24 replies to this topic

[Dirka13]

Hi ive come to realise that im paying way to much for my minnows for ice fishing, i have a minnow cage but i never manage to catch anything. does anyone have any tips and pointers to doin this. like maybe baiting them or location near warm water i dunno what im doing wrong here. thanks for any info put in folks

Edited by Dirka13, 07 January 2010 - 03:19 PM.

[Ollie]

Dirka13, on Jan 7 2010, 03:17 PM, said:

Hi ive come to realise that im paying way to much for my minnows for ice fishing, i have a minnow cage but i never manage to catch anything. does anyone have any tips and pointers to doin this. like maybe baiting them or location near warm water i dunno what im doing wrong here. thanks for any info put in folks

Do what I do, and the guys I fish with..... buy a few scoops of minnows, keep them in your garage with an airator, an just don't catch fish for most of the season....you'll only use about 4 minnows per outing!

[lunkers only]

[quote name='Dirka13' date='Jan 7 2010, 03:17 PM' post='145947']
Hi ive come to realise that im paying way to much for my minnows for ice fishing, i have a minnow cage but i never manage to catch anything. does anyone have any tips and pointers to doin this. like maybe baiting them or location near warm water i dunno what im doing wrong here. thanks for any info put in folks
[/quot

canadian tire sells dippnets for 20$.other bait shops sell them as well. get your self a good bucket with a lid,drive to the aquaduct on the east side of welland canal in port robinson dip your net down beside any wall ther off the road and you should get lots of minnows there for the rest of the winter.

[kevin]

Dip nets seem to work alot better than the cage styles. Just tour along the Niagara, and along any dock or back eddy you should be able to find some bait.

[thorold fisher]

100% agree with lunkers post....been doin it for a few years

[Erik.T.]

If you wanna get chub use the same thing as your trout rig in a small creek but use bread balls. I got some pretty big ones before some the size of large perch.

[fafaflohi]

Ollie, on Jan 7 2010, 03:22 PM, said:

Do what I do, and the guys I fish with..... buy a few scoops of minnows, keep them in your garage with an airator, an just don't catch fish for most of the season....you'll only use about 4 minnows per outing!

lol sounds like you fish the same way that my buddies and I fish

[spottedGARRR]

and don't let it sit places like the one mentioned above otherwise some un-honest angler might just walk away with yours like they did mine!

[smerchly]

kevin, on Jan 7 2010, 06:01 PM, said:

Dip nets seem to work alot better than the cage styles. Just tour along the Niagara, and along any dock or back eddy you should be able to find some bait.

I agree with Kevin , dip nets work good in larger water bodies . Toss broken dried bread pieces into the water above the net after moistening the bread and making sure the very small pieces sink into the net , wait a minute & bring up the net . I use the minnow trap for catching creek chubs & pond chubs & as Eric said ,bread works fine....will have to try some dry dog food . Before buying the net at Crappy Tire , check out the bait & tackle shops , same price , better nets !

[Smokin Joe]

I guess it all depends on where you're fishing, I usually use a dip net from the dollar store when fishing the upper niagara and I have a minnow trap for other bodies of water. I'm looking into geting a throw net as well. Hope this helps.

[Dirka13]

thx for all the great input ill have to find a place closer to me. niagara is too far for bait

[smerchly]

Dirka13, on Jan 7 2010, 08:09 PM, said:

thx for all the great input ill have to find a place closer to me. niagara is too far for bait

Dirka14 .......you need to change that number Try using the small 1.5" Rap jigs . They work great for ice fishing . You can tip the tiny treble on the bottom with a minnow head or tail or even a piece of gut bait . Learn how to use this lure . When it settles down at bottom , lift it up about a foot , let it quicky drop about 6" or so & then hold it still for about 10 seconds as it will keep turning . That's when you may feel a bite or a hard strike , and set the hook . I even added a 12" floro carb. leader with a snap to the lure & small loop at the top , just in case Mr.Pike hits it ! Good luck !

[Nik]

Dirka you need to find moving water to find bait that is accessible in the winter months.
I have heard of guys dip netting from the pier in Hamilton for minnows, if you have a large container you can easily load it with your 10 dozen limit and use them for the better part of the year. Buy yourself an aerator at an aquarium store and you are good to go.

[chilli]

Tips for using a trap:

Make sure no ones sees you set it or it might disappear.
Make sure you put your name and number on or in the trap for compliance reasons
Write yourself a note so you don't forget to get it within 24 hours
Use hard crusty bread. Half a stale crusty role is more than plenty
Be vigilant when sorting the bait to avoid putting invasives i your bucket
Return unused bait back to where you caught it or dump it on land away from water.

My best advice would be to use a dip net in the water that you plan to fish

[Fishfinder]

chilli, on Jan 7 2010, 11:36 PM, said:

Tips for using a trap:

Make sure no ones sees you set it or it might disappear.
Make sure you put your name and number on or in the trap for compliance reasons
Write yourself a note so you don't forget to get it within 24 hours
Use hard crusty bread. Half a stale crusty role is more than plenty
Be vigilant when sorting the bait to avoid putting invasives i your bucket
Return unused bait back to where you caught it or dump it on land away from water.

My best advice would be to use a dip net in the water that you plan to fish

I had a really quick look at the regs. I take it this is in there somewhere?

Cheers,
Eric

[Fishfinder]

This might come across as a dumb post to those who know better, but what species of fish are these minnows?

I'm not going to be scooping up bass fry, am I?

[Ollie]

Eternal X7, on Jan 8 2010, 09:07 AM, said:

This might come across as a dumb post to those who know better, but what species of fish are these minnows?

I'm not going to be scooping up bass fry, am I?

Yes....the name and number on the trap is in the regs somewhere....that's not a dumb question. The answer will vary. This time of year you aren't going to get any bass fry. Various species of shinners or dace are most common, but there are all kinds of different species of minnow out there it would be impossible to tell what you may get.

[Fishfinder]

Ollie, on Jan 8 2010, 10:29 AM, said:

Yes....the name and number on the trap is in the regs somewhere....that's not a dumb question. The answer will vary. This time of year you aren't going to get any bass fry. Various species of shinners or dace are most common, but there are all kinds of different species of minnow out there it would be impossible to tell what you may get.

Great. Thanks for the info. I'll have a good read over the regs when I get home tonight.

[chilli]

Don't get caught with red side dice as they are either threatened or endangered (not sure their category but it's not good). Also the obvious goby, rough, rudd and stuff like that. If your scooping at the duct or Niagara River into a school they're most likely the common emerald shiners that don't look anything like illegal baitfish. Traps in the creeks are a little harder to sort. Bass look like bass, pike like pike an baitfish like baitfish. I've got the odd carp or sunfish in there too. Your likely not going to catch emerald shiners in a trap.