Traping Shiners for bait

[mr.bass]

I have heard guys talking about it. What is the best time of the year trap shiners and what are the best shiner traps. Also any tips on where they hide in ponds.

All info is appreciated thanks.

[Roncarr]

you can get them through the ice its not easy but doable. late oct to ice up is usually good .look for small golf course sized ponds my best ponds were near office buildings . use store bought traps or make your own out of chicken wire i just use bread for bait a lot of guys use dog/cat food . I would get some 100 lb mono line to use to tie to the trap keeps your traps from getting stolen hide the line under the water ram a stick in the mud/sand to tie to. leave your traps overnight and check every day checking them at night helps them not to be detected by thieves and i have had luck using green glow sticks in the traps specially through the ice . good luck its not an easy game and takes a lot of time to find good spots when your driving keep an eye out for these small ponds. good luck Ron

[jtk]

ive never trapped but i know for a fact the bigger square traps are what u want.

[Roncarr]

check this out a shanty member from nh made this i have not yet tried to copy it but i will this summer looks sick

[jtk]

thats awesome. looks simple to make. it looks like he just used zip ties.

[SilverCityJiggerNut]

What type of ponds hold bait......i assume its trial and error?  I used to have a nice pond we would actually catch them with breadballs and striper fish with them.  Should i expect all bodies of water like that to hold some type of bait?

[bogmanjr]

check this out a shanty member from nh made this i have not yet tried to copy it but i will this summer looks sick
(Image removed from quote.)

I was thinking of building a "cloverleaf" trap also but then I read that the trap can't have larger than a 1" hole? Is that correct in Ma. Pretty sure I read in the F&W abstract's on Bait trapping.

[DasRottweiler]

author=bogmanjr link=topic=184003.msg1800985#msg1800985 date=1297126135]
I was thinking of building a "cloverleaf" trap also but then I read that the trap can't have larger than a 1" hole? Is that correct in Ma. Pretty sure I read in the F&W abstract's on Bait trapping.

That is exactly why NHFnG deemed that trap illegal for use in NH. Entrances are larger than a 1" diameter circle. Where`s that dead horse GiF when ya need it?

[SilverCityJiggerNut]

How are the bog ponds for bait.....and does the absrtact govern private bodies of water or just public?

[DasRottweiler]

Not sure how that works in MA Jiggernut, but I will tell ya, ya gutta try as many places as possible to find a few that will produce come late fall/winter. I have tried an easy 75 small ponds etc, and have found 3-4 good producers. It ain`t easy.  If using multiple traps in MA, ya need to pick up a "Shiner Permit"  which allows up to 10 traps , I believe. Licensed anglers in MA are only allowed one trap. If the regs are the same governing trap size etc, I would stay away from the trap Ron posted a pic of, same pic went to Sgt Bryant (FnGNH) and was determined to be illegal for use in NH because of the openings. Just research the rules, and try looking/scouting for baitponds/creeks during summer , so you are all set for the coming hardwater season. As Ron said above, Oct seems to be the time to get started filling the bait tanks. Also use the search option on the site->  http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?action=search to find baittank setups and tips as well as bait trapping threads. Most of all be persistent, try everywhere.

[SilverCityJiggerNut]

Thanks for the info.....ill be scouting soon and well see what comes of it.

[GrizlyGarou]

They like vertical structure if you're looking in a big pond for them. Try just deeper than the cattails. I'd suggest you wait until the ice melts to go hunting for them unless you have a really good auger and a lot of time on your hands. 9 times out of 10 you'll get nothing until you find your honey hole, and open water you can just look at the surface to see if they're in there then toss a trap on their heads instead of punching holes for nothing.

Follow a great blue heron around if you see one flying towards a pond, they eat shiners.

[BrianJT1972]

I just started trapping shiners this year under the ice, and i've had some pretty decent luck in some small ponds/swamps in Northern Berkshire county. It seems, from my limited experience, that the larger the pond, the harder it is to find bait. I had good luck in a small swamp near Plainfield pond, but that seems to have slacked off lately. I'm currently trying some smaller ponds in the Adams/North Adams areas.

It's a great source of bait - when you can find a good pond, and can get your traps, you can generally get 75 to a 100 shiners of varying size with 3 traps. My brother-in-law and I have a 55 gallon tank with an aerator set up in his basement that keeps the fish alive for quite some time, with a little maintenance.

I use traps like this one:

They seem to be available in different colors, but friends of mine say the only ones that work are silver, so that's what I bought.

What i generally do is auger 3 or 4 holes connected to each other (I have an 8 inch auger, and the trap is about a foot wide at the middle), crumble up some bread to throw in the trap, tie each trap off to a stick and sink it, then cover the hole and the sticks in snow - this hides the hole from poachers, as well as insulates it, so the hole won't freeze up on you as quickly. I leave the traps in for 2 to 3 days.

From my perspective, trapping bait is actually harder than actual ice fishing. Generally, all the good ponds are off in wooded areas that aren't right off the road. The place i trapped last night i took me about an hour to get to because we had to carry the auger and traps, through hip deep snow with a sheet of frozen snow on top of it. It was cold out, but I was sweating by the time i got there. Also, it's not always easy to auger 3 or 4 holes EXACTLY next to each other, so sometimes you end up hacking at the ice with a hatchet to fit the trap in. And you will probably get pretty wet, both putting the traps in, and - if you lose the strings - pulling them out.

Still, it beats paying $10 for a dozen

[AugerMan28]

I also found that turkey or chicken off the bone works well.  One time I pulled up a huge pollywog,  thought that might be the ticket to a monster bass,  no such luck. 

I had a great shiner pond and then all of a sudden I pulled up nothing but baby hornpout,  like dozens.  And not one shiner.   And then the trap got stolen, end of that pond.

[SilverCityJiggerNut]

Should the trap fish bottom or suspend in the water colum?  Most likley trial and error.......just trying to elimanate the errors.  Thanks again

[DasRottweiler]

I sit mine right on the bottom. Dry dawg food in mesh bags-that way they don`t get in and chew n screw, they hang around picking at the mesh bag to get at the bait. I started a thread about trapping here last year-> http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=118411.0
Another good read for tank ideas that Ron Carr started-->http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=120188.0

[SilverCityJiggerNut]

Thanks again......not one trap wet and i feel like a pro! 

[Iceholes]

Thanks again......not one trap wet and i feel like a pro! 

You may feel that way now, but wait until you throw traps in ponds for several weeks and get nothing!   

It is a trial and error type game, and it may take a while to find your "honey holes"  but once you do you should be able to trap in there for years to come...as long as you don;t overfish your own supply!

I have my spots, and trap in them from Oct-Ice In.  I use a trap like the one above and set it on the bottom in about 3-6' of water.  Mostly use bread pieces for bait.

been setting a trap this year while out on the ice in bigger places and have yet to come up with anything in the trap.

A tip for when you are out scouting the smaller ponds, aside from looking for a heron, check the surface of the warer, if shiners are active it will almost look like it is raining.

Good Luck!

[SilverCityJiggerNut]

Thanks!  I used to trap as a kid...20 years later and its like 1st grade again.  Ill start with the notes of old and be sure to ask questions as they come!  Thanks again for the support and insight!  Glad to see so many teachers out there.....the good ones are never afraid of job security its all in the exacution of things!

[jtk]

now im excited to go and try to trap bait come ice out. when u said small swamps how samll is small. cause i have one across the street from my house that is about 1/2 acre or so. never thought shiners would be in it.

[SilverCityJiggerNut]

from what i have read....if its water   it just might hold bait?  still looking for the public/private rules.....i know with hunting if its farmland no license or permits are required to harvest certain game.  just didnt know if johnny law had reach into private non public waterways.  might just be covering all bases and checking on a shiner permit and the in's ad out's.  ignorance to law is no excuse to break it