Author Topic: Shiners been dying any advice?  (Read 5418 times)

Offline Solidja

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Shiners been dying any advice?
« on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:24 PM »
I get my shiners the night before to get an early start. I keep em in the basement in a cooler with a bubbler. It's about 50-55 degrees down there. When I get on the lake I have no problem settin out my tip ups and poles but by the time I'm done the remainder of the bait in the pail start to die.I tried adding small amounts of lake water but it hasn't been working. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Offline MrPike

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #1 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:27 PM »
Try adding ice to your water at home, get the water a little cooler

Offline Solidja

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #2 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:29 PM »
Makes sense. Boy do I feel stupid! Thanks !

Offline snowman3406

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #3 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:29 PM »
Are you putting too many in too small of a container?  Shiners don't hold as well in numbers as fatheads or rosies do.

Offline Solidja

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #4 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:31 PM »
Bout 2 dozen in a regular bait pail.

Offline pfscott

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #5 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:33 PM »
I can't keep a dozen in a regular pail. usually stick with 1/2 doz. max. But, I can only run 3 lines, so a half doz. does me ok.

Offline teamlund

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #6 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:38 PM »
This week I had the best luck ever with minnows. Instead of bringing them in the house with an aerator I left them in the garage with the aerator.... I have lost 1 minnow all week (shiners)...When I get up in the morning I do have some ice in the bucket but nothng major......
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Offline drl823

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #7 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:39 PM »
Try adding ice to your water at home, get the water a little cooler
If it's city water the chlorine will kill the fish as it melts. Keep them in an unheated garage or bulkhead, just keep an aerator on. I have a 100 gal tank in my garage and have only about 4 or five since October. My water temp is about 35-38 degrees.

Offline drl823

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #8 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:41 PM »
If it's city water the chlorine will kill the fish as it melts. Keep them in an unheated garage or bulkhead, just keep an aerator on. I have a 100 gal tank in my garage and have only about 4 or five since October. My water temp is about 35-38 degrees.
have only lost about 4 or 5.....

Offline Solidja

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #9 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:43 PM »
Gonna try 2 pails and add some ice to the cooler. Can't afford to lose too many at 7 bucks a dozen. Use to trap my own but can't anymore with these new regulations. Thanks for all the help.

Offline snowman3406

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #10 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:46 PM »
I used to use a 10 gallon fish tank with a hanging filter rated for a 20-30 gallon tank in my basement.  This set up would easily keep 6 or 7 dozen alive for 2 or 3 weeks.  You can prob get the set up for around 30 bucks, and would be a lot cheaper than killing them off at that cost.  They run around 4 bucks a dozen here for mediums, and I thought that was a bit steep.

Offline hntrboy

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #11 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:47 PM »
Don't fish shiners.....the day they are born they're lookin for an excuse to die. I use sucker minnows....there tough.     Friend told me a shiner needs current passing over its gills to keep it alive..I've had nothing but trouble with shiners.....just me.

Offline teamlund

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #12 on: Jan 30, 2011, 08:48 PM »
My mins are in 100% city water all the time.... But who knows what they do and dont put in the water?
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Offline jammer icecube

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #13 on: Jan 30, 2011, 09:02 PM »
Insulated bait bucket in GARAGE inside 5 gal. pail.I can keep a dozen+ for a week no problem.

Offline 1MOFISH

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #14 on: Jan 30, 2011, 09:04 PM »
I get my shiners the night before to get an early start. I keep em in the basement in a cooler with a bubbler. It's about 50-55 degrees down there. When I get on the lake I have no problem settin out my tip ups and poles but by the time I'm done the remainder of the bait in the pail start to die.I tried adding small amounts of lake water but it hasn't been working. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
you need to check the baitshops water temperature ive found that the warmer the water the sooner the shiners flame out you need to keep water either warm or cold shiners done acclimate well make sure baitshops water is coldddddd
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Offline fishingabomb2006

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #15 on: Jan 30, 2011, 09:22 PM »
i keep them in a cooler in the garage, i buy mine by the pound and last a while changin out a gallon of water a day from the 15-20 gallons in the cooler and adding those tablets or powder to the water before i change the water to condition it. had bait last from first of the year till mid march some years as long as i change out water
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Offline UpstateNYiceguy

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #16 on: Jan 30, 2011, 09:22 PM »
The issue is the dissolved oxygen content of the water.  Colder water has a higher dO2 carrying capacity than warmer water.  No matter how hard you aerate 55 degree water, it will only hold so much oxygen.  Keep your bait as close to freezing temp as possible (without actually freezing).  If you are holding a lot of bait in a pail, partial water changes are necessary to reduce nitrogen build up (product of fish waste).  I can hold 2-3 dozen small shiners in an insulated 5 gallon pail in my garage for weeks by only doing partial water changes every few days.

Also, by holding bait at a colder temp, it will less likely die from shock when baited and sent down the hole.  shiners are not that shock resistant, unlike suckers.
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Offline rdhammah

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #17 on: Jan 30, 2011, 09:26 PM »
i change out the baitshop's water as soon as i get home. i put in cold water and treat if for the chlorine. i keep the leftovers in a 30 gal fish tank for weeks at a time. i still have 1 1/2 doz left over from last feb in a 10 gal tank. they are now pets and not used for bait.

Offline teamlund

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #18 on: Jan 30, 2011, 09:28 PM »
i change out the baitshop's water as soon as i get home. i put in cold water and treat if for the chlorine. i keep the leftovers in a 30 gal fish tank for weeks at a time. i still have 1 1/2 doz left over from last feb in a 10 gal tank. they are now pets and not used for bait.

do you feed them? if so, what do they eat?
Northern pike are for guys that cant catch walleye :v)

Offline tipup_time

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #19 on: Jan 30, 2011, 09:34 PM »
there is stuff you buy that turns the water blue. its a treatment and conditioner for the water and it works wonders.
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Offline Krimpen

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #20 on: Jan 30, 2011, 09:45 PM »
Put em in a mesh bag suspended in the lake through an additional hole in the ice.

Offline rdhammah

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #21 on: Jan 30, 2011, 09:58 PM »
do you feed them? if so, what do they eat?
if i keep them for over a week, i will feed them a little. my fishy friends have a ravenous appetite. i feed them cheap gold fish flake food. walmart carries it. they have 2 grades. the cheapest one is fine.

Offline edfalc

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #22 on: Jan 31, 2011, 01:43 AM »
i have found that mixing shiners & suckers kills them off quick with the shiners giving up first
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Offline numbskull

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #23 on: Jan 31, 2011, 06:54 AM »
This sounds stupid but it works!  If you have a sump pump, put a floating minnow bucket in it.   The water is cool and fresh and if your system is "active" you have fresh water about every hour.  I have kept minnow alive for weeks in my crock in the spring.

Offline Ice Dog 67

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #24 on: Jan 31, 2011, 11:30 AM »
Baitkeeper............ ....just started using it and it works wonders!!!  Have had some of the same shiners for 3 weeks, in bait pails, change out half the water every other day, and about 15 minutes of aeroater on alternate days.  Lost maybe 6

Offline Fishn'Rod

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #25 on: Feb 01, 2011, 10:27 AM »
This might sound too obvious but after having the same problem I took my pail and gave it a good cleaning with oxyclean and then rinsed it real good. My pail wasn't gross or anything but the cleaning helped quite a bit.

Offline The Dowagiac Dangler

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #26 on: Feb 01, 2011, 11:20 AM »
try adding "Quik-Start" to your bait pail, the same stuff you would use for aquarium fish. i put ten drops in my bait pail, and along with my bubbler, i dont lose one normally. it replaces the natural slime coat on the fish that they lose when they get stressed.

Offline on_point

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Re: Shiners been dying any advice?
« Reply #27 on: Feb 02, 2011, 07:14 AM »
Any drastic temp fluctuations seems to always be pretty hard on minnows.   One of the first things I do whenever I buy bait or are taking them from a warm enviroment to a cooler one is I will make several snowballs and pack them really hard with bare hands.  Once you drop it in the water it will bubble from the air pockets trapped inside and help cool the water at the same time.   It seems to work pretty good for me so far.

 



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