# What To Do With Extra Minnows???



## byronbaitskimmer (Jan 31, 2005)

i was wondering what people do with their extra minnows when they are done fishing. i have seen some people pour them down the hole and in other places i see them scattered on the ice. does anyone think that released minnows can cause problems with fish native to the lake whether it be disease or starting an unwanted population. as an example there has been an explosion of suckers in big star lake. i watched the dnr video of their latest trap net survey on the lake and it was sucker after sucker. does anyone know if they were native to the lake or if they were an introduced species possibly by fishermen dumping excess bait.


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## fishingrookie (Feb 16, 2004)

Fry and eat them. :lol:

Seriously, if you want to use them later, you can keep the minnow bucket in the garage and replace the water daily or in every two days. The water must set in in the garage for at least 10 hours to reah the same temp and get rid of the chlorine in the tap water. 



byronbaitskimmer said:


> i was wondering what people do with their extra minnows when they are done fishing. i have seen some people pour them down the hole and in other places i see them scattered on the ice. does anyone think that released minnows can cause problems with fish native to the lake whether it be disease or starting an unwanted population. as an example there has been an explosion of suckers in big star lake. i watched the dnr video of their latest trap net survey on the lake and it was sucker after sucker. does anyone know if they were native to the lake or if they were an introduced species possibly by fishermen dumping excess bait.


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## lawnguy (Dec 30, 2003)

keep em for the next trip out. If you know you won't be using them.. dump them for the gulls.


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## DaveW731 (Jan 12, 2001)

I used to be an advocate for pouring them in, figuring they would just add to the forage base. Now, for all of the reasons mentioned (introduce disease, etc.) I either feed the animals (gulls, crows, *****), give them away to other fishermen, or take them home to use as cutbait on the next trip.


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## GVSUKUSH (Mar 9, 2004)

Feed them to Captain Howdys dog! :lol:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89264


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## Jigawhat (Dec 21, 2004)

if so... find a small container, you can easily pour minnows into, poke a few holes in it, tie a rope to it and shove it back under the ice. Come out the next day, spud out yur minnows. They'll be more lively than when you first bought 'em!  

Thats what we do, but we are in a permanent shanty. Kinda makes it easier.


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## byronbaitskimmer (Jan 31, 2005)

say you are done with the minnows and have no one else who needs them is leaving them on the ice the best thing. what if they are small shiners in a crappie lake do you release them for forage? whats the risk of disease coming from bait shops??


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## Huntin Horseman (Nov 2, 2002)

James( Mallardtone-Man) came up with an awesome idea. We have a permanant shanty and a huge hole in it so he took MY Home Depot bucket and got a lid for it and then drilled holes all around it about 4-5 inches from the top, up so that most of the water stays in the bucket and then he put a rope on the bucket handle and tied it to the shanty. We just leave all of our suckers and minnows in there when we aren't fishing and we sink it in the hole, and then take it out when we fish. It works awesome and you don't have to worry about hauling bait out every time you fish


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

I'll never accept minnows from someone who is leaving the ice,, unless I could keep them in a separate container from my minnows. One year up at the Sag. River. some dude was leaving the ice and had a bunch of perch minnows,, we were leaving shortly to do some perch fishin', so we thought, "what the hey, ya we'll take 'em, throw 'em in with our walleye minnows",,,, BAD MOVE. Every minnow in that bucket was dead within 30minutes. On top of that,, we got up to the Bay and stop to get more minnows,,,,, "Sorry, we're outta minnows"


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## Sixshooter (Mar 16, 2003)

I'm willing to bet that the reason those minnows died was something called Thermo SHOCK. Your walleye Minnows were probably in semi warm water and the guys perch minnows were in water hovering around hte freezing mark. When the cold minnows hit hte warm water they went into shock and died.

it is very common especially with pike fishing. Guys will buy a bunch of minnows from teh bait shop with water that is probably 60 degrees sitting inside the shope. Then they drop that shiner in the lake where the water is like 32 Degrees. The delta temperature will kill the minnow.

To combat this problem however is to go out and get a handfull or two of nice uncontaminated snow. Such as out on the lake or in hte snow bank. However, do NOT use snow along the road or parking lot because hte road chemicals will also kill the minnows.




William H Bonney said:


> I'll never accept minnows from someone who is leaving the ice,, unless I could keep them in a separate container from my minnows. One year up at the Sag. River. some dude was leaving the ice and had a bunch of perch minnows,, we were leaving shortly to do some perch fishin', so we thought, "what the hey, ya we'll take 'em, throw 'em in with our walleye minnows",,,, BAD MOVE. Every minnow in that bucket was dead within 30minutes. On top of that,, we got up to the Bay and stop to get more minnows,,,,, "Sorry, we're outta minnows"


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

I ain't trying to rain on anyones parade but it IS illegal and against the law to dump minnows into any lake or river, live or dead........

Ain't my rules but the DNR and Fisheries Division....


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

take the minnows...
A blender , a play-dough press , two eggs , cup 0' milk , cup & a half bread crumbs....
Combine everything - - - - 
Wh00p them babies seven ways to Sunday - and squash 'em out the play-dough press , cutting off about 4" pcs...
Voila`
THAT , kids is how REAL fish stiX are made.... drop into boiling 30 weight oil.....
MMMM...mmmm..... ggoooooood!!


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## fishing extreme (Feb 13, 2005)

The best thing to do is save your minnows, and it's easy. I've had bait last for weeks when cared for properly.
As others mention, keep them in your garage or basement. Some place where the temp is cool, but not sub-zero.
The best way to guard against chlorine or other problems is to use a little catch-and-release, like tournament fishermen put in livewells. It's a powder - a bottle will last the winter, and is about $5. You can get it at the big retailers (Cabela's, Bass Pro, Gander) Another type is "please release me", and "shiner life".
Change water when it clouds (3-4 days). Keep cool with ice if inside the house. 
With the way most bait shp owners are so liberal with their portion, you can often go fishing 5-6 times for about $3 in bait.
Hope this helps.


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## grizzly (Dec 11, 2000)

Lots of times with walleye minnows we cut the heads off salt the heck out of them and freeze them 12 in a ziploc bag. Works great when traveling light for walleyes. 


Grizzly.


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## Sturgeon (Oct 27, 2004)

Here in Quebec Canada you can't use live minnows anymore because people would throw them in the lakes and some trout lakes hurt from it. Now we can only use dead minnows, sucks for walleye fishing but I guess its better than having no lakes to fish from.

Sturgeon


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## Connor4501 (Dec 15, 2003)

wally-eye said:


> I ain't trying to rain on anyones parade but it IS illegal and against the law to dump minnows into any lake or river, live or dead........
> 
> Ain't my rules but the DNR and Fisheries Division....


What are you supposed to do with them when you get rid of them


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

Feed your cats, feed your neighbors cats, feed the fox in your backyard, dump in your trash can, in summer put under your rose bushes.

Mostly take home and cut them into little pieces and freeze them in little baggies to use for bait for walleyes, pike etc. Or freeze the big one whole and use on tip ups, excellent tip up bait, frozen large minnows or smelt. 

There is a million ways to dispose of them instead of introducing a non-native species into a lake or introducing a disease that might have come from the bait shop tanks, tank trucks or lakes/ponds where the minnows were dipped.


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## outsider (Feb 16, 2002)

I bring them home and put them in a quarintine tank, if I dont use them within a few days , I feed them to my aquarium fish.
Its cool to see my Oscars turn them into a cloud of glitter :lol: 
OUTSIDER


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## stinger63 (Nov 25, 2003)

like other people have said,feed them to your aqarium fish.Oscars love them.If your fortunate enough to have raised a rainbow in a fish tank they will demolish them.Every single one of them at once


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## outsider (Feb 16, 2002)

Now your talkin some high tech set up , yu need reefer equimpment to keep your tank that cool , and airation is an other biggie.
But I would love to see it  I tried to keep a brookie and he lasted a couple hours , using the water he was caught in. The stress kills most any native fish except gills& sunnies. Stinger did yu get your rainbow as a fingerling from a farm ?? Because that might work for a while.
OUTSIDER


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