Do any of you use a small ice chest for a minnow bucket? If so how does it work for you? Thanks in advance!!
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Do any of you use a small ice chest for a minnow bucket? If so how does it work for you? Thanks in advance!!
13 qt. igloo. Put a quiet bubbles aerator on it. Works like a champ. Usually fish 7 to 8 hrs. per day. Batteries will last about a week. In hot weather I have to add a hand full of ice to it once and a while.
I don't use an aerator, I freeze the little buggers. Ice and ice bottles. They don't need air if their metabolism is in "frost" mode. Serious, try it, ice chest and nothing but ice and water, no aerator. You can keep minnows alive at home or in boat for weeks.
I have several different buckets and they all have their place. I have a pull behind that I like when I am not fishing for a long amount of time. That said, most of the water I get when I get minnows is a lot colder than the water on the lake. Lately, I have been using a 5 gallon bucket with aerator. I have an aerator rock on one end, I pull the hose off the aerator and slide a couple heavy washers down the tube. Holes are small enough so they won't slip over the rock. This keeps the rock on the bottom. I put a lid on the bucket so the water doesn't slosh in the waves or when I am up at speed.
I use a small cooler when Ice fishing, otherwise the water will freeze!
Thanks for the info fellas. .I use a frozen water bottle in the summer in my bucket I have now and it works. .just need to replace my bucket and thought I might try the cooler vs a regular bucket.
Attachment 213487I use a small cube ice chest and it works great for me and is the perfect size. I modified it to accept an air hose from an on board aerator by drilling a small hole near the bottom. In this hole I glued a hard plastic hose to which I hook my aerator hose. On the inside I have a small piece of hose attached to a donut shaped air stone and the system works good.
So, if you have minners in your ice chest,, where is your cold beverages??? In the live well?Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerA
Slab you got me wondering at this freezing. What exactly are you freezing
I just mean I keep the minners real cold. Colder the better. Keep plenty of ice in your cold beverage cooler and throw in ice often into your minnow cooler. Frozen water bottles work too, but when regular ice melts, it'll add oxygen to the water as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joey Clark
I learned about keeping minnows cold when after ice fishing, I left my uninsulated 5 gallon bucket in the garage, and it got real cold out. I left it full of water and minnows. Two weeks later I went out there and found that it was just about frozen solid, except in the very middle, where the minnows were still swimming around alive as on the first day. Not a one was dead. It was so very hard to break through the ice, but I used them to ice fish once again. good deal
Thanks Slab you had me a little confused there for a min. I do use the water bottle trick during the summer months it helps a lot.
I use one of the Home Depot coolers made to keep beverage in with the spout on the bottom and drill a hole thru the top for a aerator hose. You have the screw on top that keeps everything sealed. I hold my aerator to the side with a bungy strap. Works good
The only cold beverages I use are bottled water and they are kept in another small cooler.Quote:
Originally Posted by ThreeWayMan
ENGEL bait cooler! Gotta have it! Even keeps Blueback Herring alive in 100 degree weather. Best money my wife has ever spent!
5 gallon bucket with a Styrofoam liner. I use a Mino-Mizer aerator. Regardless of heat, that last all week. I swap water once per day. No ice, no water bottles. 95 degree days are no problem.
Here in hot okie land, after fishing I will put the whole minnow bucket in my beer refrigerator, as Slab said above, the minnows love it.
I do the same with a smaller iglooQuote:
Originally Posted by stormcloud
We will be trying this. Thanks for the tip.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slab
I use a round 5 gallon water jug ( like the ones used by construction workers) . I drilled a small hole near the top, ran a hose through it and attached a battery powered quiet bubbles to the side. I've put 12 dozen in and used them two days in a row. Very few dead ones
I tried it, Slab. I put 30 minnows in my Engel 19qt ice chest with a 1/2gal bottle frozen water, Closed lid and let sit for 2days, They were fine, added another bottle and will see after 2 more days, no aerator.
I will have to take a picture of mine, I use a small cooler that is about a perfect rectange size, about 12"x8x8 mounted a bubble box on the end, drilled thru to run y hose also a vent hole on top, I like it because 2 people can sit side by side on the bow of my tracker and it dosent get in the way, just reach between the seats open and grab all with one hand, I've fished the last 3 Sundays weather has been in the high 80's and low 90's, minnows always have plenty of spunk. If I have ice one the boat I usually put it in the live well, if I have extra. I will add that if I have left over minnows which dosent happen often I hook up a electric aquarium pump and put the little cooler in my mini fridge.
I feel the use of an aerator just warms the water real fast. It just pumps warm air through the water. Forget the aerator and keep the water cold with ice to keep your minnows alive is what I say. I telling you it's the best way to keep the little buggers alive.Quote:
Originally Posted by trypman1
The only down side to ice compared to frozen bottles is the transfer of the chlorine in most municipal water systems. Ice does fine for the day as far as I have found. The frozen bottles give the advantages of lowering the temps without the chlorine. Some systems have a strong chlorine odor and I can't help but think that it wouldn't help as much as we think. I have a pump for my water service, hence no chlorine or ill effects.
I've used chlorinated water for ice cubes and added it to my minnow water with no ill effects for years. Personally I think the chlorine dissipates and evaporates fast enough to not have an effect. That said, perhaps if your municipality adds a lot of chlorine you might have an issue. I've smelled some water sources where the added chlorine seemed way way strong! That stuff might not work well in this application. But they say, to use chlorinated water in an aquarium all you have to do to get rid of the chlorine is to wait overnight. So I do think it goes away fast, and maybe it's gone by the time water freezes.
Where's the scientist Cane Pole when you need him!
Oh, I also believe that the ice (not ice in bottles) adds a little oxygen to the water as it melts. But either way works, keep'em cold to keep'em alive is my motto.
Just curious as to what you do when you get to the Lake and the water temp is 86?? Probably mix a little lake water and bucket water, let em swim for a few minutes ???Quote:
Originally Posted by Slab
Not at all, I keep them cold so they last. I put them on the hook straight from the cold water, and into the lake water. Does not seem to be a problem. I know with aquarium fish they suggest you acclimate them, but they are just fine thrown straight in. Maybe they get excited and warmed up in the time it takes to put them on the hook, dono! lolQuote:
Originally Posted by pescador
Thanks Slab, I will give this a try. I have been using a bubbler and no ice, they seem to be OK, but when I put them in the lake water they don't last very long.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slab
Pescador , I had left minnows in fridge all week. Like Slab says just put them on the hook and go to fishing. If you try to mix warmer water with them they will all float on top and appear dead. Just wait 5 minutes and they will all be swimming !
plus you don't have to hear the noise of the bubbler!Quote:
Originally Posted by Slab
I have no problem with minners and tap water. I fill my minner box with a water hose (blasting) , which aerates the water which removes some chlorine content.
My minners are so cold from frozen bottles of water that the look like the are dead in my minner tank (igloo cooler).
Minners kill minners with minner poop. You can see the little black logs floating around. If the minners are cold and lethargic, they don't have to poop much, so there are fewer floating minner logs which equates to cleaner water.
Be hygienic, save a minner with a water change out.
My minner box can't hold much, so I use an aerator and frozen small bottle of water.
Aerators heat up water, especially on hot days, so I run mine on low power setting which produces less air.
Never feed minners. Makes the minners poop more. If they get hungry, they will eat one of their swimming buddies.
Keep dead minners out, but leave one dead one as a snack for the living.
I use a Mino-Mizer. Cools and aerates the water at the same time. Got three dozen in my bait well right now. They have been there since Friday and will remain until next Sunday.
Where does the mino miser get its air from?
When I go to the minnow farm and buy a couple pounds of miners, they put the miners is a plastic bag and blow the bag up with compressed air and tie it off. The miners will stay alive 3 days for sure that way. Just keep cool. I put the in the frig and they last till Billbob shows up.
Mino mizer pkg says it cools the water thru the process of evaporation as it sprays the water down into the bucket/container,but who am I.
I don't have one, but as far as I can tell the minner miser does not take in outside air. It sits on top the water and sprays a mist back into the water, so if it's in a closed container, or cooler, it's not grabbing warm air from the outside. Sounds like it's much better than blowing 90 degree bubbles into my cool water, thereby warming it. Looks like a good idea particularly when there's no ice around.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cane Pole
That makes sense.
I use the dead minners too. The dead ones are easier to catch and hook.
I can tell Billbob's been rubbing off on you! Dead minners are his favorite too!Quote:
Originally Posted by Cane Pole
I'm pretty sure the heat comes from the mechanical pumping action ( friction ) much more so than the source of the air.
This is a really good thread for us guys who use shiners (minnows)......I have learned a lot today about keeping them cold....I hate the noise of an aerator and will try the cold thing to see if I can eliminate the aerator......don't know about putting them in the fridge....wife might be asking me how to cook them....thanks all for the help.....can't wait to try this out.....
I have 2 dedicated refrigs for minners, fish, bottled fish water, beer and Dr Pepper.
Well, now he's just braggin'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cane Pole
Funny you mentioned that, I just had this one hauled away this morning.
Attachment 214277
This was my wife's grandparents fridge, been running for years, I hate to have gotten rid of it but I wasn't gonna drag it to Florida. ComEd gave me $50 and picked it up. They have a program to encourage getting rid of old fridges cause they say they are inefficient. The thing stayed cold, and seemed to never run, I thought it was real efficient. oh well, she gone