The inevitable "When to start trapping bait" thread

[Jay Fat City]

Hey gang,

Yeah, it looks like I will be the one to ask this season: when do you feel is the best time to start trapping/catching your bait for the upcoming season? This will be my third year doing so. Year One: I started about a week or so before Thanksgiving. By then, I was catching stragglers as the majority of my shiners had headed to the deep water of my local pond. Last year, I think I started right about now or maybe even as late as the week after Halloween. I caught a TON of bait, so much that I ended up giving some away at the end of the season. While I had very few die off, the catch rate really slowed as the season wound down. Not sure if it was the bait or operator error.

Anyway, just looking for a few pointers from you more seasoned vets.

Jay

[treeguymark]

  trap on and off all year gonna start getting serious about it soon . and you have   your catches slow down as the season moves on as o2 levels deplete under the ice .

[JIGGIN-]

Best to start now. As long as you have a place to keep them alive and watch weather temps. Once weather starts getting colder, they start going dormant.

[Jay Fat City]

Thanks! I think I'll chuck 'em out Monday night. I moved to a new apartment with a giant basement and a full garage so I have plenty of space to manage my bait this year.

[JIGGIN-]

Might want to think about keeping them in a holding cage in the waters from which you trap from until the temps cool down enough to bring them home.

Of course the potential problem of theft is always there too by doing it that way.

Just a thought.

[draz]

We usually start now, but not sure we are going to trap this year. Thinking of trying to go baitless this year for the big lakes only jigs, etc (w/electronics). As for the bass and pickerel lakes and ponds, I will most likely buy as we don't do much of that anymore and just too much work for only a couple of times (think we went only 3x last year, other than that we were on Winni or New Found), now that boys are older and are willing to travel. We'll see how this works out, can always trap through the ice.

Like others have said, just keep them cold.

[moosehunter]

be another few weeks for me till the weather gets colder.

[Swampdonkey]

I must be the odd man out. I don't start till the bait ponds I trap are frozen.

[Jay Fat City]

I put my traps out for the first time last night. I have a feeling they'll have floated away when I go to retrieve them. Water was waaaaaay higher than I expected.

[Jay Fat City]

Okay ... Who else has caught an eel in their minnow traps before? Pulled mine tonight and got an unwanted surprise.