunch in a sandwhich bag, squeeze all the air out and flatten the bag so its 1 minnow thick. This way you can crack one minnow off the block at a time very easily and use the same bag on several trips (doesn't work on hot days, in those cases i simply try to use all my bait up and use a new bag next time out. Using the sandwich baggie method i know they will not freezerburn for about 2 yrs.

[cnizalik]

Seems like a lot of work and time for a $3.00 container of bait.
Look at we spend on fishing gear, boats & motors,maintenance,fuel, licences,campground fees,etc. I just don't see the reasoning. My thoughts on the subject,no offense.
Chris

[jrs]

Don't know about you cnizalik but when we hit a good bite we often got through 100-150 minnows in a day between two of us. That and the fact most minnows at the baitstore are not the size or minnow species i prefer make it very desireable to get my own. I bet we save $150-200 a year between the four of us who fish in my immediate family getting our bait the way we do. Especially pike bait, prices for large smelts or minnows has been outrageous the past few seasons. An afternoon with a fly rod on irrigation canals can get you a bucket of 4-6'' chubs which are a great pike bait as well. That way your fishing and collecting bait ;) No offence taken but there's many reasons to collect your own bait. Last time i bought a tub of shiners there were yellow perch mixed in as well. Kind of turned me off from the purchasing idea.

[Duffy4]

$ is not the only reason to do something in my view.
We like to grow a garden and eat our own vegies. We also raise some chickens (broilers) and butcher them for the freezer. We cut our own Christmas tree. I tie flies and reload some of the ammunition I shoot. We cut up our wild game ourselves. I'm not sure if we save a lot of money doing any of this but I know we enjoy being somewhat responsible for providing a lot of things for ourselves.

Robin (the handy man) in Rocky

[Dark Wing 01]

Oooh the memories of using live bait. When I was kid many years ago we would catch dace and stickleback and drop em down about 30 or 40 feet at the local lake and catch some monster ling. In the rivers it was frogs, just have to dip a toe in and the bull trout were all over it. I have a lot more respect for the regs now of course. Still remember the stern warning Mr. Bunt the Fish cop at the time gave me. If I was older it would have been a fine.

[FiveO]

A guy should net Hassie for the stickle backs. If you had a net and two guys you would clean up.
I catch shinners with a net in late june when they come into the shallows. The cookie sheet with a little salt is a great way to preserve them, the salt makes the skin almost like leather and with the barbless rule its the answer for keeping your bait on the hook.

I find fresh bait will always catch more than frozen. On holidays i will catch a container full in the morning for the day's fishing.