minnow trap ?

[wormsinker]

Im having trouble catching minnows, I baited it with cheerios in a peice of panty hose. It is set close to the bank in structure of a fallen tree. I have seen baby fish there before, am i doing something wrong or what? Please help this sucks.
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[LOAH]

Try changing up your bait a bit. Ritz crackers are great, but if that's not working, try dog or cat food.

The panty hose might not be the best way to suspend your bait either. Try a ziplock sandwich baggie with a bunch of holes poked in it, plus a small rock to keep it from floating to the top of the cage.

Sometimes the minnows will prefer free floating crackers (no baggie), just a few at a time.

Also, you might be too deep. If you've located a lot of minnows in the area, try shallow first, parallel to the shoreline, leaving the top of the cage out of the water. Slowly work your way deeper after that, if it isn't working.

You should know if you've got something working within about 10 minutes, just don't go near the trap until then.
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[Kent]

I just purchase the cheapest dry dog food that I can find and toss a couple hand fulls in the trap (I don't put it inside of anything).

I have also found that a trap spray-painted dark green works far better than the natural colors they come in (silver or black). I recently put two traps out, one was the original black color and the other I had previously spray-painted dark green. I caught over 200 minnows in the green trap and only 4 in the black trap. Both traps were tossed out several times, so it wasn't because one trap was in "the zone" and the other wasn't.
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[RockyRaab]

Where in Utah is it legal to use minnows as bait?

Or are you rolling them in flour and frying them whole as fingerfood snacks?
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote RockyRaab]Where in Utah is it legal to use minnows as bait?

Or are you rolling them in flour and frying them whole as fingerfood snacks?[/quote]

Plenty legal to use minnows, long as they aren't still kicking. There's limits to what kind of minnows can be used where.
Some bait fish can only be used on the waters they were caught, but I think the chub, carp - etc - are good most places bait is acceptable.

You can check in at Sportman's or Smith and Eddy's - they sell minnows of a few different flavors.

[RockyRaab]

Yes, I knew that bagged and preserved minnows are legal in Utah, but when one thinks of minnow traps, one automatically thinks live bait.
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[Fishrmn]

Yes, I knew that bagged and preserved minnows are legal in Utah, but when one thinks of minnow traps, one automatically thinks live bait.

I don't.
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