Finding bait...

[CANOPY SAM]

I'm curious to know some intel on finding bait in the area.

Has anyone found shiners, or creek chubs consistently anywhere?

Is there a section of stream or river nearby where one might catch decent numbers of small to medium sized suckers?

How about Frogs. Anyone come across good numbers of leopard frogs yet?

I'd like to find my own bait, so I'm not asking for specific directions. I can keep bait lively and fresh in the river behind my house, so I'd like to find enough to keep me stocked up for a while.

Thanks.

[White-tips]

Canopy,

Long time no type.

Grab some real small jigs and a carton of crawlers. Run out to Highlanding, Kratka or Smiley. Cut the crawlers into small pieces and tip the jig. Drop them driectly around any of the bridge pilings. In no time you will have a collection of the nicest river chubs you'd ever want. They can be kind of hard to hook and get to the bridge surface. It might be a little early as they really start to appear there during the heat of the summer. Let me know your results.

A H20 flow update would be nice also. Last I heard it was devastatingly low out the the east of town.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll see the bro's and kids 'eye hunting out there soon too as the days get hotter.

[CANOPY SAM]

I haven't been out to the Kratka bridge in a looong time. Are there still some big pike swimming around out there? We used to see some really big fish out there years ago.

Thanks for the tip on the creek chubs. I bet I could catch a mess of em' with a small fly and fly rod, huh? I'm glad to hear there are big chubs around. They make excellent bait, and a great forage fish for growing healthy walleyes and other fish.

I'm really curious to see if the shiners run anywhere in the river anymore. There used to be such a consistent big shiner run, but I know nothing of it anymore. Do you remember catching shiners with a dip net below the dam? We used to catch literally hundreds of em' with one scoop. Nice big 4-5 inchers too.

Any word on leopard frogs out anywhere yet?

[River Rat (dan)]

spent 1 hr in the ditches .. 9 frogs all decent size most saw me comming and went right into the weeds and water where I couldnt find em, only 9 where not smarter then me!

I caught a few shiners on saturday on a small hook and worm they where not very big and took me over an hr to get 4 they where so small. tried a trap and caught 1 quarter sized rockbass.

the bait is around just kinda rough this time of year minnows are small still and frogs are moving from the rivers edge to the ditches.

[R OTTER]

You might try old mill state park, thief lake and lake bruson state park below the dams for shinners and creek chubs. like white-tips said crawler or waxworm work well. You can also run a net if the water is down. it's a bit of a drive, but if you make a day if it, it's not so bad. i get my frog close to the river out east look for a hayfield that's been cut and the frogs will go up and catch bugs in the evening when it starts to cool down. just walk with a net, it's pretty easy. My kids love chasing them, stopped at 40 on saturday. Also thief lake doesn't mind if your at the dam just call and tell what you plan to do. the only thing they don't want is someone who's sell bait in there. it's alot of fun catching your bait. good luck.

[CANOPY SAM]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll probably do a little bait hunting this weekend with the kids. The weather is looking a little crummy, and I think the frogs should be out and about if we get a little rain.

I think I'll gather some crawlers in my yard as well. Based on the size of the mounds I'm running over with my lawnmower I'd figure the crawlers are about the size of my forearm! Once I've got the crawlers I'll start hunting for those creek chubs. If anyone wants to join us just give me a holler.