Advice to keeping minnows alive in cage in a pond

The local bait shop went out of business so I am looking for options to keep minnows alive this year. I am hoping to buy minnows alive in bulk then keep them alive. I have about a 1/4 acre pond and would like to keep them in some sort of cage. I was thinking of building a decent size cage that was a few feet deep and having it on floats in the pond. The pond has an aerator in it and I am located in Iowa. Has anyone tried this or is doing it now?

My other option is just set up a freezer bait tank in my shop but I would like not to take up the floor space.

I have good luck keeping them in a tank as long as the temps don't get too hot. Water temps near 70 degrees and I am usually done until it cools back off. If the temps in the pond are favorable that make work out great

I’ve tried the cage in pond 2x. Both times all dead within 2 days.
I since use plastic containers in shop.


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Originally Posted by lovetohunt

The local bait shop went out of business so I am looking for options to keep minnows alive this year. I am hoping to buy minnows alive in bulk then keep them alive. I have about a 1/4 acre pond and would like to keep them in some sort of cage. I was thinking of building a decent size cage that was a few feet deep and having it on floats in the pond. The pond has an aerator in it and I am located in Iowa. Has anyone tried this or is doing it now?

My other option is just set up a freezer bait tank in my shop but I would like not to take up the floor space.

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Are you on well water? Just set up a stock tank with a continuous drip of well water, an overflow, and a good size aerator in it. All you need!

But if that 1/4acre pond has no fish in it, that would be my minnow pond. About 50lbs of fatheads now and you'll have bait for the rest of your life, just toss out a couple traps the night before you go fishing. Or heck do both, use the tank to hold your bait and farm them in your pond.

Ready made part time bait business

If your cage is square it's probably the biggest source of your problem. Try building round. The fish will often congregate in a corner. Since the water is still, this will deplete the oxygen in the center of the pod killing these fish first. I have two live bait rigs for my boat. One is square and one is round. The square one holds more minnows, but I lose more in it vs the round one if I don't take extra precautions. With the square, if I can keep the water temps below 65 deg it reduces the kill rate significantly. I don't have this issue with the round bucket. I will lose minnows in the round bucket if the water temp gets above 75 deg but not nearly as fast or as many (I run two aerators in both). The colder the water the more dissolved O2 in the water. Warmer temps liberate free O2 quickly no matter how many aerators you have going. It stresses the fish out too. I keep lots of ice for regulating water temps. For your pond you need to have cool water temps and shade. Obviously, you can't just keep adding ice to your pond so your only options are shade and water depth. If you don't have shade, might consider making a lean-to on the south side of the pond next to the water since you're in IA. You sun pretty much stays in the southern sky year round. If your pond water is too shallow you're probably fighting a losing battle. Another option would be to go on e-bay, craigslist, or amazon and find a large aquarium set up 9 (maybe 50 gals or more). This will keep the water filtered and cool but, it will require you to feed them vs natural food in the pond.

If I'm going on a trip with my RV and plan to use minnows (springtime only for me, after about mid-May I go strictly jigs and crank baits), I will bring a 10 gal aquarium I keep in my shop just for this. I keep it under the camper in the shade and transfer my minnows in and out of it each evening and morning. I'll usually buy 200+ minnows upon arrival (depending on length of stay figuring on 50 - 60 minnows per day). I cull out the big ones and discard them ( throw them in the lake or give them to someone fishing at the launch). If you have room and it's practical for you on an extended fishing trip, this saves a lot of time of having to run by the bait shop everyday to get more. I make a onetime purchase and I'm done. Grab only as many as I think I'll need for the day and leave the rest in the tank. Keeps from stressing them out too so your minnows are fresh and lively. May sound like a lot, but if you're gong to get serious about fishing it saves a lot of time, money, and headaches in the end and frees up tons of fishing and relaxing time for your trip. I've been doing extended fishing trips for over 40 years. About 85% of my fishing is done on 3 day trips or longer. I've learned over the years, "man, if I only had one of these it would make life so much easier". It didn't take long to start purchasing "one of these". Trips are now much more productive and enjoyable. I spend way less time running to town to get something and way more time fishing and relaxing around the campfire drinking a cool one or sipping a nice glass of scotch sharing lies with good friends.