raising minnows in pond

[wes1945]

I have a small pond, maybe 50 ft x 30 ft, not very deep. After driving 10 miles to buy minnows and paying $4.75 for 36 shiners, I have decided to MAYBE try raising my own minners. My pond has a lot of pumpkin seed perch in it and some turtles. A 22 will take care of the turtles. I can buy minnows from the fish truck in march or april when it comes around. My questions are #1 are the perch going to eat my bought minnows and am I wasting my time. Yeah, I'm stingy, but $4.75 for 3 dozen miners , I can go buy fish for the cost of fish bait. Any and all advise appreciated. Thanks.

[Cray]

Yes they will eat your minnows to a point. Worst is eating the eggs. Need to put in some good tight cover for them to get into. I would talk to Fish and Game or county extension agent. Maybe can help you with killing off the punkinseeds then help with establishing a minnow population.

[rexmitchell]

Why not shock the tank to get the perch out?

[cricket george]

shock it or rotenone it to clear the perch out. If you use rotenone then you should wait until warmer weather.

[jhef]

what about a couple of cages for your minnows in the pond.. or some type of net to keep bigger fish out of a certain area of the pond

[wes1945]

Jhef, That's my thoughts exactly, build a minner tank using hardware cloth and 2x4's. I suspect about 4' long, 3' wide and 3' deep. Any thoughts on size?

[jhef]

id make it as big as i could .then use dividers for different minnows..use the pool noodles to keep it afloat, and be sure to put a top on it or the birds will have easy pickings

[jhef]

also can you get electricity out to the pond. you could get the big chemical totes and use a small pump.. to pump fresh water from pond through your minnow container..

[iditarodgrizzly]

Large minnows are $13 per dozen and small crappie minnows are $3.50 per dozen in California around Sacramento. They replaced the Gold Rush with the cost of fishing. With the two pole limit for each fishing license that bought an extra pole tag, you dont need as many minnows unless they are biting. Raising minnows is worth the try out here.

[NIMROD]

I would kill off or drain the pond before stocking minnows. Read up on feeding and spawning shiners. Might be able to have big bags shipped to you but not sure it would be any cheaper. You interested in pink minnows called Tuffies or Shiners ?