Anyone use frozen minnows

I like to keep minnows after trips and save them for another trip. saves me 10 minutes and a few bucks stopping and replenishing. I usually lose a few over the course of a week and freeze them. Has anyone had better luck using frozen over live? When vertical presentations are in play and the waves jig it for you, does live really out due frozen?
On LOW the frozen shiners typically kick the snot out of live shiners in the fall. I hate wasting bait and making any unnecessary stops in the morning.

the only place I have fished frozen minnows is LOTW. never heard of it being a thing anywhere else

I fish frozen minnows all the time. I keep all mine and freeze them. Fish local metro lakes and rivers

Are you freezing the dead ones? Or live minnows that you won’t be using? Any prep or brine? I’ve heard of people using cola, or salting.

I would salt them. Whenever I’ve used salted minnows they have been as effective as live.

In Iowa is is not lawful to take your minnows home unless you change to tap water before you leave the ramp.

I salt my minnows

how do you guys salt them? now that I think about it I had plans to keep minnows and salt them a few years back and I was doing research on it but my plans fell by the wayside

I use my sucker minnows that die on tipups all the time. If they die I put them in a plastic bag and use them on the next trip. I think they actually work better than live.

I once found some shiners frozen into the ice on Mille lacs that were left by the previous renters of our ice shack. We had better success on the frozen minnows that were chisled from the ice than the live bait we brought. For whatever reason I have never attempted to repeat it though

Pat them on a paper towel and shake them in canning salt, let dry out a bit.they will feel a firmer ( if that’s a word.) Roll in the a 3 finger deep size zip lock and freeze till next outing

tbro16 wrote:

I once found some shiners frozen into the ice on Mille lacs that were left by the previous renters of our ice shack. We had better success on the frozen minnows that were chisled from the ice than the live bait we brought. For whatever reason I have never attempted to repeat it though

it’s the oils the shiners give off that make them so good frozen. not sure it works the same with regular fatheads as is why I decided to post the question. I still take some frozen ones with but rarely use them. I just wish I had more time to fish to experiment.

eyeguy507 wrote:

it’s the oils the shiners give off that make them so good frozen

Very interesting and good to know. I do the majority of my fishing in northern WI where all you can get is little fatheads and even worse, sucker minnows. Maybe ill stock up on shiners and freeze them for the spring bite. Thanks for the post.

Every fall we fish Rainy river but last year was the first time they were packed in what appeared to be sawdust. We had it all over everything in the boat, in our hair, ears, it was a mess but it kept the shiners more firm and harder for the fish to steal and they are pros at that out there! I still have some leftover from last year and rarely use them but I don’t think they work well anywhere else.

Salted or pro cured shiners are used probably 90% of the time here in Manitoba.

No live bait here in Saskatchewan other than crawlers and leeches. We use frozen minnows year round. I actually use those insulated bait pucks just to keep my minnows thawed out when I’m ice fishing, they will freeze on the ice otherwise.

Cam do you notice any difference between salted and non salted minnows?

Great thread. Sound like an easy way to save some coin and time. I woul dalso like to know if anyone see a difference in salted or non-salted. Would it be ridiculous to just freeze plain?

I dont get how you could say , yeah I dont think they work any where but this 1 body of water.
That’s nonsense

whytie wrote:

No live bait here in Saskatchewan other than crawlers and leeches. We use frozen minnows year round. I actually use those insulated bait pucks just to keep my minnows thawed out when I’m ice fishing, they will freeze on the ice otherwise.

Cam do you notice any difference between salted and non salted minnows?

Some days, yes. I like to experiment with pro cure, but fishing the red river, scent is more important. On lake winnipeg, some days they beat out live minnows, other days, reverse. It’s easier to fish them too. On lotw, salted shiners work well.

I know pike have no qualms about eating dead bait…but walleyes?

Specifically are you catching walleyes through the ice actively jigging a spoon or jig with a dead minnow?

I guess my real question is are you catching with a stationary dead minnow under a rattle reel set up overnight?

Dead minnow on a jig as a dead stick. Sounds crazy but it works for us from the st croix to chisago lake. To mille lacs. First time a guy showed me I though he was nuts. But it worked.
Also on a jig being jigged and dragged

I’ve seen these before but never tried. Anyone have any luck with these Magic pre-packaged preserved minnows?

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I’ve used the magic baits for when we go to Winnipeg and yes they work good up there…around home in sodak I tried then to and as long as I was pitching a jig vs still fishing with them they worked well

Well after throwing blades, plastics and jigging raps to no avail for 3 hours, I bit the bullet and busted out my frozen minnows. I needed to attach a stinger hook but surprisingly I landed a couple 13….14 sauger and walleye here on lake Pepin. Not much size but the action was great.

Andy, we’ve taken a bag of those preserved shiners to LOW. They did not get touched. The fish must know they are non native and just ignore them? It’s got to be the oils the native ones give off that makes them so irresistible!