Do I need Minnows?

I plan on getting out a few hours here and there for walleyes the next couple weeks. I am fishing moderate-low density lakes around the metro and my expectations from a fish catching standpoint are relatively low – I am just looking forward to relaxing on the water.

My question is this: is it worth buying $15 worth of suckers and/or chubs every time I go out (assuming I cannot stretch them beyond a trip or 2)? Seems like one of the preferred fall methods is dragging or jigging Chubs, but I have never had much luck doing this. I am wondering if I can expect relatively similar success with swimbaits/jiggin raps/stick baits, or if live bait is critical this time of year.

I love dragging minnows, not sure its a have to have them thing right now. I have not gotten out in a while, but should be coming back around to a minnow bite. If you keep them in an engel should be doable now with the cooler temps.

You can get small batches at Vados if you are close, good to hedge your bets this time of year.

Rigging Red Tails off the first break and weed lines is a blast.

We catch a ton of walleyes in the fall and never fish live bait. So I would say no its not necessary. We catch all our fish in the fall on either a Swim bait or a Jerkbait. Here are 2 caught last week without Minnows. We also caught several other nice eater fish that outing

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Thanks for all the opinions, would love to run into a walleye like those Fishthumper! Will report back if I have any success.

mnfisherman18 wrote:

3 at 1:16 pm#2230925
Thanks for all the opinions,

Those were a 27 and 26″ fish. We often get some big ones in the fall on Jerkbaits. Often To many Big ones. I know, I know, not a bad problem to have. Some days I’d trade a 26″ fish for several 15-17″ fish instead.

Still getting fish on the Jerkbaits. Got this one and several others over 20″ along will 4 nice eater walleyes ( 16-18: ) yesterday. This one was a nice fat 28″ fish. I love the color and builds on these fall fish.

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Those metro fish thumper?

Nice catches

Deuces wrote:

Those metro fish thumper

Nope. St. cloud area.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Deuces wrote:</div>
Those metro fish thumper

Nope. St. cloud area.

HAHA, there’s only 2-3 lakes that support fish that size near St. Cloud. I’m pretty sure I know where you area based on the background and water color.

I would agree with others, I rarely use minnows this time of year. I use a lot of hair jigs, snap jigs and jiggin rap style baits during the day. Then flukes/jerk baits and paddle tails in the morning and evening.

Nice fish! Wish I could say I have had the same success, but have just picked up a few smaller ones. I cant complain too much though, time on the water always beats sitting at home and the weather has been great.

It’s good to have minnows in the metro during daylight hours. Most my big fish around here have been off large shiners or smaller suckers.

Nighttime goes to cranks mostly always. River fishing gets different tactics entirely but that’s not what ur asking.

Just my 2 cents within the context of your question

fishthumper wrote:

Still getting fish on the Jerkbaits. Got this one and several others over 20″ along will 4 nice eater <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleyes ( 16-18: ) yesterday. This one was a nice fat 28″ fish. I love the color and builds on these fall fish.

Oh damn I never catch ‘em that big on jerk baits. That’s a nice fish. Forget minnows and live bait if that’s the result snapping a jerk bait.