Minnows

[michael44]

oh where oh where have the minnows gone oh where oh where could they be?

Man I have been all over the river around IF and the minnows have disappeared.

Maybe jensens grove?
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[idahoron]

if your using them for fishing make sure of the species. Ron
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[Bardic]

We saw a bunch of carp minnows below the Gem Lake Dam near Shelley. Saw some crawdads too. I think this was a week and a half ago.
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[curt69]

Why make sure of the species ? Curt G.
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[cpierce]

Probably because if they are trout you can only have 6!
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[drowning_flys]

[quote cpierce]Probably because if they are trout you can only have 6![/quote]
Unless there morgs or come from a fish salvage then you can have as many as you want.
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[duksnfish]

And make sure they are dead when you take them before you fish with them!!!
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[michael44]

jensens grove[cool]

Does anybody here have a secret way of curing minnows?

I use a combo of borax and canning salt.
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[flygoddess]

Cure Minnows? really?

Glad mine don't smell or need curing.....LOL


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[windriver]

Just place them in a ziplock bag in layers and put a layer of water over them and sea. Then freeze.

The oxygen is what breaks them down and causes freezer burn. If you put them in a layer of water they usually turn out well, when you need them.

Windriver
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[curt69]

If you have a food saver . Vacuum pack about a dozen to a package and they will keep frozen and not freezer burn all winter . Curt G.
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[Mojo1]

Use a commercial bait brine like BRINE-N-Bite or a heavy satwater brine with powdered milk to toughen the minnows and keep the scales shiny. If you dont, they will be mush when you thaw them. I have been curing minnows (and Herring ) for years, and it is important to keep the saline level high to toughen up the bait. The same applies to shrimp BTW...
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[michael44]

Thanks Mojo!
I have them curing now in a salt and borax mix they seem to be curing well.
We are headed out this week and weekend, I will post an update about how well they work.

Minnows might just be my favorite bait[sly]
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[nativefisherman]

I have captured these minnows for years and have found i cant catch alot of fish with them. Unless im in a area where the fish must be starving. Any tips on how i should be rigging them up. Or maybe something that is key that i am missing. I have cuaght some huge cats and trout on them but would like to improve success. Ty for your time and god bless
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[michael44]

The thing that I have found with minnows is that I catch bigger fish.
I can certainly catch more fish number wise using other methods but my thing these days is catching big fish, and I have had more success with minnows than any other method.
They seem to be more effective in late fall and winter.

I use a minnow threader and thread the leader from just behind the anal fin out through the mouth. We have had great success at henrys just still fishing them from the bank. My favorite is to troll a minnow behind pop gear.
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[michael44]

Last friday I caught a nice little brown in the 17 inch range that had two 4/5 inch minnows sticking out of its mouth.
I caught a little 6 inch rainbow on a 4 inch rapala.

I read an article that said the state record brown that Wes Case caught up to Ashton had a 10 and a 12 inch rainbow inside it.

Fun Stuff!!
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[CoyoteSpinner]

What does the borax do? Does that add attractive or repulsive flavor to the minnows? With all the salty worms and grubs, I presume salt serves to attract fishies.

Can't seem to find it - but I know TubeDude had a nice writeup on minnows. I needs to learn how to catch some of that "good bait".

I'd tried the store-bought shad, but never had any luck with them. Anyone else? I did see a source for minnows on KSL classifieds. Someone once said they pick up feeder goldfish from Petsmart. Not sure if there's legal ramifications to that.

[drowning_flys]

[quote CoyoteSpinner]What does the borax do? Does that add attractive or repulsive flavor to the minnows? With all the salty worms and grubs, I presume salt serves to attract fishies.

Can't seem to find it - but I know TubeDude had a nice writeup on minnows. I needs to learn how to catch some of that "good bait".

I'd tried the store-bought shad, but never had any luck with them. Anyone else? I did see a source for minnows on KSL classifieds. Someone once said they pick up feeder goldfish from Petsmart. Not sure if there's legal ramifications to that.[/quote]
There was a guy around here i would run into out catfishing that used gold fish and he said that was the best bait around. yes he used live ones even tho illegal, bad thing is they thrive in cold water there is a few ponds south of Oakley where people put them in and they seem to be doing quite well.
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[michael44]

I haven't a clue if the borax or salt attract fish? I will always use fresh minnows if I have them. We have had terrible luck finding any close so we caught a bunch when we had the chance. I cure egg roe much the same way. It is another deadly bait, especially for chromeheads[cool]

The salt and borax is used to cure the minnows so they don't spoil and get soft and mushy.
The Borax seems toughen them up better than just salting them does.
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[StacyR]

If you are after cats, I wouldn't cure them. Just freeze them in water or vacuum seal them so they don't get freezer burn. The most important thing is that you keep them on ice and freeze them as soon as possible. I find it's when fish isn't kept cold and frozen right away is when the texture suffers.
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