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Author Topic: keeping minnows alive  (Read 39662 times)

broken rod

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keeping minnows alive
« on: Mar 22, 2004, 07:19 PM »
 you guys got any good tricks for keeping a large quanity of minnows alive durring the summer months
tight lines, chuck

howey1176

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Re: keeping minnows alive
« Reply #1 on: Mar 22, 2004, 11:56 PM »
I'm very fortunate. I have a small pond (little smaller than an acre) in my backyard. I have screen cages that I have built to keep them in. Can keep them alive all season if the bluegill in the pond don't stress them out too much. Other than that one of those big galvanived watering troughs for livestock with a good filtration and aeration system would work good also.
Harold

reelcharacter

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Re: keeping minnows alive
« Reply #2 on: Mar 23, 2004, 12:13 AM »
Perhaps the best vessel I can think of for keeping minnows in a stream or pond is a  Washing Machine
washtub. They have well distributed holes and will not rust.

-Reelcharacter
Email me to swap information on fishing holes or to go fish'in sometime in the Syracuse Central NY area (Onondaga and Madison county water holes in particular).

mike692

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Re: keeping minnows alive
« Reply #3 on: Mar 23, 2004, 07:16 AM »
I keep minnows alive in Rubbermaid totes, with an aerator. The key to keeping them alive in the summer is to not overcrowd, and keep the water cool and clean. I have a root cellar attached to my basement that runs in the high 50's during the hottest part of the summer it's great for keeping minnows.
If you seine them, don't take anymore than you can use in one or two trips. I have even returned leftover minnows to the stream where I seined them. Then I don't have to live with a bucket of dead minnows. They will be there the next time I seine.

zuke852000

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Re: keeping minnows alive
« Reply #4 on: Mar 24, 2004, 01:58 PM »
if you want the cheap method... Ice cubes... as they melt they oxygenate the water and also keep it form warming too much.
ZUKE

MikeMo

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Re: keeping minnows alive
« Reply #5 on: Mar 25, 2004, 04:56 PM »
I use the ice cube method too works great!

TroutFishingBear

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Re: keeping minnows alive
« Reply #6 on: Mar 26, 2004, 05:56 PM »
redneck method:

put them on a little stringer. Only about 10/stringer because they will crowd each other out after more.

Mackdaddy21

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Re: keeping minnows alive
« Reply #7 on: May 05, 2004, 10:46 PM »
I have heard that filling a cheap kiddie wading pool with water from the place you catch your minnows, and putting rocks and other forms of cover in it work awesome. Use two or three fairly good sized aerators, and cover the pool at night so cats and foxes and the like won't eat your hard earned minnows. This way you can raise your own. Suckers, chubs, shiners, and even small carp are great. Shad too. Keeo a thermometer in the water and make sure it stays cool enough and warm enough, and change the water sometimes.

Tyler

Mac Attack

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Re: keeping minnows alive
« Reply #8 on: Apr 26, 2014, 10:21 PM »
This was when I started the process of keeping minnows.
Used a 125 gallon aquarium in my basement.
It worked just ok.
















Then I moved operations out to the garage and used a large tote.








This was my final tank -




That picture was the very beginning stages.
I had built a large biological filtration system for it.
The tank was 100 gallons and easily held 1000 minnows in the winter months.
During summer months when the water warmed I had to reduce the count to below 250

The trick to keeping minnows, especially emerald shiners, is cold water and a dark environment.
Really cold!!!
34-35F
Just above freezing.
Lowers their metabolism.
They don't need to eat as much and then they don't create waste (ammonia).
Lower the stress and they will keep.

Gave it all away last year when they opened back up the bait corridors in NY.

Next project was going to be a small 5 cu ft chest freezer converted into a chilled bait tank at my place on Lake Erie.
Complete with aeration and filtration.

I never did that.

Here is a link to how to convert a large chest freezer into a fridge.
Guys do this and seal them up with aquarium silicone to hole water.
They work awesome and don't cost a ton to keep cold.

https://johnlvs2run.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/chest-fridge-conversion/#more-1061 

 ;D




 



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