Minnows, Panfish

Minnows and small panfish are great baits for predator fish such as Pike, Bass and Trout.  They can be caught with minnow traps, scoop or cast nets or at times with small hooks baited with worms or plastics.  As mentioned above there are various rules on how you can legally catch baitfish, so please check with local regulations.  Traps can be baited with pieces of bread or corn.  You can “seed” an area with crumbs prior to launching the trap.  You should check the trap every few hours.  I have had freshwater eels enter traps and eat bait fish and minnows from a trap I left unattended for too long.

Once you catch bait fish it is important to keep them alive and frisky.   Bait fish need clean water, proper temperature levels and essential dissolved oxygen to survive.  There are 2 main ways to support oxygen levels – use a battery powered or electric aerator or perform partial water changes with fresh water from a lake or stream.  You could do a partial water change with tap water, but it will have to be treated to remove chemicals such as chlorine.  It is best to keep baitfish water cool or cold as this maximizes oxygenation capacity.  

One of my favorite live bait aerators is the Mino-Mizer from Hypark Specialty.  Unfortunately, as with many businesses in 2020, they have stopped production.  I recommend if you use live bait often to buy one on Ebay or otherwise.  The Mino-Mizer keeps bait alive by aeration and keeps the water temperature cooler.

There are many other bait aerators are bubblers that pump air into a submerged stone to provide oxygenation.

Rules for Keeping Bait Fish

1. Keep water oxygenated
2. Maintain cool water temperature (use frozen water bottles – not chorinated ice cubes)
3. Keep water clean with frequent partial water changes
4. Do not overcrowd baitfish.  A typical bait bucket can hold about 2 dozen medium minnows.
5. Bait species such as Alewives are very fragile and require constant freshwater flow and minimal crowding to survive
6. Monitor your bait. If you see them gulping air at the water surface you should perform an immediate partial water change.
7. Remove dead or dying bait and discard.

Worms

In many regions collecting worms for fishing is quite easy.  You can look under areas where leaves or grass clippings collect or any compost pile.  You can flip rocks or dig to find worms.  It is not necessary to dig very deeply. 

You can place a large piece of wet cardboard in a prospective area and check it the next day.  Worms often collect in moist protected areas.  You can create your own worm collection area, by creating a compost pile by putting vegetable kitchen scraps (not meats or fats) in an area that you keep watered.  Worms should show up within a couple of weeks.

Nightcrawler worms can be collected after a large rainstorm by looking in driveways or road areas.  This can be a fun activity for adults and kids alike as it requires agility and stealth to be successful.  Nightcrawlers can be caught at night by exploring grassy fields at schools or golf courses.  Use a dim light and walk softly to find the nightcrawlers laying on the surface.  To catch the nightcrawlers, grab them at the base of their hole and pull gently.  Here is a video from OhioDNS about Collecting Nightcrawlers as Fishing Bait.

You can also start a worm farm to have a ready supply of worms for fishing.  Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm is a great resource for information and materials to start your own worm farm.  Worm farms are easy to maintain and create rich fertilizer for plants and gardens in addition to being a continuous source of worms for bait.

Rules for Keeping Worms

1. Keep the soil moist but not wet
2. Provide air to the container, but don’t let them crawl out
3. Keep worms cool. You can put them in a basement or refridge (see #2)
4. If you are keeping worms for long term (more than 1-2 weeks), they can be fed with cereal or kitchen scraps.

SUMMARY

Tight lines …  Captain P.