Electric Lake 9-2

[tlspyder13]

The kids wanted to go fishing one more time and dad needed some more minnows so E-lake was the choice. The mods looked like they did alright gathering minnows so hopes were high. Not!

Started fishing with worms hoping for some minnows but all we could find were little half inch ones. No fish bitting and no minnows. Bored kids no fun. Went for a walk down the lake and finally found some bigger minnows. Packed everything up and moved down to the minnows. Out goes the trap in go the minnows. Succes was over after that one and only productive throw of the trap.

Fished with the minnows we did get for about four hours. Started catching fish out far but as the afternoon went on the fish kept moving closer to the shore. By four we were catching most of the fish only about ten feet out from shore. Lost more fish then we landed but brought home enough to share with extended family. No minnows left over for the freezer but had a lot of fun with the kids.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]It is really important to find the minnows within range and willing to play. We covered a long stretch of shoreline to find minnows both for the traps and for the cast nets. We had some "dry" throws with both the traps and the cast nets. However, once we found good concentrations we loaded up. I personally got far more with the cast net this time. On my last trip every time I soaked a minnow trap it loaded up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Glad you got into some fish for the kids. That's what it's all about. Those Yellowstone cutties are sure pretty, aren't they? Not very heavy, but purty.[/#0000ff]
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Sorry you didn't get into them. We found them in the shallows where the algae was thick and the water was warm. We had to do a lot of wading to find the concentrations of minnows. 85% of our minnows came from the cast nest; not to mention 1460 lbs of slimey green algae that would get into the cast net. I'm still cleaning algae from my cast net.[/size][/black][/font]
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[Flycasting]

Good to see the kids got into a few cutts. []
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[tlspyder13]

If I had a net we would have loaded up I believe. The minnows were there just not wanting to play inside the trap except for the first 15 minutes. Frustraiting to almost not be able to see your trap for all the minnows and not a single one inside of it. Should have taken Tubedude's advice and brought some dog food. All we had was bread although my wife threw some jerky in the trap later in the day. I bet the algae came off my trap a lot faster then your nets. It's never a bad day when you get to watch your daughter bring in a 18 inch fish on her Barbie pole.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]What I observed was that if you were lucky enough for your trap to rest on top of some weeds, the minnows would swim into it. But, if it landed in a deep pile of the green ooze it would sink down low enough that the openings were lower than the minnows were swimming and they would not go down to get in. Luck of the throw.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The only way to overcome that is by suspending your net below a float. But, if there is any breeze at all, you still lose.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Earlier in the year, while the water temps were still cooler in the shallows, there was not all of the green algae and the minnows hugged the clean bottom as they cruised up and down the shoreline. All you had to do is toss your trap in the zone and you loaded up. The gooey stuff messed that up.[/#0000ff]
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[fuzzyfisher]

the secret is to get there about 4 months sooner when there is no algae and the minnows are alot bigger!

this time of the year the best places are the springs on the east side to find minnow at E-lake.. there is no algae in the mouth of the springs and the minnows will stack up thick around them..

if your looking for bigger minnow tho get there around mid may to mid june.. thats when they spown and are big and fat..
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