anyone still trapping their minnows?

My persistence paid off this summer as I hit the jackpot on a tiny pond in the middle of a shopping mall of all places. first time trying it thru the ice but wanted to stock up for the next month or so. unless it gets ridiculously cold for weeks, my 10 gallon tank is good to go at keeping them alive. my creek only has creek chubs and I have tried random puddles around town for 3 years and finally found this pond that will hopefully keep on giving. for years i would get a few in the trap trying various ditches, ponds but a 2 hour soak and there have to be 200 plus every time in this pond. i would love to support small bait shops but there are not any near me and it is kind of fun doing it yourself.

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I do in the spring and summer, but have not tried in the winter. I should though the minnows lately from the bait store have been disappointing.

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Gino i seen many of your posts and you got it dialed with your filtration, tanks, etc. i only use a basic aquarium. it sits in my tuck under garage and it is usually 40 degrees in there all winter. if i plan on keeping these for months, do you see any reason to feed them? i only plan on changing the filter and adding fresh water every week or so. seemed to work good this fall anyway and i did not lose many.

Many people say not to feed them, but if your changing out water and filtering it, i would not feed them daily but I also think a emaciated minnow is inferior to a big fat one. In the end it’s your bait so do what works for you.

I just use a handful of the cheapest dog food I can find, usually kibels and bits original flavor. If I have time I put it in a mesh bag but mostly just throw it in.

Anonymous wrote:

Have tried off and on with absolutely no success. I have the exact same trap shown in your picture eyeguy. What do you guys use for bait? Curious too if you know how deep that pond is. Wondering how much they need to survive

I’ve read that silver traps catch more than the ones painted black. I see black is working for eyeguy but I have noticed larger catches with my non painted traps, maybe a little more flashy.

i have explored my area for 3 years with traps. if the water has minnows, they will come no matter the bait. maybe i’m lucky but i put in the work trying different puddles and ponds.

We used to trap and seine them in my youth. Best river fishing results were using the bait we just harvested.

It’s something I’d like to get into, until I read the stupid regulations on it.

I have a spot in a lake that is always loaded with Spottail Shiners.

But it’s illegal for me to move them anywhere from the lake?

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Dang B-man, you caught that spot via hook/line? That’s badass

On Christmas day the bait shops by me were all closed.

So I went to my spottail spot and caught 10 of them in 15 minutes on hook and line

They are a lot easier to catch if you can coax them up to sight fish. That pic of the graph above is all spottails

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I caught a spottail icefishing once. Sent that thing down on a tipup and it got whacked instantly!.. by an 8″ perch.