minnow trap

I picked up a basic minnow trap at the Fleet-Farm a week or so ago and dunked it in our small lake – using shrimp pellets as bait. Caught quite a few really small bluegills/sunfish but nothing that I’d qualify as a ‘minnow’. Question is – can these micro-panfish be used as bait in WI?

Not sure what the Wisconsin rules are, but we’ve been having the same thing happen. Plenty of minnows around, but all were catching is tiny sunfish in it.

Put your trap in a pond that has no fish , bait with dog food. Best to have at least three or four traps to really get enough for a fishing trip. Some spots just don’t catch minnows and ten feet away you pull up five hundred. Try traps next to shore and five feet out until you figure it out. Once you figure it out it’s always there for you year after year.

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I thought maybe I could catch minnows in my nearest creek but it is all chubs. So look for ponds too crappy for any fish that would eat minnows?

In Wi you can use panfish for bait but they count towards your daily bag limit.