No minnows any one else?

This is winter/summer related. So this last ice season (I’m done) long lousy winter. I never used 1 minnow absolutely loved it! Fish for panfish only in winter and panfish/bass in summer so let’s get that established. No frozen pails it made me move more catch more fish and I don’t think I missed anything. Come spring I use them a bit for crappies but honestly do better on worms flu flu’s etc. AL Lindner says he never uses live bait. I’m not Al Lindner but I’m really toying with the idea of even selling my minnow bucket, broken minnow scoops and lousy aerators! In the fall I use them in the river but found I caught more on just a paddle tail. Any thoughts stupid to give them up?

I haven’t used anything other than an occasional crappie minnow in the spring for at least 5 years now. I hate buying live bait all the time, re-baiting, and trying to keep it alive. Pretty much fully switched over to artificial lures now.

Thanks gimruis glad it’s not just me

Over the years my daughter Sharon and her a late husband Billy would hop in the boat with me for an annual spring panfish trip. They would bring along waxies, crawlers, minnows, and make a heck of a mess in my boat. I’d be throwing small flies with a light weight fly rod. And I was fishing circles around those two. Eventually Sharon was using one of my flies under a bobber with her spinning rod just like it was live bait. Billy took a little more convincing, but eventually we stopped using live bait altogether. And we caught a lot of fish.

SR

Place and time for everything. Many of those nasty days out fishing nothing would touch a plastic but they were inhaling crappie minnows. Or they were lightly taking a small jig and plastic but loved waxes or spikes.
I do not buy alot of minnows but I always like to have shiners for my tip ups.

Last ice fishing season, I smashed the panfish with a hair jig, and it wasn’t even close. This year a crappie minnow is killing it, not like the hair jig did for me last year, but it is a significant difference. This year, I am fishing a different lake, and I have only caught crappies, no sunfish or perch.

I rarely use live bait for panfish. Small tube jigs slowly reeled back to the boat crush crappies and gills. I also have success trolling small cranks for crappies and occasional gills.

I have a hard time going for walleye without live bait on me, unless I’m specifically trolling cranks. I just don’t get to fish enough to master the art of plastics. I don’t have any confidence in them.

I also really like to tip my jigs with some meat when I’m jigging for Lakers. I know I don’t need it, but I definitely think it helps at times, especially in open water when you don’t graph them as often.

Rivers artificial 24/7.

Lakes absolutely not, frozen or not.

Hate dealing with livebait, would love to get rid of it but you can’t force feed fish what you want them to eat.

Over the years I would’ve missed many many fish without livebait. Same could be said of artificials, so why would I not bring one or the other I always ask myself.

Time and place for everything. We had a couple weeks on the river last summer when leaches were the absolute key. We knew where the fish were and that was what they keyed on. I’ve had the opposite experience, too.

I don’t mind live bait…usually have an option with me. I just stay away from minnows in the summer heat. Even with a bait cooler they die.

I do plan on burning through a scoop or 2 of crappie minnows on Saturday if all goes well

I hardly use any livebait anymore. a few times each winter while tip up fishing for pike. Maybe once or twice a summer when bobber fishing for walleye ( Leeches ) . That’s about all. We sometimes have some wax worms or larva around when panfishing. Every once in awhile the wax worms will be needed when the panfish bite is real negative.

I will use anything that is legal and helps me catch fish.

mrpike1973 wrote:

Thanks gimruis glad it’s not just me

Its probably more of a by-product on what I primarily target now to be honest. I rarely ice fish anymore and during open water season I primarily target bass or muskies. I also release almost everything and I want it to swim away fully alive so less use of live bait helps with mortality.

I have a few friends who are hell bent on buying and using live bait EVERY time they go fishing. I just can’t figure that one out.

I would agree if I was an Eye guy then yes would see it and doing catch and release is usually quicker without live bait type rigs.

I’m not Al Lindner but I’m really toying with the idea of even selling my minnow bucket, broken minnow scoops and lousy aerators! In the fall I use them in the river but found I caught more on just a paddle tail. Any thoughts stupid to give them up?……………………….That should get you about $3. 🥴

“I’m not Al Lindner but I’m really toying with the idea of even selling my minnow bucket, broken minnow scoops and lousy aerators! In the fall I use them in the river but found I caught more on just a paddle tail. Any thoughts stupid to give them up?”……………………….That should get you about $3. 🥴

Kind of what I was thinking. Fine to not bring live bait along that often but not really worth selling a used minnow bucket and scoop.

Minnows have their place, be flexible, cold water, sunrise, sunset when they want fat and meaty-fortunately at the very time when it is hard to keep them alive-mid-summer-they are totally not needed. Start with artificialls but have back up. Best thing about plastics is you can cover water w/o having to check and replace all the time.

My apologies on my sense of humor. I actually got $10 for all of it today I now can retire

I use minnows all winter long. Pretty easy to keep them alive for weeks at a time with a Engel cooler in the cool garage and add a scoop of snow to them every day. I also use a small 120v aquarium aerator

i trap my own early ice and keep all winter in my aquarium. you are allowed 2 lines in MN so no reason to not have a set rod with a minnow doing all the work while you jig your other rod. i fish A LOT but have not bought minnows in a decade or so. way too much fun being self sufficient. many of my biggest fish have come on set rods this year. other than that, there are a lot of fantastic fake options out there.

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What’s the pic supposed to show us Eyeguy, do you dunk a summer minnow bucket under the ice? Or are you down there hand grabbing fish and that’s your safety line?

it depends on my target for the outing. i use artifical when chasing pike……never live bait.

if i’m chasing panfish i have both plastics and live meat, in the winter waxies during the summer leeches. i do use plastics but you just never really know!!!!its kinda like a fussy kid eating!!!!

John Rasmussen wrote:

What’s the pic supposed to show us Eyeguy, do you dunk a summer minnow bucket under the ice? Or are you down there hand grabbing fish and that’s your safety line?

Minnow trap hole

I wish the guy in our walleye league on the Croix wouldn’t use minnows. He has dominated the league the past 2 years. He traps his own minnows and keeps them in a bait tank at this house. You could fish right next to him using suckers/shiners, crawlers, etc. and he keeps putting on clinics using his secret minnows (creek chubs, red tails, etc).

John Rasmussen wrote:

Or are you down there hand grabbing fish and that’s your safety line?

LOL that aint much of a safety line. I think I’d be using something a little more durable than that if my life depended on it.

I don’t think I have used a minnow since 2004, nothing but lead jigs and plastic

Plastics today

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John Rasmussen wrote:

What’s the pic supposed to show us Eyeguy, do you dunk a summer minnow bucket under the ice? Or are you down there hand grabbing fish and that’s your safety line?

took me years to find a productive pond, now i just hope it don’t winterkill. one hour dunk and it is loaded every time with feisty rainbow like minnows. i always bring minnows along. even when the eye bite on my P4 is tough, i know i can jig up some other species with minnows. i feel pretty fortunate now since i found this pond. minnows 5 minute drive from my house and creek chubs in my backyard…..life is good!

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Over the weekend the sunfish liked the plastics but crappies wanted meat.