Live Bait

I have been to Mille Lacs a few times over the last few years and the lake has become one of my favorite lakes to visit. Last year i did my first fall fishing there and I am heading back up in a month. The fishing was spectacular but i had some bait problems. I had a significant issue finding sucker minnows. Does anyone have any suggestions for finding these in large quantities? (think 30 dozen a day x 3 days)

The 2nd part of my question is probably quite stupid if you live in the area. I noticed that i didn’t see many or any bait stores selling crayfish. It struck me as incredibly odd, every fish i caught was spitting up crawdad parts all over the boat but i didn’t see crawdads as a bait at the bait shops. Maybe i just didn’t see them? I checked the regulations and the season on catching my own crawdads closes a few days before i show up. Is there a place i can get these, i would like to try to use them as it seems like the most obvious bait choice to me.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

The sucker minnow shortage isn’t anything new. That has been going on all season here. As for the crayfish, I would use an artificial lure that imitates a crayfish instead. There’s plenty of options, sizes, and various shades of color out there to try.

Once last thing, there is a new regulation starting on Friday, Sept 6 and you are prohibited from specifically targeting walleye. You might want to look into that a little closer as it relates to the use of live bait that is intended to catch walleyes.

I’m not sure where you are located but I was just up visiting my in-laws cabin near Park Rapids and there is a local bait distributor there that has an abundance of crayfish and they would also be your best bet for large quantities of sucker minnows. I’m not sure if they have an online presence but the name is North Country Bait.

Will

gim wrote:

Once last thing, there is a new regulation starting on Friday, Sept 6 and you are prohibited from specifically targeting walleye. You might want to look into that a little closer as it relates to the use of live bait that is intended to catch walleyes.

You are correct in that Walleye fishing closes September 6th. But, there is NO live bait restrictions or lure length restrictions until 10pm (night ban still in effect(lure & length of bait restrictions)). Nothing has changed except you aren’t allowed to “target” walleye. Period.

I am just chasing smallies. I caught a few large walleye last year if i would get too deep, but i would just reset where i was fishing. It was just amazing to me how predictable what i was catching was related to how deep of water i was in. Walleye are a byproduct fish for me so it isn’t a concern.

Thanks Will, i “will” check them out.

All of my normal bass fishing is with artificials, i like to think of this trip as my live bait trip. I have done well using artificials on Mille Lacs before, but it was insane during the last live bait trip, so that is what i will be doing this trip. After the 50th fish over 5lbs, i was pretty much hooked.

How are you riggin those large sucker minnows for the Small mouth. 50 fish over 5 Lbs – I’d like me some of that. What is the cost of a doz. sucker minnows of the size you use. I’d think buying 90 Doz. sucker minnows would require a personal loan or a line of credit loan

just drop shotting on light line, lip hooked, weight on the bottom, bait up about 8 inches. It was nothing special really. As for the sucker minnow, the bigger the better. I went with a friend that i consider a local and when he showed me what to do i was incredibly skeptical, those are some big baits for small mouth. Cost wise, ya, i used 10 dozen a day in my boat over 3 days. got 3 boats for this trip so i just assume we will use the same amount. I am an optimist. basically $100 a day for bait.

Bachelorpads wrote:

just drop shotting on light line, lip hooked, weight on the bottom, bait up about 8 inches. It was nothing special really. As for the sucker minnow, the bigger the better. I went with a friend that i consider a local and when he showed me what to do i was incredibly skeptical, those are some big baits for small mouth. Cost wise, ya, i used 10 dozen a day in my boat over 3 days. got 3 boats for this trip so i just assume we will use the same amount. I am an optimist. basically $100 a day for bait.

How heavy of a drop shot weight are you using? I’d think a large sucker minnow would be tough to keep on the bottom without a fairly heavy weight. What style of a hook do you use? How long do you give them when they pick up the bait before setting the hook? I’d be interested in giving this a try this Fall.

I’d spend some time on the phone calling bait shops, for an order that size they would likely be willing to set aside or special order, your order for you. Prince’s Bait on the way up or Johnson’s Portside would be the first 2 that came to mind. Sounds like a fun trip!

Dude, that is a crazy amount of minnows.

Any bait shop worth its salt would have all the bait you need on a pre order basis. Work out a deal at those levels you should find plenty of takers or move on until you find someone who wants your money.

I want to see a pic of your minnow bucket

bigpike wrote:

Any bait shop worth its salt would have all the bait you need on a pre order basis. Work out a deal at those levels you should find plenty of takers or move on until you find someone who wants your money.

Good in theory, bad in reality. MN baitlaw restrictions have really put a strangle on supply for these baitshops.

Personally if I owned a baitshop I wouldn’t want one guy to clean me out for a weekend while 50 others wondering where all the minnows at?! Then again I don’t own a baitshop…

I think you’d be supprised Mr. Beads. I have seen a wholesale minnow shop located a little ways north of TC’s first hand. 1500 minnows would be like a single hair on a winter coated Labrador retriever for that place.

I would think if you get on a feeding school of smallies it doesn’t matter what you throw in the water, they’ll bite. But I have done well drop shotting with gulp alive minnows

Deuces wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bigpike wrote:</div>
Any bait shop worth its salt would have all the bait you need on a pre order basis. Work out a deal at those levels you should find plenty of takers or move on until you find someone who wants your money.

Good in theory, bad in reality. MN baitlaw restrictions have really put a strangle on supply for these baitshops.

Only in Minnesota would the government limit a bait shop to how many minnows it can sell…..well maybe California also

ya, i found out i can only have 12 dozen minnows at a time without a bait dealers license, so i am going to have each vehicle stop and get their own minnows. And beyond that i found that the only way you can transport minnows onto a lake is to use a seperate baitwell in the truck, you can’t use your live well with water not from the lake. I basically have to use a remote baitwell and keep the boat baitwell empty until i get it in the lake, fill the livewell on the boat, transfer the sucker minnows to the boat…without the water….to the livewell…So it is official. You guys have the craziest bait rules i have had to deal with out of all the states i have fished.
Besides all that i made some calls to the places you guys recommended and they were all pretty decent to deal with but all of them couldn’t guarantee anything until the week before i get there so i need to call back then. It seemed everyone had sucker minnows right now but the problems are enough nobody would say they definitely could get them then.
thanks for all the advice, appreciated.