Shiners vs Fatheads

[Jim Panfish Uran]

I know a lot of fishing snobs who don't even use bait anymore, this question isn't for you. 

 

Are fatheads the utility bait, kind of comparable to Ex-Viking Leroy Hoard? Shiners are the fragile divas, kind of comparable to Ex-Viking Percy Harvin? 

 

Which do you use? I rarely buy a scoop of Shiners, I'm a utility kind of guy, but last night got me thinking. Those fish that came in and sniffed and sniffed just after dark, what were they? I'm guessing they were walleyes, could have been burbot or rock bass but I doubt it.

 

Could shiners have made a difference in your opinion? 

[monstermoose78]

I like fatheads too. Why walleyes eat em and so do crappies, perch, pike, trout, and even monster bluegills. Shiners are a bait I buy if I am pike fishing I like the huge golden shiners in the 5 to 7 inch range. Other wise it's fatheads for me!

[whateverisbiting]

I have caught more with fatheads as was stated above they are the utility bait.  I catch bigger fish with shiners but wonder if that shiner was a fathead would I still have caught the fish...probably yes.  Shiners are a harder to keep alive so I am tending to buy them less and less.  Instead I am trapping them from the lake...they are spottails...and they seem to work better.  The wife catches them through the ice with waxworms then I put them on the rattle reel.  She caught a 27" pike yesterday with that 1/64 ounce jig and 3 wax worms so maybe we all need to downsize!

[ANYFISH2]

Early ice it is golden shiners for me.

After Christmas, I switch to rainbows, hardy and they swim hard for a long time under a bobber or dead stick.

[SaintPaulPaul]

I just got back from Hudson, Wisconsin...not for liquor, but for shiners. I just can't seem to get large shiners after the dnr banned out-of-state shiners from the south because of vhs. Early ice means lots of hungry pike and they just don't care for the smaller minnows where I fish...and will hit shiners 3-to-1 over suckers or large fatheads. So, yes, they are spendy and ya got to babysit them in the garage (I hoard) with a air pump and water changes, but I won't go fishing without them.

[Neighbor_guy]

When I can find them I prefer to buy rainbows or chubs. If you get them by the pint you can get a good enough variety of sizes to spend the day chasing all over the lake. Crappies, walleyes, trout, works for all of them. 

 

They wont help much for pike, but I have my own opinion on bait choices for pike. 

[monstermoose78]

I fish a lake where I can catch big golden shiners best tip up bait! Biggest shiner I caught was almost 9 inches. 

[monstermoose78]

Catch this gill on a fathead 

[Bass Thumb]

If you're using live minnows, shiners seem to work far better than fatheads, especially for walleye. 

 

If you're just using minnow-heads, I don't think it matters one bit. 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

 For the early winter walleye bite in shallow water on Vermilion shiners are always the best! When I move out into deeper water pike suckers will out fish shiners almost all of the time! But some days have their exceptions! Yesterday we managed to ice 11 walleyes on pike suckers with 7 keepers. A friend fishing the same depth close by  kept 8 nice walleyes caught on shiners! He said those fish would not touch a pike sucker!

Cliff

[BobT]

My experience seems to suggest that shiners tend to work better in clear water with sandy bottom and fatheads or rainbows work better in stained water. 

[BringAnExtension]

I always use fatheads for two reasons:

 

1. They are always available
2. They live in the bucket longer.

 

[otterman91105]

For walleyes my luck has always been better with shiners. But i will say if i had to buy one bait to fish multi species it would be fat heads cause they also work good for crappies and perch.

[SaintPaulPaul]

I was wondering if you should attempt to feed bait that is kept for long periods of time...say 2-3 weeks. I have some killer shiners but I  won't go out and fight the temps in my portable...so I have a bubbler going in a chest cooler, and change the water every 2 days. Will they eat, or are they too stressed to worry about it? Thanks in advance.

[Bass Thumb]

2 hours ago, SaintPaulPaul said:

I was wondering if you should attempt to feed bait that is kept for long periods of time...say 2-3 weeks. I have some killer shiners but I  won't go out and fight the temps in my portable...so I have a bubbler going in a chest cooler, and change the water every 2 days. Will they eat, or are they too stressed to worry about it? Thanks in advance.

 I toss a little fish food in every few days. They eat it. 

 

I have kept crappie minnows for 3-4 weeks before without feeding them, and they were noticeably skinnier, more pale in color, and lazier on the hook. 

 

If you're just keeping bait for a few days, it probably wouldn't matter. 

[Neighbor_guy]

On 1/1/2017 at 1:45 PM, SaintPaulPaul said:

I just got back from Hudson, Wisconsin...not for liquor, but for shiners. I just can't seem to get large shiners after the dnr banned out-of-state shiners from the south because of vhs. Early ice means lots of hungry pike and they just don't care for the smaller minnows where I fish...and will hit shiners 3-to-1 over suckers or large fatheads. So, yes, they are spendy and ya got to babysit them in the garage (I hoard) with a air pump and water changes, but I won't go fishing without them.

 

Be careful admitting to bringing live bait across state lines. It's frowned upon. With VHS laws it is illegal to transport live minnows across most state lines. Bait dealers aren't even supposed to transport them from one watershed to another. 

 

Not critisizing your choice here, just want you to be aware that you may be running afoul of the laws. 

[SaintPaulPaul]

Yeah thanks Neighborguy...I thought the same thing until I looked into it...the shiners are out of the St. Croix...being a border water, their shiners are our shiners.