Bass-Addict

Now how do I catch minnows?

Your buddy tried it in creeks/rivers with a variety of bait and no success??

Yup that’s my plan once I can walk. Could you possibly address the questions I asked J Francho in the post above yours?

I can’t my heel is broken, otherwise I would lol

Ok you’ve made that point clear, lol can you please advise me on any of the following? 1. How do you supposed the bacon got eaten, is the bait cage too exposed? If so would a stocking actually work? I thought they had to be able to feed on it for them to stay in the trap? 2. Would a raw chicken drumstick stay in the bait cage or would small minnows and other creatures eventually pick it apart too? If so should I stick it in a stocking inside the bait cage or just a stocking by itself? I really am pleased with how snug the bait cage sits suspended right in the middle of the trap, I’m pretty proud of myself ? it was a lot of Mcgyver work. 3. Placement - I have been leaving in a shallow current with lots of rocks where I have had great success catching crawdads by hand. However, I have lost a trap there. This time I put heavy rocks all around and on top of it and the trap was still there but the rocks were gone, not sure if canoes hit them or what. Is it just as effective in still water, what kind of conditions should I look for? Thanks!

I am injured and so am unable to wade the water catching crawdads like I was. I am having trouble with the traps and there is too much of a learning curve on the cast net. Would it be possible to use a small seine net from my kayak, like anchor it into the shallow riverbed right along the rocky bank and start flipping rocks and then get them out?

Is it possible the bacon disintegrated or do you think it just got eaten? Would a raw chicken drumstick work better you think and stay intact in the bait cage? Lastly, should I not be leaving this trap in current even if it’s slow moving, should I opt instead for still water?

Would bacon work in a stocking? I already have that, rather not buy anything. Wouldn’t it be more effective in the bait cage if I just checked back sooner? What do you think ate it?

Went back to check today and the bacon was all gone. How is that possible? It was in that bait cage. Minnows? What do you suggest? I only left it 24 hours.

Just picked one up at my local fishing spot, how does it work do I fill it with a bit of water and toss the minnows in and throw it in the water?

Yeah. Frabill the way to go you think or aerated bucket on kayak?

Gotcha. Seems like a lot, how long do they even live for? I might just stick w getting them every time I go out of the trap and tossing in the frabill, one less step.

Oh nice that’s a good idea, how much is a bait tank, and is it difficult to keep running?

Nice, if I’m kayaking will a frabill flowtroll minnow bucket w holes in the water not work? My issue is I’m worried the water will get warm even w an aerator, I’m on the water 6-7 hours in the blazing hot sun.

How long does it usually take?

I set it there for about 20-30 min in about a foot of running water just past some rapids where I see plenty of minnows while I fished off the bank. Is it possible it wasn’t a long enough time or deep enough? Please tell me how you did it, in as specific detail as you can! What size bottle, bait, location, duration etc. How do you keep crawdads from going in?

I tried this w bread in a homemade version w a water bottle, didn’t work. Any idea why?

Is this a good one? https://www.memphisnet.net/product/3804/traps-fish-minnow What do I use as bait and how many can I expect after 24 hours? Will I be guaranteed shiners most of the time?

I actually have a fractured foot right now so not really an option unfortunately, but I am 100% going to try a seine as soon as I can. So you definitely wouldn’t even try a 3.5’ cast net @ 1/4” in a 3-5 ft deep river? I’ve seen my buddy do it before, he caught minnows. How will it get torn up? If so what’s my best option for minnows?

Gotcha. Do cast nets not work well in creeks? I like the idea of being able to get bait as I need it. How well do traps work? I’m looking for shiners I think.

I’m debating between the two, cast net seems more fun but minnow trap seems more practical. Will both yield good results? I’m on a shallow narrow river/creek about 3-5 ft deep, although there are several 7-10 ft holes.

Hmmm it’s a little bit down river from the drop in, being injured it is quite a production getting all of my gear unloaded and in the water, and I can’t paddle today as I’m leaving town and it’s going to rain here in an hour anyway. I suppose I could buy an inner tube and float down to it then swim back upstream, you think it’s worth all of that or should I just leave it until Monday and hope there’s still something in there? I saw the frabill traps dropped down to $7.99 on Amazon so I went ahead and snatched up 2 more, so if someone steals or destroys it I will have more by then but I did sort of hide and secure it between two large flat rocks so it’s harder to see, I wonder if rain could still wash it away or if anything could still be alive in there? How do they find their way back out, I thought that was the whole point that they couldn’t?

Why is that too long?

Good to hear that you got a range of sizes, I’m hopeful I will as well. To be clear, I actually did not get 10 of the size I want, only one of the craws I caught yesterday caught a fish. The rest wore out and died from overcasting, nothing even nibbled them even after taking the claws off. Hopefully there are some bite sized ones in my trap.

Only issue I’m finding is the craws that seem attracted to this bait are on the larger size. I rarely have success with the bigger ones, they almost always seem to go after the smaller ones. Will smaller ones go into the trap too if I leave it long enough? If not, is there any other way to catch them other than by hand?