How many minnows in minnow bucket?

[jfraley]

Ok, I know it depends on what size bucket you have, but I hear where folks in tournaments buy minnows by the pound and I was wondering how many minnows can you put in a minnow bucket and expect them to live. We always have 2 buckets in my boat (one for front and one for back) and we usually don't get more that 3-5 dozen at a time. We tie them off and let them float beside the boat. I am thinking that most people that buy this many minnows have a special bait container for them and they add the keep alive chemical or salt to the water to help the bait live longer. Just a thought.

[rango]

i usually put 5 to 8 dozen in a bucket, depending on the temps. i dont know how many crappie sized minnows are in a poound, but you aint gonna keep a pound alive in a regular minnow bucket. at home i have two tanks i store minnows in. one is a 55 gallon filtrated and aerated plastic drum and then i have a tank about 250 gals, filtrated and aerated. so i can store a lot of minnows if i need to.

[Barnacle Bill]

I use those champagne type buckets with the wire frame. Keep 3-4 dozen with frozen bottles (pt size) near by to put one in when the water starts getting to hot. It works pretty good for me.

[CrappieLips]

I have three live wells in my boat, two in the back one up front, We put the minnows in one of the ones in the back, and pop dips out of it while i have a bucket up front, if its hot i'll drop a 20oz frozen water bottle in the live well to keep them longer. we carry about 1 to 2pds with us at a time.

[abarkley]

i have a coleman cooler with an aerator mounted to it. i cant remember how many quarts. seems like it's a 16 quart cooler. we carry at least 1 lb and sometimes up to two pounds in this thing. we rarely lose minnows and never add anything cool to them. the cooler keeps the water temp pretty cool and the bubble machine keeps the minnows lively.

[rangerbull]

i have a coleman cooler with an aerator mounted to it. i cant remember how many quarts. seems like it's a 16 quart cooler. we carry at least 1 lb and sometimes up to two pounds in this thing. we rarely lose minnows and never add anything cool to them. the cooler keeps the water temp pretty cool and the bubble machine keeps the minnows lively.

I own a bait and tackle store and have put as many as 10 dozen in a 8 qt bucket. A lot depends on how fast you plan on using them and how cold the water is and do you have a airator stone put in it. I keep my minnows in a refrigerated tank and the water runs about 45 degrees. the colder the water the less oxegen they will use. I have had customers put there buckets in the refridgerater and they have lasted a week. thats the secret, cold water. the ideal water to take it further is well water. no matter what you do though you will lose a few. I have a 4 compartment unit and keep shiners bass minnows and crappie minnows and gold fish. gold fish I don't like to keep around because they give off a lot of amonia which will kill minnows. I usualy take orders for them. but all in all if the fish are biting you won't have a problem.