minnow traps

[1moslab]

i drop traps all year in small streams around me if the holes are iced over i chop a hole with a axe to drop the trap.i try not to leave them in for more then a couple hours ,i think when the bait is gone they try allot harder to get out.i usually use white bread it fills my traps with bait,but they do not seem to like multigrain,stupid fish!!!! i remember years ago i left one in all night the next day there was a few crayfish in the trap that went in to take bites out of the 2 drowned snakes that where to full of my minnows to get out.pretty wild.

[hook_set]

ive thrown a few of my dads traps out the past few days but no luck. think its a bit too late. definitely going to start early next year. buying bait is hurting the pockets hah 

[BaitWrangler]

Use a 2x4 to tie the trap off on the ice. I personally float my traps in the open water, so I suspend them using the 2x4 on the ice.

I tie it off so its 2-4 feet down and I bait it with white bread (none of that wheat crap) or my secret bait, pecan swirls (no joke). I ball up the bait into a couple tight balls or else it fans out and the bait just eat the scraps outside the trap. I've just sat there and watched them do that countless times.

Then you just let it soak. If you've got a good spot then less is more - pull your trap every 4 or 5 hours because I've found they DO get out. If you've got a spot where you have to work for them, pull it once a day or everyday 8 or 10 hours.

This picture is after a half hour. (If you look close you see theres wheat in there. I store my gear at my parents house and forgot my bread. My mother only had wheat or else there would be double the amount in there. Quadruple if there was pecan swirls;))

[Velcro]

I usually hit the streams with my minnow trap during spring/summer and do great but can't seem to catch any minnows there in the winter. Any tips/hints for catching them now?