Need Info On Using Minnow Traps In Boat Slips

I have used minnow traps in small streams and lake edges in the past with some success however I am having no luck using them in my boat slips this year.

I use a combination of stale bread and dry dog food as bait for the minnows. One of my slips has a green underwater light in it and is about 20' deep. I know there are minnows there as I can watch them swimming around in the green light at night.

I have tried suspending the traps at the bottom of the slip and at the top of the slip. So far I have not caught a single minnow in either trap.

The other slip is in around 12' of water. It has porcupine fish attractors in it and generally has crappie there. I have tried the two minnow traps at the top and bottom of the water there. Same results, have not caught a single minnow in either trap.

Any suggestions as what I am doing wrong or what I could do better?

It appears as if no one has any suggestions. Guess I will need to stop being lazy and run to a creek or shore line the day before I think I can get the grandsons to the boat slip. Or quit being stingy and pay the marina $3.00 a dozen the day the grandsons come out. :)

ezgoing, I am using minnows myself. I don't live on any body of water, but reading what you said about having a light in one of your boat slips to attract the minnows, have you thought of using a cast net to get minnows instead of the minnow trap. I don't know how much room you have to work with, but it would be an alternative to me.

I recently got a minnow trap but have yet to use it. Thanks for helping me know what to put in it to lure the minnows in. As far as your predicament, I honestly have no idea what would help.

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:welcomeWelcome back to the site. This is the type minnow trap I use. But I mostly use a 4 and 5 foot 1/4" mesh cast nets as they will catch minnows anytime you can see them.

https://www.crappie.com/crappie/live...8-minnow-trap/

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Originally Posted by Jamesdean

ezgoing, I am using minnows myself. I don't live on any body of water, but reading what you said about having a light in one of your boat slips to attract the minnows, have you thought of using a cast net to get minnows instead of the minnow trap. I don't know how much room you have to work with, but it would be an alternative to me.

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I would need to move my boat out to have room to cast. If I could still cast. I did it for years to catch shrimp and minnows for bait for my wife but I'm too old and decrepit to use a cast net now, even the smaller ones.

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Originally Posted by BAFishBarn

I recently got a minnow trap but have yet to use it. Thanks for helping me know what to put in it to lure the minnows in. As far as your predicament, I honestly have no idea what would help.

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If you check on youtube you will find a ton of videos about what to use as bait in a minnow trap. But I have found that stale bread and dry dog food is the easiest to use if you don't have a current to suck it out of the trap. If there is a current I put in in a zip lock bag and bunch holes into the bag. Makes the bait last longer.

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Originally Posted by ezgoing

I would need to move my boat out to have room to cast. If I could still cast. I did it for years to catch shrimp and minnows for bait for my wife but I'm too old and decrepit to use a cast net now, even the smaller ones.

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Well, I'm sorry to hear that. There is another option you could sue. It would cost some, but cheaper in the long run...contact a minnow supplier, and buy them by the pound. You could get a plastic barrel, drill a bunch of small holes in it, and attach it to your dock about half submerged. Put you a pound or two minnows in there. You wouldn't need no kind of aeration as they would have the oxygen in the lake water. You wouldn't need to ever change water either..just an idea...what ever you do, I wish you luck...[emoji1]

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jamesdean

Well, I'm sorry to hear that. There is another option you could sue. It would cost some, but cheaper in the long run...contact a minnow supplier, and buy them by the pound. You could get a plastic barrel, drill a bunch of small holes in it, and attach it to your dock about half submerged. Put you a pound or two minnows in there. You wouldn't need no kind of aeration as they would have the oxygen in the lake water. You wouldn't need to ever change water either..just an idea...what ever you do, I wish you luck...[emoji1]

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I though of that when my wife was alive and fishing with minnow as we went through a lot of minnows then. But I could not find a supplier who would sell them to me. I was willing to buy five pounds at a time but all said no. All of them claimed it would teed off their buyers if they heard they were selling to individuals.

Now I only need a dozen or two at a time, when I can get my grandsons to come fishing. Guess I will just have to buy them from the marina until I can them hooked of fishing and need larger quanties. Then I will need to start setting traps along the lake shoreline or go to creeks beds to catch them. Problem is the older I get the lazier I become. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ezgoing

I though of that when my wife was alive and fishing with minnow as we went through a lot of minnows then. But I could not find a supplier who would sell them to me. I was willing to buy five pounds at a time but all said no. All of them claimed it would teed off their buyers if they heard they were selling to individuals.

Now I only need a dozen or two at a time, when I can get my grandsons to come fishing. Guess I will just have to buy them from the marina until I can them hooked of fishing and need larger quanties. Then I will need to start setting traps along the lake shoreline or go to creeks beds to catch them. Problem is the older I get the lazier I become. :)

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Well it was an idea anyway...I guess I'm lucky as I have a supplier a couple hours away that comes through my area that is willing to meet here in town on their way to other customers...lots cheaper than the 2.00-3.00 per dozen even running an airpump and areator...

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