Shiners

Any bait shops near Alexandria area have shiners for this weekend? Thanks!

Did you call the bait shops ?

Sounds like Fletcher’s in Sauk Centre will have them, but yes you may want to call them.

I heard that shiners were not in shortage this year like so many in the past.

based on the thousands of shiners swimming up & down the shallows of my shoreline last weekend, there should be no shortage this season…

I assume we’re referring to rainbow shiners. Not goldens. Very few golden shiners originate in MN.

Golden shiners die if you look at them wrong

gimruis wrote:

I assume we’re referring to rainbow shiners. Not goldens. Very few golden shiners originate in MN.

Golden shiners die if you look at them wrong

I love golden shiners when I do get minnows, they cam be a pain but I throw them in my bait well and just keep circulating water. They will last a while that way

I’ll bet you get them from Frankies LOL

JoeMX1825 wrote:

based on the thousands of shiners swimming up & down the shallows of my shoreline last weekend, there should be no shortage this season…

Already in, sheez. I figured the original post was referring to spot tail shiners.

Ottertail county the only shinners that matter are spot tails. Buddy of mine commercial traps. Said he’s put on 500 miles so far and just yesterday started getting them.

We consider goldens trash when we seine.

Swimjiggin wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
based on the thousands of shiners swimming up & down the shallows of my shoreline last weekend, there should be no shortage this season…

Already in, sheez. I figured the original post was referring to spot tail shiners.

I’m not sure what specific type of minnows they are, but i’ve never seen so many this early in the season…perhaps the easier winter helped them out?

gimruis wrote:

I assume we’re referring to rainbow shiners. Not goldens. Very few golden shiners originate in MN.

Golden shiners die if you look at them wrong

I’ve never heard of a rainbow shiner, definitely never seen one in a bait shop. Rainbow minnows in bait shops are types of chubs, not shiners.
In mn you’ll see Goldens, Spot tails, and emerald shiners.
He’s looking for Goldens or spots in the alex area.
I buy lots of shiners and don’t have problems keeping them alive.
I’ve heard from my bait shop (65 bait) that Goldens and spots are coming and will be in before the weekend.

grubson wrote:

I’ve never heard of a rainbow shiner, definitely never seen one in a bait shop. Rainbow minnows in bait shops are types of chubs, not shiners.
In mn you’ll see Goldens, Spot tails, and emerald shiners.

Ya I worded that incorrectly. Was referring to the spot tail versions.

90% of fisherman think a silver and a spot tail are the same thing.

While we’re talking Shiners, any you guys set out traps? Usually we can get em with dip nets and a seine net in different spots but putting a trap along side the dock would be worth a try. All I have is a small tube trap, any suggestions to lure em in??

There’s a shiner shortage.Tutts bait in Garrison will have spot tails.

Yep called around and wasnt finding them! Was hoping for some friendly help!!

That contradicts my intel. Guess we better do some checking to find spot tails unless you are talking about the other kind?

Grubson–I’d be interested in your method to keep them alive, in the boat and at home.
Are you in MN?
PM me if you prefer….thx.

gimruis wrote:

I assume we’re referring to rainbow shiners. Not goldens. Very few golden shiners originate in MN.

Golden shiners die if you look at them wrong

Rainbow shiners aren’t a thing(at least not in nature). Chubs are.

Lots of shiner species do exist here, though. Ie; goldens, spottails/common/lake, emerald, etc.. Some are more prominent in rivers and some in lakes. Fathead minnows on the other hand exist in all kinds of waterbodies across the US and gamefish gobble them up.

Creek chubs are cool and good bait. Often catch them while fly fishing for trout. Rainbow chubs/red belly dace are hardy and lots of gamefish love them, especially where they’re a natural baitfish. Harder to find and trap though.

When I lived in Florida I would catch big old golden shiners while fishing for bluegills with bread balls. Lots of 7-10” shiners. They would compete HARD for the bait with big bull coppernose gills. The bass in those ponds were HUGE. So were the tilapia which also loved bread and worms.

Btw, tilapia are gross fish. They school up and muddle around on nasty bottoms. It’s like eating a carp. Common? Yes. Edible? Yes. Desirable, not so much.

Now that I have purchased what I need , yes, there are spot tails and golden shiners in Alexandria.
DT

Found shiners by me. I guess it wasn’t as stocked as I thought. Bought 4 dozen and that’s all they had.

gimruis wrote:

I’ll bet you get them from Frankies LOL.

Lol no Frankie’s for this guy, I’ll drive 30 miles out if my way to avoid them. From what I’ve been hearing they are getting worse.

Brainerd area had shiners but was limiting scoops per customer. Fred’s in Deer River was fully stocked. They said the spottails started running on Red yesterday

Bens bait in Battle Lake has shiners. Most of the time they have common shiners and golden shiners.
Called Shriners in walker and he is sold out already but trying to get some more. Northern bait company in Psrk rapids has shiners. Common, spot tails and goldens.