Minnow question

[Wknd Warrior]

Hey Guys,

I primarily use jigs and really don't care to use minnows. However, recently it has been slow for me with jigs. Maybe I have been in the wrong spots, which probably the case. However, when you guys use minnows, do you usually use a jig tipped with a minnow, or just a plain hook with a split shot with a minnow?

Also, what do you guys do to keep your minnows alive this time of year?

[camo_boat]

i used to be "married to minnows" but lately spend the $ i would have spent on minnows on jigs. but to keep the minnows alive best in the summer, i bought a fancy minnow bucket lined with foam that has a built in pump for bubbles. i found that bubbling all the time was too much, so 5 minutes of bubbles every 30 minutes works best. also dropped a frozen gatorade bottle in the bucket to help keep the water cool. try to keep it out of the sun if you can.

[bwillaub]

DITTO on the frozen Gatorade bottle of water.

[Crappie Chatt]

OK fishers, let's talk about using/keeping live bait. Fish are cold blooded. The get use to almost any water temp but,,, when you change the temp drasticly, THEY DIE!!!! If you are fishing hot water, keep them hot!!! By cooling them, you don't have to aireate as much, but you are killing them when they hit that warm water. I keep mine in a baitwell with constant aireation,,,at lake surface temps. I put a few in a minner bucket and keep the rest in the well & change the bucket water often. If I buy minners from a store that keeps them cool, I warm them up VERY SLOWLY by adding water from the lake or buy them the night before and aireate them outside till morning. Ya, it's a 'pain-in-the-butt', but it beats loosing them. Fresh, lively, minners work the best. When dipping trees, I use a 1/32oz jig head and hook the minner up thru the lips. When using a Kentucky rig, hook them thru the eyes. Hope this helps. <*)}}}><

[Wknd Warrior]

Thanks guys for the responses.

Chatt,
On your 1/32 oz jig head do you use a tube or just the minnow?

[jackb]

On the temperature side Crappiechatt is exactly on the money. As soon as you get to the lake I would start adding lake water to get them acclimated to the temp difference, if you have a baitwell in your livewell, that will do the trick.

[Crappie Chatt]

WW, add just the minner. <*)}}}><

[Krazy]

I use jigs most of year until minnows users start to outfish the jigs.

I know lots of folks that ice their minnow bucket....but just like was already said......an iced minnow on a hook is a goner as soon as it hits that warm lake water!!!!!!!

DEAD MINNOWS CATCH DAM FEW FISH.

I use a floating minnow bucket....they are a pain.....but so are dead minnows. Bait shops keep their minnows cold so they last longer. After buying my minnows, I keep the floating bucket on the deck and might useone of them Frabil bubblers until the water temp feels about the same as the lake water. Until then....I use jigs cause DEAD MINNOWS CATCH DAM FEW FISH!:D

[Jigging15]

Guys who fish cedars will ice there minnows until they are dead. Using the ice to kill them helps them keep there color. I have only bought minnows a few times in the last year or so. Usually as back up in tournaments. Unless spider rigging I always tip them behind a 3" BG slab slayer.

[camo_boat]

when i do use minnows, i will always experiment with them to see what works best. sometimes just a hook and sinker, sometimes just on a painted jig head, and sometimes with a grub...

reason i quit buying them regularly is when the person at the other end of the boat is catching fish better on a certain color with no minner, i switch up presentation, and i just dump out 2-3 dozen at the end of the day, and that just kills me and the pocket book.

and i personally have caught more fish on a dead minnow than on live ones. caught 6-7 nice fish on the same old busted up minnow many times... shallow water fishing in brush, i prefer live minnows, but deeper dipping, doesn't seem to matter so much for me.

it' like anything else, you take with you what you think will work best and if it don't then try something else. it's better to have something and not need it than to need something and not have it.