Ideas for a minnow trap

[throwback]

I went out on my dock yesterday at noon and the water under the dock was loaded with minnows and small bait fish. I want to catch them with a trap and use them for bait. What kind of minnow traps work well in about 2-3 ft of water under a dock? Thanks.

[SeaRay]

Walmart has one for about $10 to $12. I got one, put a slice of bread in it and had about a dozen overnight from a little spring behind my son's hosue. This was a grandchild project. I did not think a spring that small had minnows in it, but I was wrong. They took great delight in proving me wrong.
SeaRay

[SeaRay]

Here is the link, it is about $8. You can get plans to make one off the internet, but I figured I could not make one much cheaper than $8.

Walmart.com: Frabill Torpedo Minnow Trap: Fishing & Marine

SeaRay

[Crappie 1]

I went out on my dock yesterday at noon and the water under the dock was loaded with minnows and small bait fish. I want to catch them with a trap and use them for bait. What kind of minnow traps work well in about 2-3 ft of water under a dock? Thanks.

Ever try throwing a cast net? I bought one in the fall. Not as easy as it looks...But they really catch the minnows...

[luckyeights]

X2 to SeaRays suggestion. I've used one for years to catch Mud Minnows at the coast. Just throw about any kind of food (bread, dogfood, chicken bones, etc.) in it and drop it in. I've caught as many as 3-4 dozen in just one night.

[cricket george]

Take a 2 or 3 liter plastic pop bottle and cut the top off at the bottle shoulder. Now reverse the open end and stick it back into the bottle and wedge it. Now staple the funnel 3-4 times and your done. Its cheap and it works. You really don't have to staple it just wedge it.

[throwback]

Take a 2 or 3 liter plastic pop bottle and cut the top off at the bottle shoulder. Now reverse the open end and stick it back into the bottle and wedge it. Now staple the funnel 3-4 times and your done. Its cheap and it works. You really don't have to staple it just wedge it.

I've actually done that with some success. I just wanted to see what everyone was doing. I can't throw a net under the dock too well.

[unclebert]

I love the soda bottle idea but in the past I've taken a metal window screen out of the frame and made a trap with the material. Bend all four corners to the middle. Stitch together the seams, starting at the middle, with small wire and stop a few inches short of the ends. Take the un-stitched ends and then bend the ends back towards the center to make four entrances. Attach a string to the center of the trap where the four ends meet, bait it and drop it in to the water. If you have any old window screens around it works great. Not sure it works with the new fiberglass screen material. Could be made with hardware cloth....I think. If it's flexible enough.

[Swampfoot]

Look on youtube for cloverleaf trap.I made one and it works great ,if you buy the roll of stock it will make 2.

[Blackhawk19]

Here's one I built a few years ago, I drilled small holes around the bottles and used floral wire to put it to put it together. I tie the string to the bottle handle and unscrew the bottle cap when I want to get the minnows out.