Trapping Minnows for Fishing

After three days in the lake I only caught 3 fry. There was a Brown Bullhead Catfish and what I believe was a Striped Bass, the last was a Yellow Perch. I let the catfish and bass fry go as they're much more useful as full grown fish then as bait. The Perch is in a bucket in the back yard, they're interesting little fish and I'm thinking about keeping it for a friend's pond.

Overall it was a FAIL haha. I'm going to try some raw bacon next, the bread seemed to attract more snails then anything and the fry I caught might have very well just wandered into the trap.
 
I've been trapping minnows all my life and the best advice I can give you is to buy a trap at Canadian Tire and try placing it in a beaver pond or marshy area----as long as the water is deep enough to cover the trap you'll catch minnows----I have never caught any minnows in a lake-----lots of crayfish if you use fish or meat as bait in the trap though!
The darker water the better----you really won't believe where minnows can flourish-----I woul bet you will get more minnows from a deep ditch along a road than you would from a clear lake.
 
SeamusMac said:
After three days in the lake I only caught 3 fry. There was a Brown Bullhead Catfish and what I believe was a Striped Bass, the last was a Yellow Perch. I let the catfish and bass fry go as they're much more useful as full grown fish then as bait. The Perch is in a bucket in the back yard, they're interesting little fish and I'm thinking about keeping it for a friend's pond.

Overall it was a FAIL haha. I'm going to try some raw bacon next, the bread seemed to attract more snails then anything and the fry I caught might have very well just wandered into the trap.
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If you are serious about this then I suggest buying or making a bigger wire trap. I think they run around 10 bucks at Canadian Tire. The Canadian tire traps last forever, if you don't run over then with the ATV (don't ask).

I had a few fails before I got good at it as well. Now I never go walleye fishing with less than 8 dozen minnows.
 
I tried placing a few pop bottle traps in a new location tonight and when I was setting them I was amazed at how many catfish fry there were in the reeds. I set up 2 traps and while I was passing my first trap (set 5 minutes earlier) I noticed it already had 4 fry in it. These things are too easy to catch haha.

Think they'll make good bait?

I'm heading down to Crappy Tire tomorrow to buy a gun safe so I'll definitely check out the store bought traps, thanks for the info guys.
 
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I've used the standard wire mesh minnow traps avail at CTC, and just about everywhere else. I ball up some bread and suspend it in the trap with wire so it doesn't get eaten through the sides.
It's very effective. If placed where there are lots of minnows, I've seen the trap literally full of them.
 
John Y Cannuck said:
I've used the standard wire mesh minnow traps avail at CTC, and just about everywhere else. I ball up some bread and suspend it in the trap with wire so it doesn't get eaten through the sides.
It's very effective. If placed where there are lots of minnows, I've seen the trap literally full of them.
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I also put in a piece of aluminum foil wrapped around a pebble...the shiny surface helps to attract minnows .
 
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