Catching minnows at the lake…..

[Pilchard]

The problem we ran into was we got 40 crawdads and about10 creek chubs

yeah the more i research, it seems cast nets may be too much trouble. Im gonna set the minnow baskets tomorrow and check it after a couple of hours, just to see how fast it can fetch em

If you're getting that many crawdads you are leaving your trap in for too long. Set it with bread and then come back in 20-30 minutes.

My experience is that when they eat all the bait they find a way to swim out and the ones that don't attract the crawdads.

I usually set my traps about 30 minutes before I am ready to head out and I usually have at least 50 baits per trap when I pull them.

 

[Spurhunter]

In my life, i never really fished with live bait. But man to see that slip bobber go under on shallow structure loaded with crappie (cause i can see them on active target) is awfully fun.

I used minners for years spider rigging. That's one benefit of sniping crappie like we do. Don't need them.

 

[redblood]

If you're getting that many crawdads you are leaving your trap in for too long. Set it with bread and then come back in 20-30 minutes.

My experience is that when they eat all the bait they find a way to swim out and the ones that don't attract the crawdads.

I usually set my traps about 30 minutes before I am ready to head out and I usually have at least 50 baits per trap when I pull them.

I think your right. I have a big creek on my family farm. We put the basket out one afternoon and could
See the minnows going in. Next afternoon we pulled it and had about 10- of course we had 50 small crawfish

 

[agelessssone]

Anybody cast net their bait when the get to lake. Neither bait store near the lake had minnows yesterday. We did good on plastics but we have really done well on minnows i believe.

When I fish for hybrids/stripers in the summer, I always catch my bait with a castnet.
Our bait is usually down around 15-18 ft in 20-24 fow so I throw an 8' radius (16' diameter) Betts Deep Hole net.
It has a 2" ribbon around the bottom which acts like a parachute, keeping the net open to 12' all the way to the bottom.
A regular 8' net will close up to about 5' diameter by the time it hits bottom, resulting in a very poor catch rate.
I'll see if I can find one of my videos of the deep hole net.

 

[Lt.Dan]

When I fish for hybrids/stripers in the summer, I always catch my bait with a castnet.
Our bait is usually down around 15-18 ft in 20-24 fow so I throw an 8' radius (16' diameter) Betts Deep Hole net.
It has a 2" ribbon around the bottom which acts like a parachute, keeping the net open to 12' all the way to the bottom.
A regular 8' net will close up to about 5' diameter by the time it hits bottom, resulting in a very poor catch rate.
I'll see if I can find one of my videos of the deep hole net.

Wish I could throw a net that size. It's all I can do to get a small net out decently

 

[redblood]

Wish I could throw a net that size. It's all I can do to get a small net out decently

Sounds like they are easy to tear up unless you have a sand or solid rock bottom

 

[Big Pop]

I watched a YouTube video about how to keep minnows alive at home. One of the secrets is to make the container somewhat like an aquarium with some good sized rocks for them to hide around. It reduces stress and constant swimming around. I'm a believer. Didn't lose but one in 3-4 days in garage about a month ago and it was around 90 degrees. Aerated with aquarium pump in 5 gallon bucket.

 

[TITANSFAN2104]

I watched a YouTube video about how to keep minnows alive at home. One of the secrets is to make the container somewhat like an aquarium with some good sized rocks for them to hide around. It reduces stress and constant swimming around. I'm a believer. Didn't lose but one in 3-4 days in garage about a month ago and it was around 90 degrees. Aerated with aquarium pump in 5 gallon bucket.

Thats possible but The biggest factor is keep your hands out of the water and keep anything and eveything OUT of the water. That includes kids wanting to play.

 

[Big Pop]

Thats possible but The biggest factor is keep your hands out of the water and keep anything and eveything OUT of the water. That includes kids wanting to play.

Glad I don't have that problem anymore!

 

[Smo]

Thats possible but The biggest factor is keep your hands out of the water and keep anything and eveything OUT of the water. That includes kids wanting to play.

Dip net too …. one of my Dad's pet peeves.
We changed the water in the bucket regularly too.
This was before aerated buckets were the thing..