If I'm gonna fish for crappie, or anything else that'll bite, I like to catch some live minnows out of the body of water I'm fishing (so the fish are accustomed to eating forage that it familiar to them) with a minnow trap made from 2 2-liter bottles. The minnows are mosquitofish, and they work really well. Does anyone have any advice on catching live bait in traps?

I make crawdad traps out of milk jugs. Cut just under the mouth of a milk jug and bury it in the mud. Put a fish head or chicken livers in it overnight. The crawdads can't climb back out and it's hard for them to swim back out the small hole in the top but it's big enough for even the biggest crawdads to get into. Poke some holes in the bottom so the water drains when you pull it out of the mud and you're good to go!

I make crawdad traps out of milk jugs. Cut just under the mouth of a milk jug and bury it in the mud. Put a fish head or chicken livers in it overnight. The crawdads can't climb back out and it's hard for them to swim back out the small hole in the top but it's big enough for even the biggest crawdads to get into. Poke some holes in the bottom so the water drains when you pull it out of the mud and you're good to go!

That sounds like a nice trap, but I'm not sure how many crawdads there are in the lake I fish at, or even where to place the trap, since I'm limited to fishing off the bank. Any advice?

I have creeks that I set mine in, they're loaded with crawdads. You might be surprised how many crawdads are in the area you're fishing. I put a few out in one lake that I didn't think had many crawdads in it but in the morning I had a few dozen crawdads! I guess I should have mentioned to bury the traps so the hole is facing the surface of the water, otherwise they could crawl out!

ive done this trap plenty of times. for a temporary trap all u need is some duct tape, two bottles and a knife. you cut the neck of one bottle right along the top of the wrapping, then cut out the bottom on the other bottle along the wrapping. now just put a cap on the bottle with a neck and insert the neck of the neckless bottle into it. now u just have to get some strips of ductape to hold it together. there are many variations of this, my favorite beinmg using either twist ties or wire to hold it together.punch some holes in a can of cat food with a screwdriver and throw that in for bait. good luck to yah

Iv always just used a cast net quick and easy

Thanks for the tips ya'll! Really helpful, I'll definately have to try the milk jug crawfish trap. Do I have to wade out to set it or just put it right off the bank?

I like to set it a little ways from the bank, otherwise you'll just end up making it an easy night for a lucky raccoon

Haha true! I'll probably try one of these out soon.