BAIT TRAPPING MINNOWS

[pugman]

My area is NEPA, was  trying to bait trap some minnows for ice fishing, was wondering if anybody has any luck trapping minnows during the winter. I've set bait traps in some streams with deep holes where you would find minnows during the summer with no luck.

[ddgst7]

I get them every time. SW PA. Use hot dogs or cheese cubes, the bread will disintegrate, check it every 12 hours, religiously. You should get some

[hard water jim]

Been catching minnows in the winter for the last couple years. I have found the bright colored traps work best and use dog food for bait.  My bright trap catches about 10 to 1 in a black trap.

[KevinM]

I read on Fisheries.com that some people use jelly on their bread and it does better.  I tried it with a lot of success over the summer, but have not tried yet this winter.  Maybe tomorrow.  I also have found that like 2 or 3 hours seems to be the best soak time for me.  If I go much longer than that I think I lose some.

[ddgst7]

I read on Fisheries.com that some people use jelly on their bread and it does better.  I tried it with a lot of success over the summer, but have not tried yet this winter.  Maybe tomorrow.  I also have found that like 2 or 3 hours seems to be the best soak time for me.  If I go much longer than that I think I lose some.

I'm gone back and forth about this for a while man.  I think it depends on the water.  I've had good success soaking for a few hours and good success leaving it in for a day. I think that once the fish get inside the trap, they're so safe and secure in there I don't think they're going to leave if there's food and security. 

[Ice Wine]

I use lightly crushed saltine crackers, 2 per trap, set in a shallow area around 4 pm and traps are always full by morning. This is from a tiny pond that only holds golden shiners.

[ddgst7]

I use lightly crushed saltine crackers, 2 per trap, set in a shallow area around 4 pm and traps are always full by morning. This is from a tiny pond that only holds golden shiners.

Man I would love to trap some big lively Golden's.  I had a bunch a few years back I got from a dude in Toledo, some of the best bait I've ever had the bass loved em.

[Icemole]

I'm gone back and forth about this for a while man.  I think it depends on the water.  I've had good success soaking for a few hours and good success leaving it in for a day. I think that once the fish get inside the trap, they're so safe and secure in there I don't think they're going to leave if there's food and security.

Don't know how safe they are .... I've had water snakes in my traps over the years... including in winter !

[jaeger80]

Knowing the cautions they claim about dumping bait into ponds, I've been dumping leftover shiners and fatheads into my small pond for years.  This fall I saw large schools of shiners roaming and boiling on the surface feeding.  I wonder if I could set a trap under the ice and catch them?  I almost feel guilty doing that though because it's like having a minnow savings account haha...

[Icefishin Wizz]

Knowing the cautions they claim about dumping bait into ponds, I've been dumping leftover shiners and fatheads into my small pond for years.  This fall I saw large schools of shiners roaming and boiling on the surface feeding.  I wonder if I could set a trap under the ice and catch them?  I almost feel guilty doing that though because it's like having a minnow savings account haha...

When I was a kid over 50 years ago I my dad would take me to a place to buy bait for tip ups. You knocked on this guy's door and he would take you out on the pond in back of his house. With a spud he would chip some fresh ice off a bigger hole and pull out a minnow trap, the first trap I'd ever seen. Anyway, He would count out a dozen minnows for a buck and I would be off to catch some pickerel. So, to get to the point... yes you can catch minnows thru the ice on your pond. good luck.

[ddgst7]

Knowing the cautions they claim about dumping bait into ponds, I've been dumping leftover shiners and fatheads into my small pond for years.  This fall I saw large schools of shiners roaming and boiling on the surface feeding.  I wonder if I could set a trap under the ice and catch them?  I almost feel guilty doing that though because it's like having a minnow savings account haha...

I have a 10 Gallon Bucket that I drilled a bunch of holes into, that stays in the creek by my house, i deposit the bait from the trap into the bucket and the bucket stays in the creek.  Bait will stay alive for as long as I need it constantly getting fresh air and food filtered through the bucket.

[RyanW]

Been catching minnows in the winter for the last couple years. I have found the bright colored traps work best and use dog food for bait.  My bright trap catches about 10 to 1 in a black trap.

Makes sense. Essentially a beacon they come to check out and once they figure out it holds food it becomes a restaurant.

[mboyza]

Been catching minnows in the winter for the last couple years. I have found the bright colored traps work best and use dog food for bait.  My bright trap catches about 10 to 1 in a black trap.

When you say brightly colored do mean like the galvanized silver looking ones? Or are you painting them or something?

[MumbleSEED]

I don’t do this nearly as much as I once did.  However my best advice is use pepperoni pizza is bait.  Always my best success.  Seemed like I could drop the trap and come back 2 hours later with it slammed full.  Maybe the meat and bread combo?  Not the marinara?

Also never got water snakes but some crawfish always.

[wiggly812]

When you say brightly colored do mean like the galvanized silver looking ones? Or are you painting them or something?

Mboyza, hard water jim is a friend of mine, and we trap minnows all season.  He told me the galvanized ones work better than the black one I had.  I wasn't so sure at first, but over the years that has proven to be absolutely true.

[XhardwaterX]

Yeah the black ones never worked good for me. Harder to find the galvanized ones anymore.

[mboyza]

Yeah the black ones never worked good for me. Harder to find the galvanized ones anymore.

Thanks guys maybe that’s my problem. I’ll have to find a galvanized one.

[olds-Pa]

Minnows & shiners tend to congregate in backwaters to spend the winter. Find one of those on a creek that has minnows and is deep enough to cover your trap and most likely you will get your bait. Been trapping my own minnows with galvanized traps for over 50 years now. I just use 2 or 3 slices of broken bread. Locate one of these backwaters and it may be a honey hole that fills your trap with 50 in 15 minutes.

[Icefishin Wizz]

The black traps are worthless (suck) and are more expensive. IDK why but it's a proven fact look it up.

[jaeger80]

The black traps are worthless (suck) and are more expensive. IDK why but it's a proven fact look it up.

Completely agree.  Others have had luck with them, but for me they seem to avoid it like the plague.

[ddgst7]

When you say brightly colored do mean like the galvanized silver looking ones? Or are you painting them or something?

All this talk about bright traps peaked my interest.... decided to throw a chemlight in the trap.  STAAAAAACKED.

[MumbleSEED]

Same here I've been buying the black ones to replace the ones I had stolen.  Might try a light in there tonight and/or check into the galvanized one again.  Trapping minnows is something I loved to do as I was teaching my son and daughter when I would go set and check traps.  I stopped due to lack of success and them being stolen, but maybe this new advice will increase my success!

[shaved ice]

if you have a black trap , i've seen spray paint in chrome or gold at wally world  maybe you could spray them a different color, i have minnows that are 2 weeks old out in the garage right now,  bucket has maybe 2 gal of water with air pump in it , have found out that in winter you want to keep air stone up near top of water, less current seems to help, they seem to die quicker if we put the stone close to the bottom , summer it's just the opposite , stone toward the bottom. have only lost 3 or 4 out of maybe 50 or so in two weeks , i just change water every couple days with water  from another bucket that has set at least overnight to decloranate, I don't know it seems to work for us

[ddgst7]

if you have a black trap , i've seen spray paint in chrome or gold at wally world  maybe you could spray them a different color, i have minnows that are 2 weeks old out in the garage right now,  bucket has maybe 2 gal of water with air pump in it , have found out that in winter you want to keep air stone up near top of water, less current seems to help, they seem to die quicker if we put the stone close to the bottom , summer it's just the opposite , stone toward the bottom. have only lost 3 or 4 out of maybe 50 or so in two weeks , i just change water every couple days with water  from another bucket that has set at least overnight to decloranate, I don't know it seems to work for us

I just keep a 10gal bucket with several holes drilled and keep that in the creek, just have to watch for rain and high water periods but I can keep bait for the entire winter without doing any water changes or using electricity

[butcher]

if you have a black trap , i've seen spray paint in chrome or gold at wally world  maybe you could spray them a different color

I am by no means an expert, but I don't think it would be a good idea to spray paint a minnow trap. First, you would probably need to sand it or primer it before you painted it. Even then, I think it's likely a standard box store spray paint will disintegrate when the trap is in the water which not only defeats the purpose of painting it in the first place but may also release harmful chemicals into the waterway which is bad. If you really want to paint something like that, you'll probably need a good quality marine paint which I assume may cost more than a new trap anyway. IMO, it's probably easier, cheaper and safer just to buy a new trap.

I did a quick search on the sponsor pages on IceShanty and found a galvanized minnow trap at Fish307 for $15:

https://www.fish307.com/search.php?search_query=trap%20galvanized%20minnow&section=content

[hard water jim]

Been doing the bucket in the creek with holes for a couple years. Works great and keeps them nice and lively all season.

[rlusk3030]

Ironically my bait shop just stopped supplying ice fisherman and I set my first 2 liter traps out tonight hoping to procure my own bait. I will report back.