Quote Originally Posted by r2002 View Post
Minnow seems hard to keep, but no doubt is the best overall live bait
Hard is a relative term. Minnows are harder than crawlers but depending on what your minnows or shiners cost locally it may be worth it.
How often you fish plays into the calculations also. I fish mostly plastics and only occasionally use live bait, so when I figured what it would cost me I decided to just buy what I need when I want to fish live bait. If I start to use shiners more often (definitely a possibility) that may change.