catching bait fish

[reelfisher]

do you catch your own bait for ice fishing?  I'm from northern NJ and fairly new at ice fishing and always buy my bait. If you do catch your bait where do you go to catch it and what do you use as a bait. Is it to cold to catch anything now??

[bait trap]

You got some reading ahead of you there is a wealth of info in this section of the shanty as well as in my head, others here.  I have bought bait a handful of times only when I was looking for a specific size of bait particularly XXL jumbo golden shiners.  I trap pretty much from end of Oct early Nov all through winter if I need bait.  I usually can get a seasons worth of bait about 200-300doz in two to three wks.  I started out with a couple of the gees minnow traps when I was a kid, o still use 4 of them in areas where other people are trapping,  but my primary traps are homemade 2'x2' cloverleaf traps made from 1/4" hardware cloth. I have about a doz of those., and four 1'X1'x2' rectangle homemade traps.  I really only need probably 4traps total, but I have traps set up for different types of bait shiners, jumbo shiners, suckers all require different size openings.  I use a mix of dry dog/catfood and old stale white bread.  Once ice forms I suspend my traps just below the bottom of the ice by a rope tied to a stick put Accross the hole cut in the ice.  Sometimes you got to play with the depth till you find them. I always trap farm pond and beaver bogs,  larger lakes ans ponds can be trapped too but it takes a while till you get on the bait and someone may steal or vandalize your gear.

[jedhead]

What size bait are you looking for and what is your target species ? Early on in the season is much better for gathering bait, but again, what are you fishing for and do you have a means to keep the bait alive after you catch it  or do you want to freeze it for dead bait. Minnow traps in small streams will produce shiners and worms and hooks will produce bigger bait if that is what you want. During the summer we seine tons of small golden shiners for the day in the shallows of the central jersey rivers we fish. You need to stock up and start early for the season if you are relying on yourself for bait or find a very reliable bait shop and be prepared to pay for it. I do both, but my main shop just closed after Sandy .
Pretty much every man for himself.

jedhead

[reelfisher]

I would like suckers but big shiners would be good. i am going after big pike. I have a spot in a river where i think i saw some suckers. how big will the hole have to be for 4-5in suckers??  Will they still be in the river (like raritan) even if its this cold?? i am thinking of setting a trap a week earlier and when im going fishing the next week i will stop by the trap and have fresh bait to use that day.

[jedhead]

If you saw suckers recently go for them! Shiners seem to disappear during the winter months. I have never used traps this time of year and have fished with a pole recently for river chubs/ fall fish and river yellow perch where I catch them all summer and have struck out. Seems like if you want to collect bait you need a finite plan to get what you need when its available, its location changes very fast . Good luck

[bait trap]

For suckers a 2-2.5" opening in the funnel should get you suckers 8-10" long,   1.5-2" funnel opening should get you 4-8" suckers.  I trap all winter and have no problems catching more bait than I can use or give away.  I usually check traps every day.  Check your local rules as they have a rule stating how long b/w checking traps  definitely have a way to keep your bait alive at home.


Check bogs swamps as those tend to be honey holes for bait.  Trapping in rivers streams Brooks you can run the risk of having your gear swept away.  Plus numbers of bait caught don't seem to.be high.  It can be done just takes a while.  The bait is there.

[robkersmarki]

I like to throw net in creeks and i do very well once you find a good spot. Trick is finding a deep enough creek to support life

[reelfisher]

im having trouble finding a creek/pond in north jersey

[bait trap]

Are there golf courses around?  Or the retention ponds in housing developments.  Use google earth and search around with that. You can find a lot of ponds that you wouldn't have known existed

[reelfisher]

i know a few golf courses. Would that be a good place to catch them? also there is a pretty big river (passaic river) 10 min from my house that im planning to trap but dnt think i will have any luck with suckers.

[bait trap]

Golf courses are real good.  Cut a hole in ice suspend your trap just below bottom of ice with line tied to a stick stuck legthwise accross the hole.  Use a mix of dry dog/cat food and white bread.  Just let them soak 24hrs and check them, if nothing rebait and lower them a couple feet, let them soak another 24hrs check them again. If nothing keep repeating till you find the depth they are suspended at.  Set over weedy bottoms.  For suckers a large trap usually home made 4' long 18" square.  Made of 1/4" hardware cloth bait with dog/cat food and a half opened can of anchovies set on a mud bottom,  you can trap the river as long as its legal to do so check your regs in your area.  Just watch your water levels in the river, I've had quite a few traps lost to mid winter rains and high water.  The funnel opening for suckers needs to be about 2" for suckers 4-8", 2-2.75" for suckers 6-10".  In Maine brooks streams some rivers are closed to fishing in winter, but a permit to trap bait is available free from the warden service. 

[reelfisher]

In the winter do suckers stay in streams or do they move to bigger rivers?

[Kevin23]

In the winter do suckers stay in streams or do they move to bigger rivers?

If the stream is deep enough and will run during no run-off times (winter), they will stay. Otherwise they head out to deeper water.

[spearinfool]

do the suckers stay on bottom in the streams?  do i need to sink the trap to bottom or will it fill up with debris?  also, i have been catching big shiners on a  lake i fish.  could i set a trap down 10 ft where i been catchin them or just under the ice?