Minnows

So down here all the ol' timers say that minnows caught out of the river catch more crappie... my problem is when I get them they seem to die easily.. if I buy some from the bait shop they last forever... is there a trick to keep alive????

First let me say be very careful catching bait out of the river and streams unless you are going to use them in that same water. They can be the types of baitfish that you don't need to use in other lakes. Such as asian carp,snakeheads,etc. that can get started and ruin everything. Now what I use to keep bait alive is called Better Bait you can buy it at most sporting goods and bait stores. You need a good aeration and be careful of using water that has chlorine in it like what I call City water. It also helps to use a ice chest or styrofoam minnow bucket and keeping the bait cool. Don't put to many minnows/baitfish per gallon of water and keep the water changed out or filtered because of the ammonia(poop) build up in the water. :twocents
BETTER-BAIT™ Minnow Holding Formula
http://www.sure-life.com/images/imag...ETTERBAIT3.jpg

Scrat nailed it!!

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First let me say be very careful catching bait out of the river and streams unless you are going to use them in that same water. They can be the types of baitfish that you don't need to use in other lakes. Such as asian carp,snakeheads,etc. that can get started and ruin everything.

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This ^^^^^^^^^^

You may want to check your fishing regs. Out in my neck of the woods if you get caught using live bait fish from a water source other than the one you're fishing in it is a heckofa fine due to the introduction of invasive species.

As a matter of fact there is a 19 acre lake in the area that they are going to poison sometime in October due to the illegal introduction of the brown bullhead catfish as they have all but ruined the trout fishing in that body of water.

I don't have to worry about cross contamination here. I am fishing the local river. We don't have any fancy lakes here like y'all do.

Might help to know exactly what species of "minnow" you're catching out of the river, and if they're a different species from what the bait shops sell. :scratchhead

I'm not sure.. there are not the same as the bait shop.. the bait shops will last forever.. the minnows we get at the bait shop here are small minnows. Never big

I'm not so sure the fish care which ones you use most of the time. The farm raised shiners and tuffies live better . I know some here even use tiny goldfish .

I tried creek chubs from the creek that flowed into the lake I was crappie fishing in. Creek minnows like chubs require constant, constant, aeration. I couldn't provide the aeration needed to support em so they just died. The ones that did survive sure brought me too many stripers, catfish, and largemouth. The DNR's big three do not eat fish.

In the Ozarks seining minnows use to be common as ticks on a hound. I remember helping to pull a minnow seine when I was really young. We just used them in the creek or river we were fishin' in.Kept them in flow through minnow buckets in the current. On finicky fish in clear water a good live one on a hook free lined would get you bit. Sometimes would seine some from the shallow part of a creek that flowed into the river and then use them in the river. If you keep them in a boat your gonna need to keep them in a flow through on the side probably for best luck,or have a good live well with adequate aeration and water changes I'm thinking.Sometimes you can shock fish with to much change to fast in water quality ,type, or temp and kill them. Some can tolerate more than others. The colder the water the easier to keep.

Around here we seine creek shiners that do work for crappie but from what I have found the hook shaft seems to get caught in their gills when the minnow swims around. I haven't noticed any difference on catching Crappie between store bought or creek seined other than paying 4 bucks a scoop.

Doggone knows what I am talking about exactly..