Allright, I got a question for you guys. I've decided to try trapping my own baitfish at the creek this season, and have never actualy tried this. Does anyone have ideas what kind of bait would work best? Any baits to target specific species (Suckers, Shiners, Mudminnows).
I've heard things ranging from Bread, corn, Dog Food (which I always have readily available), Hot Dogs, (maybe a Dog Food Corn Dog? [
]). I've usualy used nets to get the little guy in the past, or just bought frozen. I'm looking at trying this in a muddy old Manitoba creek if it helps any.
Any advice would be appreciated. Sorry if this has been dealt with before somewhere, and I didn't happen to find it.
Thanks guys.
[signature]
Take a piece of bread/hotdog bun and squirt some general scented smelly jelly or fish attractant on the bread. Then squeeze/smach it in a ball as tight as you can. Put in in the trap and toss the trap in you favorite spot. Wait a couple of hours and retrieve. There you go - minnows.
[signature]
I noticed in your post you mentioned "mudminnow." Mudminnows are a saltwater species here in SC, and if you're trying to get saltwater "mudminnows," the best bait there is are crushed up bluecrab.
When I was younger, we use to sain net shrimp and trap mudminnows to sell to the local bait and tackle stores. The very best bait for the muddy's was fresh crushed bluecrab. The thing about it is that there are creeks my way that you can walk down at low tide and hand pick all the bluecrabs you want with a dip net in the shallow pools of water left by the tide. If you don't have this senario, than you'll still have to buy chicken necks to catch the crabs to put in your traps.
Contrairy to popular believe, mudminnows are carnavores, the micro scavengers of the weed lines. I don't know how bread would work for them. It might, don't rule it out until you try it. Bread works great in fresh water for catching those little crappie minnows in the shallows.
The problem with putting chopped fish or shrimp in your trap is infact, crabs. The crabs will find the trap as well, since that's their diet too. And when the crabs arrive, the minnows disperse to a safer location.
I've never tried dogfood, and i'm pretty sure any other kind of meat you can think of would also draw crabs.
I hope this is of some help.[cool]
[signature]
LOL. Well, they're deffinatly ain't not salt water mudminnows here...More like these little suckers...(if the picture works)
They're about 2 1/5 - 7 inches...And no crabs either, though I can see having the same problems with Crayfish. Maybe shrimp would work good. I can deffinatly see catching little Bullheads and Channel cats that way...Maybe some little Pike and Basses...
Thanks for the advice guys. Much appreciated.
[signature]
i trap my own minnows,there are a number of "baits" you can use,bread,cat/dog food,chicken,scrap of fish,and a stick of gum.i have had the best luck with chiken,and the fish,the oilyer the fish the better you are.the stick of gum idea i read from outdoor life,and gave it a try,it works good,caught many with one stick.my experiance is anything white works,just some are better than others
[signature]
fishhound said it, a hot dug bun soaked with scent is a good way to go. if the water is dirty a good scent, like smelly jelly or similar, will help them find there way into the trap. good luck
[signature]
Smelly Jelly is great to use. I have found out that putting some Pro Cure inside of a small water ballon with small holes will also work good. Pro Ccre comes in many of your favorite smelly jelly scents.[cool]
[signature]
im a fan of pro cure too. i use there website to order once in a while. i'll post a link here. i especially like there line of scents designed for kokanee salmon.
[url "http://www.pro-cure.com/index.html"]http://www.pro-cure.com/index.html[/url]
[signature]
If you ever use plastic swim baits, you can inject them with Pro Cure for more dramatic results. I use alot of the Saltwater formulas. Some of the Saltwater formulas are good for Catfish and Stripers too.[cool]
[signature]
try some dried bread crumbs and wrap in fishnet stocking.or any dried dog or cat food tuna flavor works good around my area
[signature]
What is "pro cure?" Is it really worth using? When I say that, I mean in reference to going through the trouble injecting the soft plastic lures. Say I put some in a small beetle spin, would it really make a difference?
The reason I ask is i've always seen that crap on TV, and never really thought it would make that much of a difference. My reason why you ask, since we all know that fish use all their senses to feed? The reason I say that is if you are tossing a lure, than I truely feel like fish are responding more to sight and sound than anything else. Fish are impulse feeders, and I can't see where scent would help when you're fast retrieving a lure. However, I also know that isn't always the case.
For instance, I was reading the posts on the Cudas on the Cali board, I know for a fact Baracuda's will snap at anything shiney. It doesn't have to make a sound or smell like anything. They bite at the flash.
Then you've got catfish, which almost solely use their sense of smell to locate prey, especially in murkey waters.
There are also plenty of species of fish that land right in the middle.
So, with that said, under what circumstances would bait injection truely be worth while, and create a noticable difference in productivity.
[signature]
i dont know much about injecting baits, but i do smear scent on a lot of lures and plastics. i have noticed a difference.
for instance, this year while ice fishing- i went on the first trip of the year and forgot to take any scents. in the ice tent we could see all the way to the bottom in 25 feet of water. fish would come in and sometimes just look at our offering and then leave. other times theyd grab it, but quickly let go. the next time out we took anchovie smelly jelly and smeared our jigs with it. the fish would come in and look at the bait, and then eat it. instead of fish spitting the bait out they would hold onto it a little longer. in this case i believe the scent kept them from tasting anything un-natural. the first trip out they would spit the un-natural tasting jig. on our way off the lake, from the second trip, i talked with a group fishing about 75 feet from where we were- they hadnt had a bite. they were using the same jigs, basically, but had no scent to use.
in a non feeding response, like using shiny lures to get a reaction strike, im sure the same applies. they will hold onto it a little longer because it tastes natural. i use pro cure scents to fish for kokanee salmon- they strike out of agression, not hunger. ive noticed a big difference in strikes, and hook-ups, by using scents. its just more natural...especially to a fish that has seen it all!
[signature]
I have had great success with pro cure when the fish are finicky and picky. I haven't seen any of the adds for Pro Cure but I had it recommended to me on numerous occasions.
I finally tried it under many different circumstances and found it to be really good.
The Cudas that we have in So Cal can differ from one area to another. We have the Long Beach Zone, the Inner Channel zone near the Channel Islands and we have the Rear Zone behind the Islands.
In the Long Beach Zone, the Cudas prefer the purple/white/black color but will hit anything that looks like live bait as well as hitting live bait itself. They will seldom hit the flashy chrome colors.
On the other hand, in the Inner Channel Zone, they will prefer the Mint/white colors and still hit the bait looking colors with less vigor.
On the back of the Islands, the Cudas stay away from all colors except for the yellow/green.
I have been through the majority of the colors during a wide open bite, in all the aforementioned areas and documented what they hit on the best using a 30 cast per color analysis.
The colors that I found working also resulted in a near 100% catch rate while the other colors yielded well less than 8% catch rate durin the same wide open bite.
The Pro Cure product is made with the natural oils from bait fish unlike some of the other brands. That is why they have worked so well for me and others.
It does increase your chance of catch over the fish that hunt by sight and smell. For the fish that are sight only, it makes no difference except for the amount of time that they hang onto the given lure or object.[cool]
[signature]
You and Bkidder answered alot of my questions, now, heres a new one. [cool]
How do you think injecting soft plasic lures with Menhaden oil would work? It doesn't get anymore natural than that.
Basically, I can think of no instance that injecting my lures with scent would be an advantage other than maybe my soft fresh water jigs and beetle spins. I will try that though. Thanks for the info fellas.
As for the cuda's, i'm really surprised to hear the diversity in prefered colors in random locations by the same species of fish, that's unreal. Are there variable conditions that may contribute to that?
I know alot of my color selection for saltwater, especially trolling, is affected by what type of bait fish are currently present, time of year, and the speed that i'm trolling. For instance, a dark lure contrasts better at high speeds. So when i'm dragging a lure at speeds in excess of 8 to 10 knotts, like for Wahoo, i'll go with a black and purple pattern. A shiney or light colored lure would look like a streak in the water at 10 knotts, preditory fish can hone in on a darker color rig, but you don't have to sacrifice the shine either. All the lures I use I put a little strip of reflective tape on the side, belly, and top for good measure. You get the contrast of the darker color lure, and the attention getting affect of the shiney sparkles. And anyone that's seen my Wahoo picks knows it works well.[cool]
[signature]
well, im not familiar with that oil but i do use herring oil sometimes. it leaves a nice oil trail in the water and can make a difference at times. go ahead and inject some of those plastics! keep track of which ones are "spiked" and which ones arent. see if you notice a difference. this is one of those issues that you can sit and chat about all day- but, when it comes down to it the only thing that will convince you is testing the issue yourself. thats the only thing that convinced me. let us know what kind of results you get.
[signature]
Word................ [cool] I shall test in high multitudes and report my results. Thanks for all the info gentleman. Next trip i'll see if I can't put it to good use.
[signature]
You folk convinced me. I'm going to try sticking my plastics with scent for the muddy waters, see if I can get a few more strikes...Worst case scenario I wreck a couple of cheap lures.
You guys are a great help. Glad I signed onto this board.
[signature]
We're glad you signed on Dubie!!!!!!! That's what these boards are all about. Learning and spreading helpful hints. Don't be affraid to throw in your 2 cents anytime you have an idea or a suggestion that might help out another angler.
I know I signed on back in 2003, and since then i've learned alot and at the same time shared alot of my own personal knowledge. I enjoy just communicating with the other anglers of all ages and locations. I get all tingly inside when I see a new member post a message because the more people involved on a board, the more diverse the info is, and it's really interesting to hear what people have to say. And that's another great thing about this site. When it comes to fishing, there are no "dumb Questions." We as fishermen and Women know that there are many different skill levels and capabilities among us, and we as BFT members cator to all those skill levels, ages, and abilities; and in turn help people reach that next level of fishing.
[signature]
we're glad to have you here! questions about different scents always invite good conversation. its been interesting to be here on a national board and hear a wider perspective about things. only for about a month or two have i been on the freshwater board. before that i spent all of my time on the utah board. its cool to get local info, but also interesting to see whats going on other places.
as far as ruining lures- i found out the hard way that a lot of scents will tarnish metal and discolor plastic if left on. i usually stack my lures on my dashboard of my boat after im done with them (if ive applied any scent). i then take them in the house and scrub them with dishsoap and an old toothbrush. after they dry i put them back in there place. that keeps them from being ruined.
let us know how the scents work out for ya!
[signature]
Hey Bro. Anything you have will help the Worm Kings, Blams, Fish Traps or what have you. Many of the plastics will only create a reaction strike. Once there is some enhancement for the picky fish, they will then get some flavor and hang on to it for a second longer. That may be the difference between going home with just the satisfaction of getting out or having the time of your life.[cool]
[signature]