catching minnows?

[Hillbilly910]

i can remember back when i was much younger, catching minnows in a seine, well, i just aint got the nack of using that dude by myself(trust me, if anybody would have saw, could have made americas funniest videos), but i am rather crafty with a cast net.
I found a quite old creek pool under a large tile, kinda deep, great looking spot. Threw the cast net a few times, caught some great chubs if i was catfishin, and probably half dozen larger shiners. While throwing the net i saw some small minnows swimming about, so i took a minnow trap with me, used bread crumbs, but all i caught was a bluegill(had ta squeeze to get in) and a crawdad, who pinched the livin fire out of me while trying to extract him.

Any ideas guys, never used the trap much, but it seems purty straight forward, maybe a better location? I have several creeks around, one of which is a cold creek, which is stocked with trout, think that might be a better bet?

HB

[carcrz]

We have a little pond at the lake house. I throw my trap out in the middle and use whatever food we have available. Stale bread works the best. I can get about 20 little fish in about 5 minutes. If I leave it any longer than 10 minutes, there will only be about 3 or 4 in there because they find their way out.

[Fatman]

I've always used an umbrella net and cornmeal. Put it in and throw some cornmeal in and when a bunch show over the middle lift it out.

Fatman

[speckfinder]

I've always used an umbrella net and cornmeal. Put it in and throw some cornmeal in and when a bunch show over the middle lift it out.

Fatman

cornmeal works good. oats too.

[jimdiana]

The creek I use for my minnow traps is only about three feet wide. I use two traps with half a slice of bread in each and place the traps side by side. I also make sure they are completely under water and running with the current. I usually leave the traps out overnight and find two or three dozen minnows in the traps the next morning. Making sure they are completely under water is important. Times I've failed to caused me to find live, angry snakes in the traps and no minnows. Don't know if this will help you any or not but it's what I do.

[Festus_Haggen]

Yes, it's important that you have the length of the trap running parallel to the current. I usually put a few Cheetos or Doritos in a piece of panty hose inside the trap, because a school of 2" to 3" shiners or chubs can strip devour a piece of bread through the mesh of a trap in an hour or two. I usually try to trap my minnows where I know there aren't too many turtles present. A turtle will try to camp out near your trap, even though they can't get inside it and keep your minnows away. I hate them @$%&+= turtles!! I have a creek in my backyard that's about 25' wide and 6' deep, there's some half pound bass, some big suckers, shiners, chubs, bullheads, and bream in there. I have some friends who are old enough to barely remember the Depression and have ate plenty of turtle meat. I welcome them with open arms to rid my creek of the snappers, cooters, and chicken turtles.

[jimdiana]

Festus, Can we trade backyard creeks?

[Festus_Haggen]

Festus, Can we trade backyard creeks?

I'm setting on .854 acre, just a small piece of piece of property, it looks bigger than an acre. The creek would be 9' or 10' deep if them dern coal strip miners hadn't a ruined our mountains back in the 1960's and 1970's. That means I would have to move to Indiana? How big a spread you got Jim? I done got used to Tennessee. I got the deepest hole on the creek till you get to a place called the Cliff Hole, which is about 40' wide with a 6' waterfall, the hole of water down there is pretty swift and at least 9' or 10' deep and they's smallmouths that far down--seen and heard of them being caught 3 to 4 lbs. If you owned the Cliff Hole, yes, I'd trade. :D I stocked my creek with rainbows early spring a few years ago (don't let TWRA know that), and they lived until about the middle of June. Caught them in a trout stream about half an hours drive away. High school kids were playing hookie fishing my land and we had to post it.

They's still some good baitfish in my creek, but this time of year they're hard to keep alive all day on the lake.

[thankfull]

Festus you have got it all going on up there.

[jimdiana]

I actually live in a small town beside a Navy base. My back yard butts up against the Navy base with a little creek as the dividing line. The creek actually belongs to the Navy, but since it is outside of their fence, they don't claim it. I use it for minnows so I can take them up on the base and fish for crappies at the marina. I'd buy their minnows but they close at 5:00 and I don't normally go that early. I like to go to the marina right at sunset.