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A week ago the carp minnows were thick everywhere it seemed, tried to catch some yesterday and nada, zip, zilch... Did get some fatheads (really small ones), but the nice carp minnows had disappeared... Water temp went from 60 to 54 deg in that time frame, so does anyone know where they went? I expect they hunted some warmer spots and are probably schooled up there, but I'm not sure where there is.. TD what's your analysis on this behavior? Yote, have you checked your hot spot lately? If so, and they are there, mind sharing??? Thanks J
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[#0000FF]Carp minnows move around according to several different motivating factors. First is comfort. They like warmer better than colder. Second is safety. If the predators are herding them around they scoot out the back door to safety as soon as they can. Third is food. When waters cool the bitty bugs die off or hide in the mud and weeds. So the carplets will go ahunting for warmer more buggy water.
Amazing what only a few degrees drop in temperature does to the ecology...especially in shallow waters. And shallow waters warm and cool much faster than deeper waters. So if it gets cold in the back yard they head for the warmer living room...deeper water.
Your minnowing days may be over for this year. Mine are.
Thinking about Willard on Friday if Mama Nature plays nice.
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I was quite surprised at the big difference in a week for those minnows but it was very definite. Thanks for the explanation of the behavior. I think you're right on the minnowing being over, if not now it will be next week when they pull the plug. I know a couple warm spots I think I'll go check and see if they have any minnows. My wife already thinks I have more than my share of freezer space full of bait, but when the fish are biting I go through a bunch per trip.
Friday would be fun, but I have a previous Green River invite that I'm looking forward to, so I won't be able to make it, but thanks for the invite. Now I know you'll catch lots of eyes, if I can't go. Good luck and I hope the weather holds out for you. Later J
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[#0000FF]You need to haunt DI or watch the want ads for one of those small little chest freezers. They hold a lot of frozen bait and don't take up much room. Great for bait and for keeping domestic tranquility.
Just don't put your nightcrawlers in there.
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You're right about that DI thing, my brother gets all kinds of good stuff and I never find anything when I go. Guess I need to do it more often. Wish I had room for another freezer, but someday I'll get a garage. Then maybe a fridge and freezer to handle all the bait. Night crawlers stay in the ground till the night before around here. Wife would kill me if they got into the fridge. Thanks for the tip. J
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[quote TubeDude][#0000FF]You need to haunt DI or watch the want ads for one of those small little chest freezers. They hold a lot of frozen bait and don't take up much room. Great for bait and for keeping domestic tranquility.
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+1000
My wife is not a fan of her fridge or freezer being turned into bait storage. [shocked]
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You might want to check any canals that come out of the bear river. I know in Idaho there are schools of minnows and some big suckers that get trapped and end up dead. Just a thought
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Good idea, I hear there are a few at the dam that at least have panfish minnows, maybe carp too. Thanks for the tip. J
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[quote wagdog][quote TubeDude][#0000FF]You need to haunt DI or watch the want ads for one of those small little chest freezers. They hold a lot of frozen bait and don't take up much room. Great for bait and for keeping domestic tranquility.
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+1000
My wife is not a fan of her fridge or freezer being turned into bait storage. [shocked][/quote]
My wife doesn't seem to mind too much when a tub of night crawlers shows up in the fridge. It only happens once or twice a year. If it was a regular occurrence then it would become a big thing.
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I prepped a bunch of small white bass for catfish bait by trimming the fins and freezing them whole. I'd put about half a dozen in a bag and add a little salt and enough water to cover them. I think I did a couple dozen that way and put them in the freezer. Later, unbeknownst to me, my wife went to the freezer to get something and wasn't prepared to see little bags of fish staring back at her. I think she was more surprised than anything. My solution was to get a separate freezer. [  ][ ][ ][ ]
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I guess I'm lucky, I keep frozen minnow in the Freezer and night crawlers in the fridge all year long. It isn't like they will effect the taste of any food, as long as they are in their own container.
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If I did more with bait then I would look into a separate mini freezer/fridge combo, but until that day arrives I will continue to torment my wife with an occasional bucket of worms or frozen fish.[sly]
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Last night I scored 15 carpets 3" long and 25 sucker minnows. Using trail mix as bait.At least the stuff that no one likes.. What do you all use in your minnow traps as bait?
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I use dog or cat food as bait.
A friend of mine once came home to a home cooked meal of trout and found his new bride had prepared his sturgeon bait. Careful what you put in the freezer.
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Nice catch, I typically don't even use bait, I just try and place the traps in active areas and the cones do the rest for guiding the minnows into the traps. I'm sure I'd do better if I tried harder, but I usually get enough the way I have been doing it. Later J
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Whats the purpose of salt on the minnows? Does that affect how the bait attracts? Also, I guess if you put a little water in there, they don't get freezer burnt? If so, good to know. I just froze some last week without salt and water.
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It isn't a ton of salt. Just a little for flavor [ ]
Yeah I put just enough water to cover them up and squeeze all the air out of the bags.
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