Perch and fresh water shrimp?

[HoleHopper]

Fished the pond on my perch spot and like everybody else.........SLOW! But did manage to get a few nice ones. They would swim up and look, then...... "exit stage left", See ya! I got cureous and opened one up....... There bellys were full of Little one half inch srimp. My question is, does anybody know where these shrimp hatch and exist on the pond. Is it shallows in the weeds or deep mud or sand flats??? I am no bioligist by any meens but was just wondering if any of you knew anything about fresh water shrimp. I figure that if I can at least get a semi accurate answer it might point me in a direction.......

Any idias?

[ndsufootball]

my last couple times up to mille lacs we have seen he perch digging in the sand that we are over. so what we have been doing is letting our jigs hit the sand and bring em up a couple of inches and bam they would hit. That is my guess that they are in the sand but there is a pretty good chance that the hatch is in mud as well.

[Team_Ice_Heave]

Try dropping it on the bottom and lifting your line just until it tightens. A lot of times they'll eat it right on the bottom when they aren't hitting it lifted off of it.

[SFBOY]

yep, let it hit the bottom, count to 4 or 5 and set the hook. many times they will have grabbed it off the bottom. also, if they are full of the shrimp and worms, use them for bait. they are mushy but the fish will eat them when they wont touch anything else you throw down there. it has worked for me in march a couple of times. i worked to catch anything and finally got a decent one that was spitting out the worms. i started using them for bait and my luck improved instantly.

[HoleHopper]

SFBOY That is a great idia. One that I will inploy next time out. Maybe just maybe good things might happen. I tryed every trick in the book. pounding bottom you name it.

What I am really trying to find out is where thes things hatch without drilling a million holes and putten the camera down, although that might be my only option.

Which leed sme to my next ?...... Does anybody sell fresh water shrimp for bait?

Any idias?

[SFBOY]

there was a guy that called himself the cranker working for appledorns and all over this site last spring that had them out there with some clients. i think he mail ordered them from somewhere. they seemed to work a bit better than the waxies and the corn grubs that my dad uses but not enough for me to spend the cash and get them sent to me.

i think the worms are in the mud. at least thats where i seem to find them the most. i caught a 5 pound pout 2 years ago in march that was loaded with the things. its stomach looked like it had swallowed a brat, it was loaded with those worms. no wonder they dont want to bite when they have those things to eat in peace.

[Bandersnatch]

"Which leed sme to my next ?...... Does anybody sell fresh water shrimp for bait?"

Vado's in Spring Lake Park (65 and 10) usually has them.

Keith

[old_school]

Every bait shop around mille lacs

[Noahsark]

HoleHopper,

Don't drill too many holes before you read this!

The "freshwater shrimp" (misnomer)you refer to are actually "freshwater amphipods". They do not have a larval stage. Sometimes they are also referred to as "scuds" or "side swimmers". The "Gammarus pulex" species are probably the common species in Mille Lacs Lake. These freshwater amphipods like to be surrounded by rocks or plant material and won't usually be found over bare sand or mud.

The female amphipod carries an egg sack on her underside until the eggs hatch. When they hatch they just look like miniature versions of adult amphipods.

http://www.aulis.de/zeitschriften/ergaenzungen/pdn_bio/12-2006/Gammarus_pulex.jpg

OTHER CRITTERS

The "worms" that people talk of are the larval stage on midges. "Wigglers" are the larval stage of mayfly (Hexigenia sp.). Both of these critters live in burrows they dig in mud and sand. There are huge hatches of both of these on Mille Lacs in the summer. Midges look like giant mosquitos, however they don't "bite".

There is another critter called the "Mysid shrimp" that I don't believe is found in Mille Lacs Lake, this critter is also called the "freshwater shrimp".

NOTE TO ALL

I am a little concerned that bait shops sell "freshwater shrimp" as they could very easily be introduced into systems where they may not belong as an Aquatic Invasive Species.

Please never dump bait bucket water, minnows, critters etc. into any waterbody. Dispose of them on shore.

[HoleHopper]

After calling around I found them at Stoplight bait in St. cloud. I found none around the pond, but I didnt call but a few places. I will give Vadoes a call. Thanx fer the tip!

Noasark- Your insight is much appreciated and the bait bucket care is taken to heart. Very good advice! I did Google "fresh water shrimp MN" and came up with several weeks worth of reading.

Though the the fishing has been slow it is sure fun to try and figure those little buggers out. Good luck to all! Any one going up this weekend?

[holmquistricky]

ya im going up this weekend and staying up there for a week straight so i hope the fish start BITING and last year we came up and caught the perch left and right so i dont know whats going on

[holmquistricky]

[email protected]

[JASONY]

malmo market has had them the last couple weekens

[HoleHopper]

Thanks jason

[thehawk]

those fresh water shrimp can be found at vados bait in spring lake park. they will also ship them to you and guarentee they are alive when you get them. went to the pond over the weekend and brought some along with the other traditional perch baits like wax worms, euro larva and minows. those fresh water shrimp out performed any other bait 5 to 1. we had our limit of big pig style perch in just over an hour. The camera was just full of fish, but if you had any other bait on not as productive.

[ScoutII]

I think you might want to rethink using the fresh water shrimp as bait if they are live. EXOTIC SPRCIES LAWS. [it is unlawful to transport live crayfish to other waters or to use them as bait in waters other than where they were taken][Crayfish cannot be sold as bait.]

I am only pointing this out if you are using them as LIVE bait, otherwise should not be a problem if they are DEAD.

[bassbozo]

I have used the freeze dried freshwater shrimp that you can buy at Cabelas or Fleet. They work really well if you use a small jig or plain hook. I have had the best success bouncing these on the bottom and keeping them within a few inches of the bottom. Those jumbos are suckers for them when they aren't hitting the minnows.

Good luck

[thehawk]

I did use them live and worked great. they are NOT crayfish, they are fresh water shrimp. The guy at the bait shop told me they are in just about every lake in the state. these were purchased at a bait shop so there shouldn't be any negatives for the angler, law wise. if it is a legal issue shouldn't the dnr be regulating the bait shops, not the anglers? An angler can't be responsible to know the laws that a bait shop has to abide by? if there selling them, i'm using them. the bait looked exactly like what the perch had in there mouths already, exactly. just

[mrmanners]

I used them on the sand about two weeks ago, picked them up at vados and they did not work any better then grubs. In fact the small crappie minows or smallest fat heads worked the best bounced off of the sand.

[Noahsark]

thehawk,

You're half right they are not crayfish, but they are NOT shrimp either. They are amphipods. There are over 150 different species of freshwater amphipods known from the USA, and most of them look the same. So you could easily be introducing a species into a lake that is not already there. That new species could potentially out compete other amphipod species and or other important invertebrates.

FYI -- The zebra mussel population on Mille Lacs is on the rise and reproducing. It won't be long before that population explodes. You don't have to think too hard to realize that they were most likely accidentally introduced by an angler.

I don't know what the laws are regarding bait shops selling amphipods. I doubt the DNR has the capacity to monitor them anyway. I do however believe that all anglers need to take personal responsibility when it comes to keeping exotic species out of our waters.

[ScoutII]

Thank You, that is how we should look at some of these potential problems. The ignorance of the law attitude is what will get us into the irreversible situations. Just because a store has it available for sale does not mean it is LEGAL to use here. Stores in Minnesota sell a rod holder that will mechanically set the hook when a fish strikes, not leagal in Minnesota, but still being sold in Minnesota.

[LakeDocktor]

Scout, there are many bait shops that carry freshwater shrimp! I am pretty sure that if the DNR(Do Nothing Right) was concerned that using these as bait would constitute "infesting" a lake, they would have stepped in a long time ago. They do frequent checks on bait stores and I have yet to hear of any reprocutions due to the sale of freshwater shrimp. Like said in earlier posts, they are common in many lakes in Minnesota. I found that, for the majority, they are only productive on lakes where there is a natural population. Using them in these lakes, would not constitute any violation of introducing any exotic species. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to say by any means to introduce something that will wrongfully and negatively affect a lake and its future, but merely using these as bait is legal!

[blackdog1101]

Are you guys using the shrimp on a bare hook, or some sort of jig?

[mrmanners]

Tried both, bare hook and small jig.

[2iceman]

They are sold all around mille lacs

[HoleHopper]

I tried them and they were hard to keep on the hook for me. I did catch a couple on em thou. I did better on the traditional baits. You just got to figure out what they want on a day to day basis. This past weekend they wanted (small) and that was it! The walters wanted (peace) the minute you moved the bait they were gone. I think that a hard bite is good for a lake from time to time.