Favorite new pond

First trap run of the year , there’s going to be some unhappy walleyes in a few weeks I counted around one twenty after they went through the sorter, not bad for only two traps in this pond !

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Need to put my traps in nice haul…..Walleye like them candy.

Wow. Keep that candy shop secret forever and ever and ever.

That’s awesome. I wish I had a spot like that near me

What do you use for bait? Dog food? Is there a brand that is better than another? I’ve tried a few ponds around my place and all I been catching are sticklebacks and baby bluegills. And to those that say walleyes will not eat a stickleback, that theory was proven incorrect as I catch all sorts of eyes on them.

I just use the cheapest dog food I can find , it’s really just about finding the right pond. I really got into it about four years ago, I’ve had traps in every pond I could find within thirty miles. I fond this one last year and it puts all others to shame for rainbows. I’ve got some with nice fat heads and golden shiners too . I like to make my own traps during the winter in my spare time.

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Day two another fresh batch. Size got better but numbers were down. Around one hundred, but I did bump up the size of my sorter to 19/64.

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Dang man. Those are some nice rainbows

Thanks bearcat89. My hunt finally paid off , I had another pond that I did get nice ones too but always a lot of undesirables also, this place almost straight rainbows so far . I threw out only five large mud minnows.

nice!!!!!!!! I always wanted to trap leeches but never seem to get around to it.

when I headed north the first weekend in april..and 40 miles northwest of you some of the smaller stores that carry bait said they heard a lot of the minnow ponds froze out?????????????

Well that could explain a pond I had traps in for two days and usually get hundreds of fathead but didn’t get one in two days! If that’s true I might need to put a lock on my bait tank

And you’re able to keep those minnows alive until opener and beyond? That is the most impressive part! Good work!

Keeping them alive is the expensive part, but I’m not doing this to save money, just another expensive hobby. I don’t believe walleye all of a sudden decide that they don’t like minnows any more and will only eat a leach or worm, I believe this was started by bait stores in the summer when they can’t get minnows anymore. I catch them all summer long on minnows

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Looks great! A good rainbow pond is a hard thing to come by, good job!

I am curious about the sorter you have? Do you mind sharing how you made it?

Minnow saver .com I went there and could not believe the price of there graders. I went to the parts and just order one replacement rubber strip and cut it in half and built a box to fit it. They come pre drilled out at different sizes to except aluminum rods. I see if I can find it quick

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What do u look for when identifying a good pond or creek to try out? I’ve tried a few different creeks in the past but always get skunked

Thanks Gino! I almost fainted when I saw the sorting box price…. wow.

I’d look for fresh beaver signs, it seems rainbows and beaver go hand in hand. On the top side of a beaver dam is a good place to start, also the north side warms earlier that’s good spot too

Fatheads! You know you have a good haul when a pair of loons are sitting above your trap.

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Nice haul. Some of those fatheads have glorious gold color to them. Does that go away once in your tanks?

You know im not sure. The rainbows seemed to bleach out in my old tank that was silver color but have so far kept the beautiful colors in the black tank. I don’t normally like to keep fatheads but the rainbow pond shut down as of late and my golden shiner pond seems to have been found out by others so I’ve stayed away so far this year. There is nothing worse than having your traps you put so much time into making leave in the back of someone else’s truck. I’ll have to give the fatheads a week and see what the colors do.

Are all of these minnows producing some fish for you?

Yes they are , I live very close to the Mississippi River so I like keep bait on hand for easy fishing excursions.

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I got my first traps of the year out today. The big producing pond was still over half froze , I think by Sunday it should be open. I’m Hoping for a good year , I’m about a week earlier than last year so maybe I’ll get an extended run of big rainbows. I read that they are the first to spawn right as the ice leaves. Getting my bait tank up and running now. First check of the traps will be on Sunday.its starting to feel like spring in the northland finally!

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Rainbows are going good now. First check of the year was a success. Three or four more trips and I’ll have enough to get me till July. I always bring back what I don’t use at the end of the day and they go back in the tank. I’ll be adding a good pile of fatheads and golden shiners by the middle of May. Anyone else trap minnows here?

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Very nice minnows!

Don’t do any trapping but I do seine spottails. When the water temp gets right a guy can get enough for the whole spring in just a couple trips. Way cheaper then buying shinners in any bait shop too. Gets really hard to keep them alive when temps start rising.

Red Eye wrote:

Don’t do any trapping but I do seine spottails. When the water temp gets right a guy can get enough for the whole spring in just a couple trips. Way cheaper then buying shinners in any bait shop too. Gets really hard to keep them alive when temps start rising.

. They are the hardest to keep long term for sure. I stay away from them, but they are a nice minnow . I get some golden shiners that are almost silver like a spot tail , they keep real well. I’d say rainbows and golden shiners are the easiest to keep in large volumes long term. Fat heads always end up diseased and spot tails don’t like captivity at all.

Gino wrote:

I get some golden shiners that are almost silver like a spot tail , they keep real well. I’d say rainbows and golden shiners are the easiest to keep in large volumes long term. Fat heads always end up diseased and spot tails don’t like captivity at all.

Very true!! Too bad on so many of the Lakes I fish if you don’t have a spot tail you might as well go bowling.

I’ve heard that a lot just never personally experienced it. I don’t travel far in my open water fishing trips. I’ve got a handful of lakes and rivers that the walleyes are all ways happy with what ever minnow I put on. I’d like to trap spot tails but the lakes that I know of are either too far away or come with special trapping restrictions now with the ais.