Keeping Bait ALIVE!?!?

[DaveRT]

We always take 2 doz. per person per day, and a few doz. worms just in case.  And you  think gas is expensive?  We have had good luck on brookies with worms.  I even caught a 22inch salmon in Chesuncook with a worm!

[jacksmelt71]

we have 3 smelt cabins on eagle lake at plaisted so baits not a problem. keeping them alive in a 5 gal. bucket for 3 days is. ive done reall good with worms in shallow water with a weedy bottom. gets to be a pain if there is alot of fallfish or perch though. id rather use med. smelts if i can.

[wojo]

How does this sound. Made a in the water box. Drilled it  full of small holes. Lid with small door on top. Floats around to keep a float. Will keep it in the water at a marina that uses bubbler's to keep areas from freezing. Should have plenty of clear fresh water moving around them. Plan to lock and chain box  to a floating dock. Just to keep anyone out!! ODR says we can keep up to 500 minnows with out a permit. Any suggestions ??

[Art 53]

Wojo I kina did that once I had 2 dozen shiners left up at camp was coming back next weekend so I took the metal strainer out cut a hole off shore in deep water left it there. During the week we had 3 foot of snow. I found it in the spring all a mass of white goo

[fwalch]

dont know where you guys are from, but cant buy smelt in mass, 4 " shiners are about $10 a dozen, pinheads are at least $2.50. Need to remort the house to go fishing (seems like). i keep a 20 gal aquarium in the basement, change the water (70%) every couple of days and maybe lose one shiner out of fifty a week>
only feed them 1 small pinch of goldfish food once a week

[Donquad]

Something Ive found to help keep my bait alive is to use the Aquarium chemicals called stress coat or start rite it keep the slime on the fish, and it takes impurities out of the water. Ive kept about 2 dozen big goldens in a 5 gallon bucket for weeks. Changing the water every couple of days. And it also makes tap water instantly safe for the fish.
Hope this helps!
Don

[icy mike]

live bait in Alaska is illegal (except for meal worms, waxies, crawlers...).  No use of live bait fish allowed.

[pickeral boy]

Frabile makes a mean aerator in the top of a5 gal bucket. Best investment for bout $100. Change the water once in a while and your good to go for about a week+/-. We use alot of suckers too, which seem to be more hardy than shiners.

[crappie_attitude]

Igloo 96 qt. marine cooler & a Penguin Biowheel filter that will handle a 40 gal. aquarium.  You can use the cooler during the "off" season and the filter only costs $25-$30, so it's cheap and practical.   Change some water every week (the poo comes out fine if you have the cooler resting so the debris settles on the drain end of the cooler).  Keeps 4-5 doz. minnows & a doz. shiners happy until Judgement Day.

[Mainehazmt]

this is how Im doing it this year   http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=58630.0

[amortec]

This work's great if you have a fish house that you leave on the lake. Use a two foot piece of 4' PVC pipe capped on one end,on the other install a threaded cap, install a 5/16 eye bolt in the end of the cap drill 1/4 hole's around the top end near the cap adaptor  and a couple holes in the threaded cap,place some weight in the bottom, place minnows in bait keeper and then hang under the ice. I drill a extra hole out side of the house as close as possible to another hole, tie the line off then pull the keeper up inside the house, that way you never have to worry about cutting the rope on the next trip fishing. You will need to rig up a pole to snag the line I use a broom handle with a coat hanger clamped on. Keeps your bait alive for week's 

[wiicefishing]

I keep mine in the garage in a large cheap styrofoam cooler. They always seem to die when I keep them in the basement. I even tried aquarium filters. Cold temp seems to be the trick.

[darkhousefisher]

I took a 10 gallon cooler and drilled a hole through the lid for an aerator hose.  Mounted the aerator to the lid w/ plumbers tape.  Changed 1/2 the water once or twice a week.  Fed them fish food once a week.  Kept them out in my uninsulated garage just fine.  In the winter time I would fill a 1 gallon plastic milk jug 1/2 full of hot water, and set it in the tank to keep the water from freezing, the dead air space in the jug kept the jug floating so it wouldn't squish any minnows.  Did the same thing in the summer time but used frozen milk jugs 1/2 full of ice. 

That was when I lived in Montana, here in Alaska live bait is illegal

[wetline005]

Ive tried several diffent ways to keep minnows alive, the best for me is just keep the water cold, i mean freezing cold. Add ice every other day, or set  bucket outside to get a layer of ice ontop. They will live for more than 3 weeks. If you have them longer than that, you are not fishing enough so get out there!!!!!!

[esox13]

I am trying this new product this year - THE OXYGENATOR™ U2 Pro Formula Livewell Fish & Bait Booster. So far it is working as advertised. I have been putting 6-8 drops in my bucket before heading out and I have noticed a difference in how lively they have kept while on the ice all day/night.

[4cator]

For keeping minnows alive while at the lake.

I built a minnow trap out of 6" pvc pipe about 30" long.  Put a plug on one end and put a screw cap on the other.  Drill 1/8 inch holes in the piping.  and tie a rope to it,   It will work for ya

[Big E]

A few drops of hydrogen peroxide has kept my minnows alive in the bait bucket for the last three weeks.  Last year I couldn't keep them alive much more than a week but these just keep perservering.

[4cator]

Just keep changing water out. The cleaner the better

[pete/ny]

I admire everyones perseverance and determination to keep their bait alive, but I will offer my own advice.  Instead of worrying yourself sick about keeping bait alive, why dont you just go to the bait shop and buy some everytime you go out.  I mean a buck for a scoop of minnows, you cant beat that.  

   Try $4.50 a small scoop here at Gander Mountain in Tonawanda NY, and don't forget to keep and CARRY with you the receipt for their certification!Yes certification!!!!!!!!!! What next?

[Mainehazmt]

I admire everyones perseverance and determination to keep their bait alive, but I will offer my own advice. Instead of worrying yourself sick about keeping bait alive, why dont you just go to the bait shop and buy some everytime you go out.  I mean a buck for a scoop of minnows, you cant beat that.  

  One thing that you may be lucky about is the amount of baitshops around     on a few of the lakes I go to I would have to deviate the route I take  to get to the lakes   plus times they are open and what to do with the bait if I did buy them after I was done fishing    they are sold by the dozen exactly up here so they have to take the time to count each one    plus there is the fun and Independence of "raising" your own bait  My bait outlasts the bait shops bait by at least 3 to 1  much hardier   Now if I could catch and keep smelts alive!!!

[whitepinkspikes]

i in the past owned a bait shop in canaan i did about 2/3 water change every other day. the ammonia goes to the bottom of your tank or bucket plus put about 1/2 teaspoon of salt per 40 gallons, lots of air the small blue stones work the best if your tank is big enough put a filter in it ark's love the current a filter makes, get ph paper any pet store has it keep ph around 6.0 dont feed em cuz they might get cotton fungis or body-hemmorrhagic septicemia (common name finn rot) then ya gotta use fungus-aid & or ick that keeps finn rot away.  might wanna feed em once every couple weeks if so use spinner food (i get it by the 5 gal./ bucket but ya should be able to get small amounts at a pet shop. other than that just change some water every other day stress coat also helps it puts the natural slim coat on there scales. be sure your water has no chlorine in it. other stuff i didnt mention just comes with experience i guess good luck !
keep your water cold very cold so when ya put the shinner into the lake,pond etc: they wont go into shock fact even cold enough so a little ice starts to form on top. best of luck any other assistance you need just post it good luck !

[Jack Ryan]

I've got minnows I bought on Jan 22 that are still alive. I bought two dozen crappie minnows and a dozen big gold fish minnows. After two weeks I threw out the gold fish because they were not catching any fish on them. The next day the ice started melting so I didn't get to use them all yet.

I use a styrofoam cooler that fits in a 5 gallon bucket. For about the first 2 weeks I never changed the water. After about two weeks I changed out the water with some rain water I'd captured in another cooler.

I read the peroxide tip in this thread and that's all I've been using beyond what I've stated above. I've never had minnows last this long with an areator or not. The only thing I've done is bring them in if they ice up and take them back out if the ice melts and I've put peroxide in once after about 5 days and then again when I changed the water about a week ago.

This is enough it has me convinced. I'll always use it from now on.