Home-made home bait tanks??

[joewildlife]

Guys,
I fish once a week all summer long here in SE Missouri, night fish, and we use minnows. We spent $18 last week on enough minnows for three of us in the boat for just one night. I can get twice as many minnows (20 dozen or so)for $13/pound if I pick them up right away when the truck comes to the bait store and keep 'em alive by myself.

I'm thinking about setting up a bait tank in the garage. Have any of you done this successfully, and do you NEED to keep the water temp down with a cooling unit or does air temp in the summer heat up the water too much? Any ideas are welcome, including details on a filter system. I was thinking about making a copper tubing coil and running it into the dorm-sized beer fridge I have on my workbench, and running tank water through the tubing to cool the tank. don't know if that will work or not....

we just spend a lot when we buy minnows by the dozen...and then waste a lot when we don't use 'em all up in a given night. the local bait stores will not sell by the pound unless we pre-order them and pick them up right away. wish they would sell by the pound whenever, but they don't.

also, would I be better off getting fathead minnows for my home bait tank or will the golden shiners work okay? right now, the only fatheads I can get are rosy reds and they are too small
Joe

[Buzz]

Hey Joe,

The lady I buy my minnows from swears that cooling the water will keep them alive but as soon as you leave with them from home they will die quickly. She uses a large rubbermaid tank and has this blue stuff she treats the water with. She is setup in a small room with a window air conditioner set on about 74 which runs 24/7. Her way must work pretty well because I've never had more than 1 or 2 minnows die all day.

Later,
Buzz

[beenfishin?]

friend of mine had a bait shop. His minnows outlasted everyone elses and he NEVER had them cooled. Kept his shop around 76 and just areated the water. Used the same blue stuff to treat the water. Never buy minnows from a COLD bait shop. He closed and now the only ones I can get come from a cold shop. They start dieing off within 10 minutes of leaving the store. ALso, my dad's buddy has a chest type deep freeze that he keeps minnow in. Just puts well water in it with a bait shop type areator and keeps around 300 in it for as long as needed. When fishing, uses an areator in a 10 gallon bucket and then dumps unused minnows back in the freezer/minnow vat.

[Ken Kinser]

Bst to just go to wal-mart and buy 10 gal fish tank, complete with pump and filter system, keeps minnows alive for months, also get the fish food i use the flakes you feed gold fish

[bobberdown]

A little salt and Hydrogenperoxid H3O, to the water and it will keep them alive and well for a long ride to the lake.

[NIMROD]

If your just wanting to keep enough for personnal use try a plastic tub. But if you want to save money cut a clean plastic 55 gallon barrel in half. I used to use minnows and bream for bait. The main thing is keep them cool ,not cold.You can add ''small'' amounts of ice to keep temps down on hot days.Out of direct sunlight and aireated well. Haul them in the largest volume of water possiable for your vehicle or boat. Do not feed them as it containates the water and forms ammonia quicker. That will kill them and water needs to be changed every few days. Watch out because city water contains Chlorine which will kill bait. The salt or blue stuff will help keep fungus down and make bait live better.

[ShilohRed]

I have a 100 gallon stock tank. And a pump that I have PVC sticking up out of the water. I can keep minnows in it for a few weeks. It's sitting on a concrete floor.
Also have a 30 gallon tank in the boat that I can keep them alive for a week or so in it. I keep about a lb or more in it at a time.
Pete

[Mack]

I rarely use minnows, but, when I bought this lake house, it had an old claw foot bath tub beside my screen room. I use it for minnows.

The funny thing is I never add water, just natural rainwater keeps it full.
I never feed them, i guess they eat mosquito larvae or bugs.

I have not added any fish in over two years, and the three to four dozen fish that are in it now, have grown to almost 4 inches long.

My grandkids love looking and playing with them.

[wannabe fisherman]

[QUOTE=Mack]I

"The funny thing is I never add water, just natural rainwater keeps it full. "


If you lived in L'ville they would be dried out by now. We.re not as bad as the rest of Ky.,but still VERY dry.

[ShilohRed]

[quote=wannabe fisherman]

I

"The funny thing is I never add water, just natural rainwater keeps it full. "


If you lived in L'ville they would be dried out by now. We.re not as bad as the rest of Ky.,but still VERY dry.

Same way here. Been 7+ weeks without rain. Grass is dead. Trees are dieing also.
Shoot its so dry, That the poison oak is even dieing.
Pete