Keeping minnows alive overnight

Throwing the minnow bucket into the lake when docked works OK (mostly) when on a trip, but at home I seem to be in a pattern - go out in the evening, buy minnows, dump them after coming in. Go out the next morning, buy minnows....
Any tips/methods on keeping a dozen or so of the guys alive overnight? No water tanks at home or natural water (just city water). Was thinking about a big plastic storage container with lake water, and an aerator...or maybe trying my live well with an "oxygenator". But, paying $100 for it seems like it would buy a lot of minnows. This isn't a real regular thing, so the savings won't be lots. Just hate to waste, and it would free me up to get out earlier than the bait shop opens....

Any suggestions?

Buy one of the Frabil bait buckets with their pump system. I bought one when they came out and I can keep shiners for day at a time. Just make sure to pull any of them that might have dies. You can also get some bit alive to put in there as well.

I can keep a couple dozen fatheads or shiners alive overnight with a plastic minnow bucket with a lid and a Mr. Bubbles. Keep them in the shade and cool and keep the Mr. Bubbles working and you should be fine. Some guys put some ice in a cooler and put the minnow bucket in there to keep the water cooler. Don't mix the ice with the minnow water though. Cool water holds more disolved oxygen.

And remove the dead ones ASAP or it will kill the others in no time.

Buy a small 110 v aerator available @ Fleet Farm or Gander Mtn (other places also). They run about 7-10 bucks & I have been using them for years. I use an old mid-sized cooler w/drilled hole in top to stick the hose in. Have had minnows in there for days @ a time. Works well with very little cost. I have a back up battery operated unit that I can take in the truck when traveling.

Have the bait dealer put them in an oxygen bag. Leave the bag sealed, and keep in a cool place.

I've kept Redtails alive for 5 days in oxygen bags, didn't lose a single one.

>I can keep a couple dozen fatheads or shiners alive overnight
>with a plastic minnow bucket with a lid and a Mr. Bubbles.
>Keep them in the shade and cool and keep the Mr. Bubbles
>working and you should be fine. Some guys put some ice in a
>cooler and put the minnow bucket in there to keep the water
>cooler. Don't mix the ice with the minnow water though. Cool
>water holds more disolved oxygen.
>
>And remove the dead ones ASAP or it will kill the others in no
>time.


Why not put ice in with the minnow water? I always put some ice in at the end of the day, not a lot at one time and it won't hurt the minnows one bit. The big key to keeping minnows is fresh water with an aerator and cool water. I collect rain water in a plastic 55 gallon barrel that sits on the north side of my house in the shade. I use that water in a 5 gallon pail with a 110V aerator to keep my minnows in. Just make sure that the temp of the water in the minnow bucket is the same as the water in the 5 galllon bucket when you transfer the minnows to the 5 gallon bucket. I do that by adding a little ice to which ever one needs it, usually the minnow bucket. You can keep minnows for days this way, just remove dead ones ASAP and change water every couple of days with fresh rain water of the same temp. If you have to use city water make sure and let it sit over night to leech out the chlorine or use a chemical treatment to remove it.

>I can keep a couple dozen fatheads or shiners alive overnight
>with a plastic minnow bucket with a lid and a Mr. Bubbles.
>Keep them in the shade and cool and keep the Mr. Bubbles
>working and you should be fine. Some guys put some ice in a
>cooler and put the minnow bucket in there to keep the water
>cooler. Don't mix the ice with the minnow water though. Cool
>water holds more disolved oxygen.
>
>And remove the dead ones ASAP or it will kill the others in no
>time.


Why not put ice in with the minnow water? I always put some ice in at the end of the day, not a lot at one time and it won't hurt the minnows one bit. The big key to keeping minnows is fresh water with an aerator and cool water. I collect rain water in a plastic 55 gallon barrel that sits on the north side of my house in the shade. I use that water in a 5 gallon pail with a 110V aerator to keep my minnows in. Just make sure that the temp of the water in the minnow bucket is the same as the water in the 5 galllon bucket when you transfer the minnows to the 5 gallon bucket. I do that by adding a little ice to which ever one needs it, usually the minnow bucket. You can keep minnows for days this way, just remove dead ones ASAP and change water every couple of days with fresh rain water of the same temp. If you have to use city water make sure and let it sit over night to leech out the chlorine or use a chemical treatment to remove it.

What state are you in? In Wisconsin, you must now kill your bait before leaving the ramp.

What state are you in? In Wisconsin, you must now kill your bait before leaving the ramp.

We used to keep fatheads alive for up to a week or two. A couple things: don't use water straight from the tap. If you have to use tap water, let it sit for 12 hours in the light to get rid of the chlorine. Also, we always kept the bucket (just a old styrofoam bucket) in an old refrigerator down the basement.

We used to keep fatheads alive for up to a week or two. A couple things: don't use water straight from the tap. If you have to use tap water, let it sit for 12 hours in the light to get rid of the chlorine. Also, we always kept the bucket (just a old styrofoam bucket) in an old refrigerator down the basement.

When I am camping and fishing, I leave water in one of my livewells with my minnow bucked floating in it and hook up a 110V aquariium pump with the air stone in the livewell. I rigged it with a multiple outlet drop cord so I can run my air pump and onboard charger from the same power source. It works fine for me.

Sunshine,

I thought you only had to kill your unused minnows in Wisconsin if you used them in Lake Michigan or a tributary.

I have been keeping up with the latest VHS regulations and I am pretty sure you can still keep unused minnows on inland lakes.

Thanks

You are correct. The rule states:

Do not take live fish, including bait fish, away from any Great Lakes, Lake Winnebago or Mississippi River drainage landing or shore fishing location. This includes tributaries up to the first dam.

Wow, thanks guys! The first task will to be to root around in our "junk" closet and see if I can find my really old aquarium aerator. The old rule of thumb for tropical fish was 1 inch per gallon of water, unless aerated and filtered, then up to 3 inches of fish per gallon. A gallon minnow bucket didn't seem like near enough, which provoked the question. Maybe it is....

As far as ice - I believe it's a risk of chlorine killing the fish - same reason you let tap water sit out for a long time. But the amount in ice, and the amount of ice, is probably within the minnows tolerances. Plus the chlorine will quickly get used up in the bacteria in the water, and other organics floating around. Too much overwhelms everything.....killed too many tropicals in my youth learning that lesson.

The issue about temp. changes was also good - had forgotton about letting the baggies of tropicals float around for a while before release.

I'll rig up the aeration, and give it a try...if this current batch of thunderstorms and tornedos ever moves on to Wisconsin...
(I'm in Minnesota)..

http://www.keepfishalive.com/product-bait.html

These work great


Most of my money is spent on fishing, fishing tackle and boats, the rest is wasted:exactly:. moreyes <'{{^}}< :cheers:https://www.walleyecentral.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=106750

I have kept bait fish alive overnight by using an aerator that I purchase at Wal Mart. I can't recall the name of the product but it is basically a bilge pump with a sponge filter wrapped around it and suction cups on the bottom. It has a piece of PVC that extends upward about 10 inches and recirculated, aerated water sprays from the top of the PVC. Costs about $24.00.

The rig is set up to run off DC but I hook it up to an old battery charger and it works just great. As I recall not every battery charger would run the aerator but I do not know why some work and others do not.

I keep lake shiners alive overnite in Florida in my boats livewell. At home I put my minnows in a 5 gallon bucket and place the aerator in the bucket.

Additionally, you can save rainwater to use for your minnows and you can also buy a product called Shiner Life which a small amount added to your tap water should help keep the bait lively.

Jack

Add a small amount of pickling salt (non-iodized) to the water. 2-3 tablespoons in a minnow bucket. It works like the minnow saver stuff you buy.

Minnow Tip from Mike Barkley - This is the time of the year for minnows. Unfortunately, it is also the time for buckets of minnows dying before we get to our fishing spot! It may sound weird, but the answer may lie in your medicine cabinet- Hydrogen Peroxide!
The chemical makeup of Hydorgen Peroxide is H2O2 while water is H2O. Simply put Peroxide is water with one more molecule of Oxygen. As well as being an oxygenator, Peroxide is an anti-bacterial and has long been used in the Tropical fish hobby to treat oxygendepleted aquariums and added to shipping bags to add oxygen to the water and treat stress.
Try adding a cap full of Hydrogen Peroxide to your minnow bucket water (add to bucket with water to dilute it before adding minnows). It Helps!!!!!


I can't take credit for this if it works, but make s sense to me. Tight Lines

GBS,

Do you have a sump pump and a sump pit that has water in it? If you do, put your minnows in there. That is where I keep mine alive. They love the cool strained underground water. Of course I live in West Fargo where my sump pump runs about every 20 minutes. Works Great!

I have an areator called a "minnow Miser" that runs off of 12 volt or has an adaptor for 110v. I keep minnows in a 5 gallon pail in my fridge downstairs that is used for bait and beer but you could also put it in a cool place on the north side of the house or in the garage, especially this time of year. Use water from your sump hole if you have one (use for leeches also). If not, go to the bait dealer and ask him to fill up the pail or just fill it up at the lake before you go home. I frequently buy minnows a couple of days before I go fishing if I am too busy to buy bait or want to get going early before the bait store is open.

Why not put ice in with the minnow water?

There is chlorine in the ice (assuming it's from city water),
chlorine will slowly kill them, however I'm sure most of us do not add that much ice, so that's why it has little effect. I presume it's a simple matter of dilution. Letting city water sit overnight will allow the chlorine to evaporate/dissapate as mentioned..good tip

I've found the fatheads are pretty darn hardy. Keep the water shaded and cool and them buggers should be good. The airators mentioned previous will obviously help.

Emerald shiners don't last long at all.

Golden shiners are better, but not as hardy as the Fatheads.

Creek chubs are hardy, given the shaded, cool water conditions. You do have to freshin the water up more often based on the size of the chubs.

Good luck, keep your bait fresh, have fun

Blugill 1

Just a note, unless you are useing ice from home, most commercial ice is filtered, or put through reverse osmosis before it is frozen, so it should not have any chlorine in it. I have seen some baitshops that have their own icemakers, but for the most part the commercial ice should not have chlorine in it. Some good tips here, thanks, I was going to do a search on this, you all saved me a step.

Kilroy

Just got in from an evening trip. I'll find out how long the fatheads will live. 5 gal bucket of lake water, and aeration. Thunderstorms predicted all day tomorrow. Hope they make it to Sunday.....

I am new here but I have been following some of the threads for a while. I do most of my fishing in the city lakes and the river in Minneapolis. This particular issue is interesting, because I have been keeping excess baitfish between trips as a matter of course for some years now. Most of my fishing is in the evening after work usually for just a couple of hours at a time; so if I have to make an extra trip for bait, there really isn't a decent amount of time left. Below is based on my experience.

If you put a 110 volt aquarium pump (10 to 20 gallon size is definitely enough) on the same kind of bubbler that comes with the battery powered air pumps, a scoop of fatheads can easily last a week in a five gallon pail with the proper care and in cool weather so can a moderate number of the smaller shiners. It pays to find one of those insulated styrofoam liners to help keep the temperature down and steady. Insulated holding containers will increase the success rate, and the temperature can be moderated by the refreezable ice packs that we also use to keep nightcrawlers ok in transit. They cannot be crowded, for more than a very short period of time, especially the shiners, more a matter of hours than of days.

Remove all deads promptly. They actually take up more oxygen than the live minnows. Fresh deads can be frozen for catfish bait. Freeze them in single depth layers seperated by wax paper and store the hard ones in a bulk bag and you will not need to pry apart a frozen lump to rebait at the river. They very often work as well as cut shad or suckers for channel cats, and the larger sizes can be cut just like shad.

Replace the water when it starts to get cloudy or show junk. Tap water is just fine provided you treat it with the anti-chlorine stuff available for that purpose at any pet supply store or aquarium shop. During summer this will be a daily task, but in cooler times may not be needed oftener than every other or every third day, depending a whole lot on how crowded the bait is in the bucket.

You can hold fatheads, dace, shiners, suckers, chubs all this way. For the larger sizes you will need more space than a five gallon pail, however. That also means a somewhat larger aquarium pump. Once you go over 70 or 75 degrees, especially in the sun, you are going to have a much higher mortality, especially in the shiners and the larger sizes.

Fatheads are the easiest. I have kept them for a week and longer in the middle of summer in a five gallon pail, with daily water changes and keeping them shaded and reasonably cool. The cooler you can keep them the better your success will be in keeping them alive.

One of the larger sized Igloo type coolers would make an exceptionally good holding tank, but would be too heavy and clumbsy when filled to be transported. The key here is the smaller the holding container you use, the quicker it will foul regardless of aeration. If you do yard or garage sales, you may be able to find a suitable used large cooler for peanuts. Whatever the container, be sure to keep it covered. Many of our baitfish are jumpers, which most of us know already.

Keep them cool, aerated, in large enough space, and replace water as it starts to show foul, not after it has gone bad. Insulated containers help stabilize temperature. That is about all there is to it. Nearly all of our regular baitfish are also pretty easy aquarium fish. If they can be kept indefinitely there, they can easily be kept overnight or for a couple of days.

I fish out of a five gallon insulated minnow bucket. When I get home, I simply switch off the battery powered air pump and switch the air line to the 110V aquarium pump and plan to change water whenever needed. Of an evening I will switch the airline back to the battery powered pump, toss the pail in the back of my Blazer and head down to the dock or the river. This way I get to go fishing pretty much whenever the mood takes me without having to worry about bait shop open hours or making a side trip first.

As far as the ice , I simply freeze some small plastic bottles of water and add it.Don't make it too cold or co;d too fast. If its a long trip I keep some of the frozen bottle in a cooler. Many battery aerators are good.Just don't go TOO cheap. Some of the ones I've seen at flee markets etc. are more trouble than they are worth. Make sure to get a good air stone. Most pet stores have them, They don't last forever, after a while they get clogged. With a AC tropical fish aerator it doesn't show up as much as w/a battery one. I have an "air miser" I think it works better but not when you are under way as I think the rocking of it stops a lot of the effect.