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shiners

paceman
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paceman Grand Master

paceman

Posted
Posted

Just curious if anyone has seen any shiners in the rivers/shallows? Do you think the bait guys will have any for the opener?

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eskimo9 Contributor

eskimo9

Posted
Posted

We've found a few.. Going to try and seine again Friday. Bait shops may have some, but I can imagine it will be slim pickins based on what we've found. Good luck

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Paul Experienced

Paul

Posted
Posted

I saw the bait guys at their normal shiner spot the last few days on my way buy. Not sure what they go though.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Heard bait guys are getting nothing in rivers/creeks...finding them as deep as 14' in sugar sand bottoms and heard water temps have gone down since last Sunday. If sun comes out this afternoon should make it easier for bait guys to get them as they should move in and bunch up.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

surface temps were 50 last sunday and I was told 47 this morning but we had some good sun this afternoon with wind so that will warm things up a bit.

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Tadpoletodd Collaborator

Tadpoletodd

Posted
Posted

Pelican on Saturday - 45-46 main lake; did find some 48 west end, south shore where it was calm.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Tadpoletodd Collaborator

Tadpoletodd

Posted
Posted

Does anybody know what bait shops have spottail shiners? Just thought I'd ask here before calling around. Thx.

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SM1 Community Regular

SM1

Posted
Posted

I was told by a local bait shop that it is illegal to transport personally seined shiners (12 doz or less), even if they have been taken out of the lake water and put them into tap or bottled water. I have read the rules a couple times over and it seems it is perfectly legal as long as you are not transporting the lake water?

What are your interpretations of this law? I think the dude at the bait shop was blowing smoke. Maybe he didn't like that I was catching minnows and not buying from him??

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Cicada Mentor

Cicada

Posted
Posted

I don't think he was blowing smoke. I heard last year that the DNR was cracking down on minnows taken from a body of water to be sold. Sounds like they are requiring the person have a separate set of nets for each body of water. I was told by a volunteer on Big C last summer that I was required to throw away any leeches I had left over that day. He said that when I touched a fish or washed my hands in the lake water and then put them in the leech container, I had contaminated the leeches. It's becoming a rich man's game when you can't save your bait for another day.

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Tadpoletodd Collaborator

Tadpoletodd

Posted
Posted

Frustrating when you can't bring your bait home without a $50-$100 refrigerated and aeriated live well system in the back of your vehicle too. I made the mistake of trying to bring shiners from my house in a 5-gal bucket one morning, set the bucket in my boat, use them as needed, and then take my minnows back home when done fishing in the same bucket. Ha, nice try. DNR guy at the landing put the brakes on that and said, "Sorry, I trust you but still have to make you dump the water and discard the minnows. Once you took the bucket from your vehicle and put it into your boat it's now considered lake water. If you would have left the bucket in your [hot] truck it would be legal to transfer the minnows back into." So there I was, no cool water and 3 dozen perfectly good shiners. I figured I better not press the issue about not having any cold water because the next thing they'll do is drill wells at all the landings and my taxes will get jacked up even higher. grin At the end of day I should've known better...it's my own fault. I can't blame him...he was technically right...I was wrong. Just frustrating a guy doing everything safe to not contaminate other bodies of water and still have to junk $20 of minnows. I guess it's dump bait or buy some portable livewell system for the truck. Rich man's game indeed. $$$ My 2c

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BrianLucky13 Mentor

BrianLucky13

Posted
Posted

Frustrating when you can't bring your bait home without a $50-$100 refrigerated and aeriated live well system in the back of your vehicle too. I made the mistake of trying to bring shiners from my house in a 5-gal bucket one morning, set the bucket in my boat, use them as needed, and then take my minnows back home when done fishing in the same bucket. Ha, nice try. DNR guy at the landing put the brakes on that and said, "Sorry, I trust you but still have to make you dump the water and discard the minnows. Once you took the bucket from your vehicle and put it into your boat it's now considered lake water. If you would have left the bucket in your [hot] truck it would be legal to transfer the minnows back into." So there I was, no cool water and 3 dozen perfectly good shiners. I figured I better not press the issue about not having any cold water because the next thing they'll do is drill wells at all the landings and my taxes will get jacked up even higher. grin At the end of day I should've known better...it's my own fault. I can't blame him...he was technically right...I was wrong. Just frustrating a guy doing everything safe to not contaminate other bodies of water and still have to junk $20 of minnows. I guess it's dump bait or buy some portable livewell system for the truck. Rich man's game indeed. $$$ My 2c

The solution is dont use live bait. I've caught limits of walleyes for 2 weeks now and havent bought one minnow...

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Tadpoletodd Collaborator

Tadpoletodd

Posted
Posted

Ya know...that is absolutely the best solution. Problem is I grew up fishing live bait and it's like pulling teeth trying to get me to use plastics on walleyes. I wish I knew how to better and was more confident when I do.

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JeffB Proficient

JeffB

Posted
Posted

If you want a cold water in your truck waiting put an ice cream pail of water in the freezer, drop the block of ice in a good cooler and you have your cold water waiting for you.

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dairyman Proficient

dairyman

Posted
Posted

I use 2 coolers----one for the boat and the other I leave in the back of the truck. Come off the water ---drain the minnow bucket water

(leave the minnows in the bucket) and then dump them in the cooler in back of the truck

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SM1 Community Regular

SM1

Posted
Posted

That's what I figured. I guess the local bait guy wasn't being so truthful after all. He must be a fisherman.

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