Leftover bait - Anyone keep theirs?

[Slothin'02]

Hi all,

It seems that every time I go out, I end up dumping out a full container of minnows (all kinds). It sure would be nice to be able to bring these home and keep them for the next trip (not to mention not having to make a special trip to the bait shop).

For this, I've been looking for a used fish tank with aerator etc. to keep in the basement. I figure I'll be bringing home lake water each time I'm out so I can avoid the chlorinated city water.

Has anyone tried this? How did it work? What equiptment would you recommend getting? I'm thinking just a tank and an aerator. Am I missing anything?

Thanks for any info!!

[mudman]

During the winter I keep minnows a fairly long time I just leave them in a 5 gallon bucket with full water and an aeroater and change water once a week.

Ive kept fatheads and crappies alive for over 2 weeks.

[Dan Thiem]

Sloth,

I've had the warden give me some trouble for bringing home water from the lake before. He said none in the livewell and none in the minnow bucket.

I understood why because if exoitics. My home lake (Lake Zumbro) has zebra muscle BIG TIME!)

[Bait Killer]

I have had crappie minnows alive for three weeks now in the fridge. Did not change water or anything, just slapped in there !!!!!!!!

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

Check out the Ice Fishing Forum there are some really good ideas for keepin bait swimmin around in there.

Dano

[Slothin'02]

Thanks Guys!

Between you and the other forum, I think I have enough info to go on.

Thanks again!

[eurolarva]

winter may work however the minnows need to be kept in similar water temps as the lake you fish in. If aquarium tank is at 70 degrees and you put those minnows in 40 degree weather they will die. Summer would probably work with an aquarium but winter you are better with a bucket, an areator in your garage

[huskiesplayer15]

salt and freeze them too, works great for jigging spoons and up in the bwcaw!

Best Fishes

Chris

[Lake Alice]

My buddy keeps minnow alive in his garage with an areator for months. He buys that blue stuff, I don't know what it's called, that takes the chlorine out of tap water or at least neutralizes it. He feeds them fish food.

[Bigfife]

I like to take the leftover minnows, cut them in half, and then through them in the freezer. I take these out and thaw them for winter fishing. Just a minnow head works great on a jig under the ice.

[OldBear]

I've had real good luck keeping minnows summer or winter in my basement. I use a large plastic tub and use an aquarium aerator with a bubble stone on the end. The water gets changed once a week and I use tap water but it must sit at least 24 hrs before using it. I feed them goldfish flakes. When I bring new minnows in I set them in the basement to gradually change temperature before I put them in the tank. Same goes for when I use them in the winter I'll put them in a large bucket first and sit them out in the garage to let the temp. change again before putting them in the minnow bucket. They seem to last forever...

[MuleSkinner]

Was a good point made above about possible contamination with exotics if you use lake water and fish different lakes. I keep minnows alive in my garage in the fall with aerator and an old cooler. I buy new minnows if I am going to a different body of water, or have a few times poured out all the water on grass (without chance of runoff into the lake). I have never fed the minnows. In the hot summer it is very hard to keep them alive without refrigeration or cool basement.

In winter time, when it is really cold, I have found it best to just bring them inside once in a while to unthaw the ice. Minnows are pretty hardy and don't use much oxygen in the cold. I used to aerate them in the winter too, but I just have 2 small aquarium aerators, and I found using them actually freezes the water quicker! Suppose slowly pushing -10 degree air thru the water made instant ice.

[fisherdog19]

For $25 I went to walmart, got a 10 gallon tank and a filter (water fall type) which aerates the water as well, and have been keeping fatheads, shiners, and redtails alive for as long as I need to, for about 2 years now. You can buy some stuff that takes the bad stuff out of tap water, and some mesh bags with special rocks in them that will absorb the ammonia in the water (it will kill your bait). Feed them some fish food every now and then, change half the water every couple weeks, and change the filter once a month, and you'll save lots of money. Use some aquarium salt to keep them livlier as well. I keep them in the garage and when it gets real cold, the water around the motor in the filter will start freezing. Bought a $5 aquarium water heater that takes care of that problem. Hope this helped and you find a way to save your money instead of tossing it every time.

Fisherdog