How do you keep live minnows alive in the fridge?

[Trophy Hunter]

Anyone got any suggestions on how to keep minnows alive in the fridge? Was wondering about feeding them? Changing the water and if tap water was ok ?

[mike692]

I have never kept my minnows in the fridge. I keep them in my cool basement in rubbermaid containers with an aerator. My first batch lived 5 weeks before I used them all up. My current batch is going on three weeks.
Here's a good thread we had awhile back on this subject;
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=8976.0

[Trophy Hunter]

Thanks Mike

[rgfixit]

Don't let your wife see them

I have a summer bait fridge in the basement. I have a 7 gallon bucket with an aquarium filter and aerator. I keep it at 45 degrees and minnows last about  2 weeks with no feeding.

RG

[Sandman]

In the winter I keep them in a 5 gal bucket and feed them a snowball daily. Seems to work well. A tray of ice cubes if no snow.
Rest of the year I keep them in my BBBF. That's basement beer/bait fridge. Temp at 36. Good for all bait and beer. Gotta keep the spkies as long as I can and the minnows last. I think their metabalizm slows and they don't need to feed as often. By the time they are hungry. They became the food. You just have to pull them in the same temp water and let that water warm to the outside conditions.

[Polar]

I keep mine in the cold cellar,(stays at 45 )with a charcol filter and air.Once a week I put 3-4 krill pellets for food

[grumpymoe]

no feeding unless they are on the hook. keep freshening the water with a small bucket of fresh snow daily, until the bucket is full. then remove water and top with fresh snow again. if i keep them in the refridgerator, i add 2-3 drops of hydrogen peroxide, ( not the hairdressor kind)  but 10 volume and they keep forever. as long as you keep them just above freezing, they last for quite awhile.

[pot-belly-perch]

feed them any left over spikes  & keep changeing the water  also how to keep walleyes  in livewell
so they dont die in summer use ice cubs
hope I helped you

Steve

[Trophy Hunter]

 :)Thanks guy's never even thought about ice cubes in the livewell have to keep that in mind for when I get a boat 

[Lobes]

Distract them ...
Tell them to count from one to one hundred!        

[biggruper]

I keep mine in the cold cellar,(stays at 45 )with a charcol filter and air.Once a week I put 3-4 krill pellets for food

i have a ? about the minows,    do they always stay alivie for sher

[wyogator]

I keep them in an old 29 gallon aquarium, set up just like pet fish. I keep it on the screened-in porch with the heater set at 45 degrees. I don't have to worry about this during summer, since I only use minnows during ice season. After that, it's dry flies and nymphs only, unless I am fishing reservoirs with Rapalas.

[grumpymoe]

trophy hunter  while keeping your minnows refridgerated is a great idea for winter, its not for hotter temperatures. going from 45 degrees to 70-75 degree water is too much of a shock for them..same as going from hot to cold. you know what happens when you fall in...same thing

[Trophy Hunter]

Thanks again guys all the info is greatly appreciated as of know I have been adding snow and they are all still swimming 8)

[missfishylicious]

I have a small outdoor pond with goldfish.So I keep them in the cellar in a large rubbermaid tub (the big trunk sized one with the lid removed).I made a filter out of a 5gallon pail I cut a hole in the bottum and covered it with a thick piece of foam rubber put a big mesh bag in there and filled it with filter charcoal and put a piece of foam rubber on top.drilled a small hole just under the rim of the bucket ,just big enough to fit the hose from the pump into and hooked the opther end onto my small pond pump.put the pump in the bottum of the tub and put the bucket on top of a cement block standing on end.the water trickles down and the block gives the goldfish a place to hide.we just drop our minnow bucket in there when we get home i don't feed them and they holdup pretty good you have to remove a few casualties now and then.

[Fat Boy]

Don't let your wife see them

  RG, you and I think alike!

Since you own that punch line, I'll try this one:

Don't put them on your pizza and eat them!

[reelcharacter]

I think the first thing in successfully keeping minnows in the fridge has to do with the wife.     Took me years to get her around th the idea of keeping spikes and worms in the fridge, can't imagine ever getting the good housekeeping seal of approval to keep minnows . . .

. . . and, wouldn't dare suggest it was just my own special brand of cool-aide. 

-Reelcharacter

[WFDfirefighter]

You mean you don't run out of bait everyday!!!! 
I don't either   I keep my left over bait in a slop sink in the basement where it stays cool.  Make sure you don't leave a light on as sometimes they will jump out if it is light where they are kept.  (the cat loves that!)

[big walleye]

Trohy Hunter I use baitsaver and change the water once a week. I never lose any monnows and the baitsaver makes them very active. 8) 8) 8)

[grumpymoe]

we're going to have to get big walleye to post the manufacturer of his baitsaver...if i didn't see it with my own eyes, i wouldn't have believed it...several dozen large chubs that he has kept most of the winter, were drained from the minnow bucket and placed in a closed lid strainer as live bait not allowed on the lake(s) we were at..now...over 3 hours later....still wiggling....releases into the water....withing a couple minutes....all swam off....tough minnows??? or good baitsaver???  grump

[Trophy Hunter]

Hey guys just want to update you on my minnows They are all still alive and well and I didn't even change the water it isn't all that dirty even and if you can believe this I took one minnow and put it in a clear 2 litre pop bottle with tap water for my little girl because she kept going to the fridge and saying fish fish  I thought it would die the same day but no way it is still alive! Must be tough minnows

[crappieman12887]

Don't let your wife see them

  RG, you and I think alike!

Since you own that punch line, I'll try this one:

Don't put them on your pizza and eat them!

why not there pretty tasty just like smelt, try them you will like i am sure of it just alittle salt to taste perfect.bill

[big walleye]

Here goes.  This is the stuff I use to keep my minnows alive. Do not use for leeches as it kills them.

The following is what is on the bottle:

Baitsaver
The original Minnow holding formula
reduces bait losses and increases profits
Baitsaver, the original "blue water" formula is designed to reduce bait losses and increase profits when holding soft,scaled baitfish, such as Missouri and flathead minnows. Baitsaver reduces stress,hardens cales and instantly removes chlorine and heavy metals.

Be careful with this stuff everyone as it stains.