Keeping Chubs Alive Longer

I always keep shiners alive with cold water and a lot of air for almost a week , My 14yr old son told me about chubs that he use last year . Her in MA where I live they are cheaper to buy than shiners an are sold by weight , we try some last month and seem to live longer when casting from shore ,one man offered some that he had and funny thing is he bought his in a box with what look to be sea weed {I think} they were alive an wiggling around.
How can my son an I have them live longer in our bait bucket for a week if possible? do they need cold water and can we feed them flake fish food . I have well water that is hard with minerals and also have a softener witch would work or should running a filter be better to use? Is Mumpers another word for chubs?

May I ask what is a chub

The fathead is from the chub family. Redtails, Blacktails, etc. Not to be confused with a sucker which some people try to call a sucker chub - it is not a chub. Just like any minnow - you want to keep your chubs in water below 70 degrees - radical changes in water temp (5 to 10 degrees) will shock and sometimes kill them. Also important to keep them oxygenated and have something breaking the surface of the water so that harmful gases can escape. Too much current in the tanks can exhaust the minnows as well. T-H Marine sells a small Oxygenator that places really small bubbles of O in the water - careful not to place too much oxygen on them. Feeding them really small fatheads or chopped up night crawlers, wax worms, maggots, etc. will keep them alive - it will also make the water dirty - keep your well water in five gallon buckets until it comes close to the same temp as your tank - then change out half of the water - that will keep it clean. You will also have to keep a screen or some kind of cover over the tank - chubs have a tendency to jump out.

Anyone got a pic of a chub. can't say that I have ever seen one.

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Originally Posted by belizaire

May I ask what is a chub

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Link to definition of "chub" chub (fish) -- Encyclopedia Britannica

plastic barrel in the basement with a fountain pump. hang a jug(with a slot 3/4 way up the side) full of filter matts., on the tank side. run the hose from pump into top and thats it. well water or rain water to fill it. after the filter is good and dirty you will be able to keep bait for months, with minimal water exchanges. and never feed bait. no need for air pump, if the water falls far enough into the tank, and water stays cold.

lots of bait tank pics on here look around

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Originally Posted by flycaster

Link to definition of "chub" chub (fish) -- Encyclopedia Britannica

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Ok so they look like a shiner

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Originally Posted by belizaire

Ok so they look like a shiner

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The fish in the photo is a European Chub - and it may look like a shiner - but Chubs look more like Fathead minnows - try this link on google images: https://www.google.com/search?q=goo&...+chub&tbm=isch

The first photo is one of the better examples.

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Originally Posted by belizaire

May I ask what is a chub

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Only kind I know of are (Smoked Chubs) and are My fav in smoked fish world.....Used to buy then in Grocery stores in southwest Wisconsin..Like 3.00 a pound Maybe 5y ago..Last year I tried or so and they were 25.00 a pound ...Haven't had any at that price

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Originally Posted by cva34

Only kind I know of are (Smoked Chubs) and are My fav in smoked fish world.....Used to buy then in Grocery stores in southwest Wisconsin..Like 3.00 a pound Maybe 5y ago..Last year I tried or so and they were 25.00 a pound ...Haven't had any at that price

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In MA. they sell them by the pint for $4.00 for small fish ,an you can get them in a box of seaweed if you don't have a bucket . My son started to catch them by a minnow trap in the marsh better when high tide. They catch big mouth bass, crappie any thing in fresh water.

Keeping the water aerated is the key. Big chub minnow on a jig pole/float is a great wait to bass fish stumps.