# Good bait to put into a minnow trap to catch minnows.



## Robertn3

I just bought a minnow trap and i know that bread and beef work good for minnows and crayfish but can anybody else give me any tips on how to catch them faster and what other kind of baits i can use?


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## Misdirection

Dry cat food lasts longer than bread and works well.

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## QueticoMike

I always use bread, sometimes I don't even put anything in it. I had a buddy use chicken liver once and that filled the basket with shiners. I also heard dry dog food was good. I will stick with bread since I always seem to have some of that, I typically don't have pet food or liver around the house.


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## BassAddict83

montagc said:


> Cheese hot dogs.


I've used those before and found that they attract a lot of crawfish. Not that that is a bad thing... You can catch pretty much any type of predatory fish on a craw.


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## pppatrick

I use a can of wet cat/dog food. Just pop a few holes in the top with can opener/church key set in and since they can't really get to the canned food it lasts a good while. 


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## Doctor

Have always used Dry dog food, have a creek that runs near my place with huge Chubs in it, I go on my neighbors property, it has a deep hole where I catch them out of..............Doc


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## johnrude

i use potato chips the you can see the oil come out of the chips in the water. it has worked for 30 years.


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## smith07

candy bars are supposed to work as well


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## sherman51

i grew up in tenn and the only way we could get minnows was with a trap or a small hook and worm. so we mostly used a trap. all we ever used for bait was just a couple os biscuits broken up in smaller pieces. we always did real good. no need for anything elce.
sherman


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## ARReflections

As a slight aside, has any used the DIY 2 liter soda bottles as a minnow trap?

Back to the original question, any food I have on hand seems to work but bread and chips seem to work well.


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## Dandrews

I just recently bought one and Ive only used it once but a little piece of bread and lunchmeat (from the sandwich I was eating) worked just fine.


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## jjshbetz11

ARReflections said:


> As a slight aside, has any used the DIY 2 liter soda bottles as a minnow trap?
> 
> Back to the original question, any food I have on hand seems to work but bread and chips seem to work well.


The bottle traps work great! I use 3 litre bottles. Pretty cool what you can catch


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## fredg53

Watermellon cantelop rinds work well they seem to go after whatever leftovers i put in 

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## hogtrman

I use bread or dried dog food, both work well for me. If I catch some crayfish, I consider that a bonus, using them whole or just the tail meat is hard to beat. The one thing I do, is I set out many traps, usually two or three. Then I have plenty of minnows to pick the size and type I want.


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## Robertn3

I have used one before and it does work, but only on a smaller scale. I think they work better for when you are already at the lake fishing and you just need minnows as you go, because it holds a dozen or so but sometimes the hole is too small for them to adventure into, so i cut it a bit bigger so that it works better. 

Also as for the 3 liter bottle, where do you get those? and what comes in them.


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## Bluebuster6912

Best thing Ive ever used is Cheetos Cheese Puffs they float to the top of the trap 
and easy to get out of the trap. Few good shakes in the water and the trap is clean


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## phishndude

What i have found to work the best? "corn on the cob"


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## jjshbetz11

Robertn3 said:


> I have used one before and it does work, but only on a smaller scale. I think they work better for when you are already at the lake fishing and you just need minnows as you go, because it holds a dozen or so but sometimes the hole is too small for them to adventure into, so i cut it a bit bigger so that it works better.
> 
> Also as for the 3 liter bottle, where do you get those? and what comes in them.


Pop comes in them, pretty sure Wally World carries them, it's the cheap pop. There really easy to make. Check out YouTube. 


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## WishinIwasFishin

Im interested how you guys present the bait. Ive used old onion and potato sacks to suspend it. Any other ways?

I have used 2 liter bottles for years. They worked great in the past but not more recent years. Not sure why. 
I also use a store bought minnow trap which yields larger chubs. I also caught a snake in my minnow trap last year

Years ago I bought a craw dad trap. Worked well, but most were very large and not soft. I neglected to retrieve it when my daughter was born. Had a big rain and lost it unfortunately.


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## Daveo76

We always used plain old crackers, saltines


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## 7thcorpsFA

When i was a kid my cousin and I would use flour. We would wet our piece of old screen door and sprinkle flour on it. The flour would stick to the screen and when lowered into the creek the minners would come in from everywhere. It only took about 20 seconds to get a couple dozen!


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## aeddy

I keep aquarium fish and I have always had good results in minnow traps by putting in a small plastic bottle with holes cut or drilled in it with aquarium fish flake food. As long as the bottle is bigger that the entrance holes of the trap, you can just throw it in. I also feed the worms I keep a little of the fishfood. They eat it and it makes them smell (and I assume taste) fishy. I don't think it hurts!


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## WishinIwasFishin

I can't wait to experiment. Good ideas.


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## SoCal_Buckeye

This really does sound like fun, I can walk to alum here in Westerville... You guys think I could make my own trap out of a 2-liter bottle and catch minnows? I know the flow is clean... There's got to be all kinds of critters waiting to be caught. 


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## catmando

I've done well with adding a small glow stick from the dollar store along with my bait.

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## EnonEye

Take one handful of old fashioned Quaker Oats, hold under slow running water and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze until you have a nice solid round ball about the size of a cue-ball. Stick into freezer overnight. 2 balls per trap.


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## Robertn3

I know that you can do it, my only question is how productive is it in the winter. I have been using my traps in the river for years and I always did well but here in the winter when I leave them over night I only catch a few at a time. Any help?


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## catmando

Robertn3 said:


> I know that you can do it, my only question is how productive is it in the winter. I have been using my traps in the river for years and I always did well but here in the winter when I leave them over night I only catch a few at a time. Any help?


That's why I use the glow stick.

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## zooks

Does anyone have specific directions or a link on how to make the DIY 2 or 3 liter minnow traps?


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## jjshbetz11

zooks said:


> Does anyone have specific directions or a link on how to make the DIY 2 or 3 liter minnow traps?


Just search YouTube, dozens of videos.


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