Minnow Preference

[JBMasterAngler]

I'm just curious what kinds of minnows everyone uses out there. Not including crappie minnows, what are your preferences between fatheads, rainbow chubs, golden or silver or emerald shiners, sucker minnows, madtoms, or any other type of minnow. Add what you fish for with them, how and where you fish them, what season, etc. I'm just curious what everyone is doing out there.

[TrophyEyes]

Fatheads (heads only) generally for walleyes, crappies and perch. Shiners on my tip-ups.

[joejelly]

When fishing for walleys I prefer to use Goldies. When the bite is tough i might use fatheads. Some lakes seem to prefer rainbows or silver shinners but i have the most sucess with Goldies when fishing on ice. i hear red tails are the ticket for summer walleys yet i do not get out much so someone else may have better input on summer baits.

[Sportland_Bait]

I fish minnows for walleyes most of the time. The type depends on the season. Winter fishing, there are lots of options. 90 percent of the time I will use fatheads while jigging. Golden shiners are by far the most successful bait for a set line. I will use rainbows, silver shiners, and rosey reds from time to time. They will all catch fish, but goldies and fatheads are my top baits. Open water season the baits change a little due to the mood of the fish and the avaiability of some minnows. From openning day through about the first week of June it is really tough to beat a Spot-tail shiner. The water is still cold and the walleyes prefer a slower moving minnow like a shiner. On certain lakes a leech or nightcrawler will produce better. From the first week of June through fall minnows from the chub family are almost unbeatable. Redtails, creek chubs, or leatherbacks really shine when the activity of the fish is picking up. They are tough minnows that can withstand even the warmest water conditions(to a point). Once the lakes start cooling again in the fall and the weeds start to drop down a little chubs are still the best choice but rainbows are again another option especially on a jig. You can play with different presentation options at different times of the year. The most popular presentations are a Lindy rig, jig, or a slip float.

Jason Erlandson

[JBMasterAngler]

Yeah, I definitely like rainbow chubs for all species. As hard as they are to find I think redtails are even harder to find. But they are easy to keep. I used rainbows on my tip up and have kept them alive in the bucket all winter. I'm hoping to use them on the river for walleys in a few weeks. I'd like to use creek chubs, but the only place I've ever caught them is in designated trout waters, so they're pretty impossible to get.

[Sportland_Bait]

Availability of chubs depend on the area. They are most common from St. Cloud up to Bemidji and over towards Alexandria and Park Rapids. Here at the bait shop we carry them over most of the open water season. It takes quite a while to get set up with a consistent supply of chubs. There is more demand than supply.

Jason Erlandson

[TrophyEyes]

Red Tails, leeches and crawlers are what I use in the summer.