Red Forage Base

The DNR LakeFinder site says there’s pretty much every type of bait in the lake that is common throughout MN lakes and rivers. I.e.: whitefish, perch, at least 6 species of shiners, couple dace species, couple darter species, white suckers, a few redhorse species, and a plethora of rough fish(walleyes do eat drum ), not to mention YOY gamefish seasonally…

Last year when fishing deeper flats and basins we marked lots of little schools of very small bait that seemed to be nomadic and stay in the upper third to maybe half of the water column, and they would pass through occasionally but never hang around long.

The fish we caught had half-digested minnows in them that looked to be of the shiner variety. The only thing throwing me off is the solid stripe along the lateral line; otherwise I’d probably just call them emeralds. ALTHOUGH, the stripe can sometimes be apparent on even the lightest/palest shiner species in the right conditions… I also believe they could be a dace species(finescale or redbelly), also commonly referred to as “redtails,” or “redtail chubs.”

What are your personal or second-hand observations as far as bait out there? What’s the most common you see or find in the fish’s stomach? I’m sure some are more abundant than others.

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I’m sure I’ll catch some flack for the gloves and fillet job.. lol. Just for the record, not my photos…

I cannot tell you what that minnow is, but it does not look like any shiner to me. Some sort of dace is my guess. Possibly a rainbow.

FYI – Redtails and redbelly dace are not the same. Redbelly dace are more commonly known as rainbows/rainbow fatheads/rainbow chubs (look like a colorful fathead IMO and are often larger).

Edit: upon further research, the minnow in the perch looks different than the minnow in the first pic. To me, that looks like a trout perch. They have some spots and sometimes a distinct line on them. They kinda look like a mini perch/walleye hybrid.

LabDaddy1 wrote:

I’m sure I’ll catch some flack for the gloves and fillet job.. lol. Just for the record, not my photos…

I wear those type of rubber gloves all the time. Great to keep your hands dry and slide right into a larger set. I’d bleed those fish out though!

Yeah, Charlie, meant rainbow, not red tail oops.

Matt- I have actually been thinking of starting to bleed out my fish first. Would you do it right away or keep them alive until the last possible minute before bleeding?

@mdmoen

LabDaddy1 wrote:

Yeah, Charlie, meant rainbow, not red tail oops.

Matt- I have actually been thinking of starting to bleed out my fish first. Would you do it right away or keep them alive until the last possible minute before bleeding?

@mdmoen

I bleed them right away. And if I’m ice fishing I bleed them in a bucket so no one sees blood on my spot and doesn’t know it’s a good spot to sit. Or go bleed them over a crappy spot so people see it and go that way

That’s a great point bearcat!

a few years ago . there were so many shiners? in the river it was amazing billions the schools were so thick i have never seen any thing like it

cookie wrote:

a few years ago . there were so many shiners? in the river it was amazing billions the schools were so thick i have never seen any thing like it

Cool. Are you seeing less now? Every fall on the Mississippi there’s a huge shiner migration too

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>LabDaddy1 wrote:</div>
Yeah, Charlie, meant rainbow, not red tail oops.

Matt- I have actually been thinking of starting to bleed out my fish first. Would you do it right away or keep them alive until the last possible minute before bleeding?

@mdmoen

I bleed them right away. And if I’m ice fishing I bleed them in a bucket so no one sees blood on my spot and doesn’t know it’s a good spot to sit. Or go bleed them over a crappy spot so people see it and go that way

.

Same here. Get a set of shears to bleed them.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>LabDaddy1 wrote:</div>
Yeah, Charlie, meant rainbow, not red tail oops.

Matt- I have actually been thinking of starting to bleed out my fish first. Would you do it right away or keep them alive until the last possible minute before bleeding?

@mdmoen

I bleed them right away. And if I’m ice fishing I bleed them in a bucket so no one sees blood on my spot and doesn’t know it’s a good spot to sit. Or go bleed them over a crappy spot so people see it and go that way

We do the same in ice. Cut them with a set of shears in a bucket with some snow.

I don’t bleed in the summer til we get closer to filleting them. Maybe give them 15 mins in the live well.