Thread: Help Guy's

I read about you guy's using minnows. How do you keep them alive during the summer heat? Because of the mortality rate I use crickets. I've read about using ice to keep them alive, but doesn't the shock kill them as soon as they hit the water? Do you folks have to buy bait every time you go out?
I only am able to get out on the weekends and hate throwing out bait on a slow day of fishing. Thanks for any input you can give this novice.

Wooly

They will stay alive a long time in a refrigerator. Also if you buy a bottle of amquell or similiar product for treating fresh aquarium water, and make them some new water it really helps. On the water I use a hush bubbles aerator it takes two D batteries you don't have to run it constantly, just turn it on when you see the minnows coming to the top of your bucket. Sometimes I just grab some lake water and dip and add to my bucket until they go back down but it does not seem to last very long and you have to do it often at times. A little ice is ok in a pinch but I think that some of it has chlorine and ammonia in it and kills the minnows faster. A garage fridge is the best for long life. I have also seen guys freeze bottles of water and put them in their bucket to keep the water cool. Hope it helps.
Jeff

In the last few weeks when I have minnows left over I have put them in my garage fridge and used a small extention cord and put an aquarium bubbler in my bucket and that seems to work. Dont know how long they will last but they have lasted a couple days until i went again. I used my battery powered bubbler but if you let it run day and night you will go through some batteries!!

Originally Posted by eat,sleep,fish

In the last few weeks when I have minnows left over I have put them in my garage fridge and used a small extention cord and put an aquarium bubbler in my bucket and that seems to work. Dont know how long they will last but they have lasted a couple days until i went again. I used my battery powered bubbler but if you let it run day and night you will go through some batteries!!

I do the same and have kept minnows up to a week take them out of the frig and go again

When you buy the minnows get a bag of ice....there is a little trial and error to this...but it works. Put 3 handfuls of ice in the bucket and really cool the water down. I do this as soon as I exit the bait shop. It may take 4 handfuls depending on the temp of the bait water. If you add too much the minnows indeed will belly up on the bottom of the bucket but thats only if you over ice them. Once you get on the lake you only need to then add 1 handful every hour or so. Cool water is the key as it is much more oxygenated than hot water. Also, dont put too many minnows in one bucket. Nothing will work if you put 8 dozen in one bucket....that many at once may not make it to the boat ramp. A max of about 4 per bucket is about right. An alternative to this is to use the same icing procedure plus buy one of those little pumps at wal mart that clamp on to the side of the bucket that run on 2 "D" cell batteries. They will run all day and usually 2 or 3 days before you have to change batteries. I rarely lose a single minnow as long as I keep the ice on them in moderate amounts.

Fishing Crab I've had minnows in the spring from Cooksey's floating before getting to the ramp with as few as two dozen in the bucket. From CrappiePro shop they'll be lively even with as many as four dozen. Difference??? Don't know but Ronnie has better hours and I kind of like the abuse. So this year in April we would take the minnows to the lake and as soon as we were on the water we'd completely swap out the water for lake water. Didn't lose but a few after that. As the temp warms we add an aerator to them. Have had pretty good luck with styrofoam buckets but thinking about upgrading to one with an integral aeration system before next season.

I use the bubblers and ice in hot weather while on the water. When I get to camp I swap them all to a mesh floating bait basket and put them in the lake. From then on i just file the bucket with lake water, add a little ice, turn on the bubbler and dip out what I think I'll need for the trip. Only lost a handful out of 10+ dozen over a week stay.

Most of my tips have already been given. I use an old igloo lunch bucket (or cooler) for a minnow bucket. I always use a good aerator. I change minnows regularly when fishing, (they won't hit dead ones). I keep my extra minnows in a old refrigerator in a 5 gallon bucket with a fish tank electric aerator. I don't plug in the refrigerator but it would be better if I did. I have kept them for weeks but you need to change the water almost daily. I use cool well water. Never use tap water.
The place where the minnows come from does make a difference and different batches of minnows makes a difference.

Thanks everyone for responding. I will try them soon. I need to be able to keep them from one weeked to the next so I guess I'll look for another fridge.

Thanks again,
Wooly

I rigged up a cooler I leave in the boat infront of my counsil with a 12 volt aerator wired up to my switch panel. I save rain water in a barrel with a down spout ran into it. Then I fill my cooler and 2 liter bottles with the rain water and freeze the bottles. When it's hot outside you can throw one of the frozen bottles in your cooler in the morning and the water in the cooler will stay cold all day. Minnows live great in the cool rain water and have kept extra minnows alive for up to 2 weeks. The trick is cool water and a good aerator. Make sure to open the bottle when you put it in the cooler that way the ice doesn't melt and stay in the middle of the bottle. Hope this can help you some.