# Minnow trap bait



## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

I'd like to try and catch some creek chubs and/or small suckers for spring pike fishing. Ive got the minnow trap and I was wondering what kind of bait you guys use.


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## hardwaterfan (Apr 6, 2004)

i have used a little stale old bread balls or a few peices of cat food in a little white plastic bag with holes poked in it to slowly disperse the scent. secure the bag to the inside of the trap.


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## fishintechnician (Jul 20, 2007)

Ez when I get chubs for pile and or cats I prefer the bigger one 4"+ so I usually catch them on rod and reel. I use the smallest hook I can find a small split shot about a foot to 18" up the line and a waxie. I just go to a creek and fish deep holes. Can usually catch enough for one trip in about an hr. I found that I tend to get crappie size minnows in the traps. I us dog food, bread. Anything will work really


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## lonewolf (Mar 4, 2010)

Dog or cat food wrapped up in cheese cloth secured with bread tie

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## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

Ezbite,

Dry dog food your first set will be packed as they are really hungry right now, I got 3 doz. on my first drop this year and all were pigs, they barely squeezed thru the 1 inch opening, I vacuum pack them for Cats later in the year when bait gets tough to get, well keeping the snakes out of my trap comes into play when the water gets warm, they check in but never check out.............Doc


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## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

I use little inline spinners for the 5-6'' creek chubs. they like the rainbow colored ones where I live.


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## bigsplash (Nov 7, 2013)

I have had really good luck with dog food in an onion bag and when dog food wasn't around , We used hotdogs.Steak scraps also worked wonders for us in the rivers.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I just use plain old biscuits torn up into smaller pieces. I grew up in tenn and its all we had to bait our traps. worked great for me back then. we always caught our own bait when I was growing up. but it sounds like dog food might be a good idea.
sherman


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## foundationfisher (May 12, 2008)

stale bread, crackers, table scraps, dog or cat food.... i use whatever's handy. they all work. thinking back 50 years ago, my uncle had a secret recipe he used that worked better than anything i've ever seen. the only ingredient i remember was oat meal. wrapped it in cheese cloth bags, a little bigger than a golf ball and boiled it on the stove.
looking back now, it seemed very labor intensive, but it lasted forever. we'd check his traps, dump out a bucket full of minnows, and throw the trap back in the creek. go back the next day and do it all over. i might have to try a little cooking myself this spring ....


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

Done well with buns or crackers for creek chubs...


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

I always use sliced bread mixed with styrofoam chunks


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

I'll see tomorrow, went down and put it in the river this morning. I made a rackett ball size bag of dry dog food out of a bag that had oranges in it. threw in a handful of loose dry dog food also. Probably too much dog food, but I figured its a river and the current will dissolve it.


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## Talonman (Sep 12, 2013)

I dont want to change the subject, but is there a 'best' minnow trap to buy, or are they all about the same.

I am in the market for one.

I also have 2 dogs and 1 cat, so bait won't be an issue for me.


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## sonar (Mar 20, 2005)

EZ,,put your bait ,,dry cat/dog food in a fine mesh,,I've had good luck with wife's panty hose material,,or the foot portion of them,,like a sock,,don't need much,,like about a ping pong ball sized amount & it will last a long while in that fine mesh.. It works!! ----->>>>>sonar<<<<<-----


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

1st attempt was a failure.. i had 2 minnows, but no chubs or suckers. the trap was in a current, i moved it to a slower spot above the dam.


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## EnonEye (Apr 13, 2011)

Slightly wet Wheaties, crush into dough ball in your hand squeezing the water out, freeze overnight. Use silver (not black) cages. Catch the mother lode


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

EnonEye said:


> Slightly wet Wheaties, crush into dough ball in your hand squeezing the water out, freeze overnight. Use silver (not black) cages. Catch the mother lode


Ahhhh! I've seen those Frabill minnow traps at WalMart. Relatively cheap, but they are black. Why doesn't black work as well?


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

EnonEye said:


> Slightly wet Wheaties, crush into dough ball in your hand squeezing the water out, freeze overnight. Use silver (not black) cages. Catch the mother lode


Silver is it with minnows and chubs, the black minnow traps is actually for crawdads just a fyi!!!


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## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

I used to do okay with a minnow trap in streams, but no luck in lakes. I tried next to my dock in Atwood and now next to my dock in Lake Tomahawk. I sometimes catch a couple small bluegill minnows, but not much else. I've tried all sorts of bread, buns & cat food.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

another day of no chubs. im guessing there arent many in the river where ive got the trap set at. i know a few streams that have them, but their frozen over now. maybe this weekend they will thaw.


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## EnonEye (Apr 13, 2011)

StumpHawg said:


> Silver is it with minnows and chubs, the black minnow traps is actually for crawdads just a fyi!!!


StumpHog is right on the colors. Not a minnie expert by any means but if you're setting traps and not getting any minners then it's no different than fishin were there's no fish at, regardless of the bait ya ain't catchin any. Any time you get non minners (crawdads, junk fish) you're in the wrong place. Good bait minnows travel in large schools not mixed with junk bait. In my experience I always go to the clearest water I can find, usually upriver. It's not easy to trap in Ohio just because our water is so filthy with junk. Usually easier and a lot more productive to sein a small stream. or buy em.


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## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

I use black traps all the time and catch tons of minnows and chubs. For bait I typically use bread, dog and cat food. The most important thing is setting traps where bait is. I set mine in small creeks and i look for deep pools (3+ feet deep) and set them there. usually bait will be in these pools all year round and they get replenished any time the water comes up.

I also like to set around root balls, under waterfalls, and cut out banks. A deep hole with some current will lead to full traps every time. I have never set on a bigger creek or a river so I cant be much help there.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

I always set my minnow trap parallel to the current in small creeks and rivers. I have much better catch rate parallel than perpendicuclar.
I haven't had much success in lakes with the trap.
I have a black one.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

BuckeyeFishinNut said:


> I use black traps all the time and catch tons of minnows and chubs. For bait I typically use bread, dog and cat food. The most important thing is setting traps where bait is. I set mine in small creeks and i look for deep pools (3+ feet deep) and set them there. usually bait will be in these pools all year round and they get replenished any time the water comes up.
> 
> I also like to set around root balls, under waterfalls, and cut out banks. A deep hole with some current will lead to full traps every time. I have never set on a bigger creek or a river so I cant be much help there.


Ok, this kind of makes sense to me. I hunt a small farm that has a creek that runs out of a wooded hollow, through a meadow, and into a bay of a lake that is 800-1,000 acres in size. Oddly enough the creek is widest in the wooded hollow, where the stream bed is right down to the rock. Once it hits the meadow stretch it narrows up, in most spots you can step or jump across it, but it gets deeper! 

At various times of the year I've seen more minnows in there than I can count, small bass running upstream, and chubs or small suckers. The water in the creek is cold, clear as crystal and full of life! 

What the heck, I'm going to grab one of those traps and go for it. When you wrote about placing the trap below a waterfall I knew the exact spot in this little creek I'd go for! One question. Do you ever put any weight, like rocks, in the trap to get it near the bottom, or do you leave it near the surface?


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## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

I put it on bottom with no weight. I try to keep it out of the direct current and put it more on the current edge. Typically they wont be right in the current but on the edges looking for food so its a perfect place to put a trap. Always set your trap parallel with the current, as Lewzer said. I have set traps before that got turned sideways in the current and literally caught nothing, rebaited and had it parallel with the current and filled the trap...it makes a huge difference.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

BuckeyeFishinNut said:


> I put it on bottom with no weight. I try to keep it out of the direct current and put it more on the current edge. Typically they wont be right in the current but on the edges looking for food so its a perfect place to put a trap. Always set your trap parallel with the current, as Lewzer said. I have set traps before that got turned sideways in the current and literally caught nothing, rebaited and had it parallel with the current and filled the trap...it makes a huge difference.


i just went out and set it in a creek sideways to the current on a bend. the current was slowest here, but i think with the warm temps, the current will be faster later on.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

i went out today to check the trap, i didnt have high hopes because when i got to the creek, it was at least a foot higher than yesterday and moving much faster. BUT when i pulled it up i had 5 chubs. one was almost 7" long and a few about 5" i ended up pulling the trap because of the current. but now im starting to get it. i used dry dog food and just tossed it in the trap, no mesh bag used. i think the placement in the slower water of the bend helped too and yes i set it sideways in the current like said to do in this thread, thanks. i know its no big deal to catch chubs, but it helps get me outside and in the woods. i also found a deer yesterday as i was setting the trap. looked like it laid down in a ball beside some small trees and died. it was an big doe and im guessing she was old, hungry and just froze to death.


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## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

Yeah, increased current can really ruin a bait trip but atleast you caught some and know they are there. Usually when the current increases they will hold close to bottom right behind rock or hold close to the bank.

The way that creek looks, it would be way to fast to set in right now, IMO. Looks like it could be a good spot, especially if you are catching 5-7" chubs


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## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

I have always used the black Frabills because of concealment very hard to see I used to use the bright ones but people kept stealing them out of the water now I use black Paracord and a old tee handle, all are very hard to see, the dog food I use is Purina Beneficial has multi colored food pieces it floats to the top of the cage I put in a half Solo cup of food, I use the chubs and suckers to fish for catfish when I cut them up the dogfood that they ate acts as a chum along with the blood Channel Cats go crazy over the stuff.

Ezbite I took my GOPro and mounted it on the inside of the trap and recorded 45 min. of footage it was wild, the creek is on private property and I have permission to trap but I sat there during the filming just in case somebody came along and found the trap, didn't want my camera walking off, I 'll post some highlights of the filming I did.......Doc


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## TimSr (Mar 15, 2014)

I use dry dog food just tossed loose in the trap. Its always still in there when I empty it.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

i had 15 nice size chubs that ive been catching and keeping in a cooler in the basement, im just waiting for ice off at mosquito to seek pike, ive been going to the river every other day getting 5 gallons of water and switching it in the cooler. last night after work i got an air pump from Kmart so i wouldnt have to keep changing the water, come home tonight and 11 of the 15 are dead on the basement floor. i guess the air pump spooked them and they jumped out of the cooler for some reason. thats what i get for not closing the cooler lid. back to the drawing board :S


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## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

Chubs always jump out. I have used 55 gallon drums and galvanized troughs to keep minnows in and I always have to make a cover. I have used wooden lids with a layer of foam so they dont kill themselves on my troughs and have used screen door screens to cover my 55 gallon drums. If you dont keep them covered with a lid they will all jump out.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

BuckeyeFishinNut said:


> Chubs always jump out. I have used 55 gallon drums and galvanized troughs to keep minnows in and I always have to make a cover. I have used wooden lids with a layer of foam so they dont kill themselves on my troughs and have used screen door screens to cover my 55 gallon drums. If you dont keep them covered with a lid they will all jump out.


where were you when this thread first started  LOL, yea im learning quite a bit since i started doing this.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

I have a window screen I use to cover my 5 gal bucket in the garage. I found way too many chubs leatherized on my garage floor.


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## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

Does anyone know why minnows can be trapped in a stream, but not in a lake? I have swarms of minnows around my dock, but none get in the trap no matter what bait I use. I do get a few very small bluegill minnows on occasion.


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

Pretty sure it has to do with the current. The minnows swim upstream to the food. 

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## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

ostbucks98 said:


> Pretty sure it has to do with the current. The minnows swim upstream to the food.
> 
> Sent from my ZTE-Z990G using Ohub Campfire mobile app


I think you're right. I now use a drop net, throw some bread crumbs in above the net, and try to ease the net up with a few minnows. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. The I head up to Red's for a few dozen minnows. I keep them in a cooler in the garage with a filter and air pump. I put ice in to keep the water cool. I use lake water in the cooler.


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## Flatty01 (Aug 9, 2008)

I've had good success with umbrella nets off of small bridges. Creek chubs are fun to round up. They jump like they were shot out of a cannon.


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## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

That's what I'll be doing off my dock, but it would have been nice to trap a few minnows.

Sometimes I get a couple crawdads in the track instead of minnows and they make darn good bait.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

When the water gets warmer make sure that you are using a minnow trap that has an opening that is finished. The ones that I used as a kid would have the cone leading into the trap that were not finished. By finished the mesh has a soldered ring on it. Not just cut at the opening. You will understand why when you have an empty trap because a water snake tried to get in and got stuck. They drown but you will have to cut the stinky thing in half to get it out of your trap.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

As far as color I have had equal success using black or silver. The black one do not get stolen as much.


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