Minnow catchin

[Mike7759]

Let's suppose you had a prairie impoundment with a river running in and out. Flooded timber, feeder creeks and shallow bays.

If you wanted to trap minnows because the marina was closed this time of year, where would you put your traps.

In the river below the dam?
In the river above the lake?
In the timber?
Back of warm bays?
Feeder creeks?
Forget about it?

No laws are violated with any option.

[fosterthedog]

I trap minnows spring thru fall, I have the best luck in deeper holes on the feeder creeks. I use a couple of traps and switch holes every 2-3 days, probably use 8-10 different holes. Also keep a 5 gallon bucket on each creek, I live in upstate NY and we have a law that says the minnows have to be from a upstream tributary of the body you are fishing( yes I have had to show a DEC officer my traps on 2 occasions), otherwise they have to be store bought with a reciept in your possesion. Ive tried various spots both in the main lake and in back bays but a basket trap and a piece of bread seem to do the trick for me. Check your traps as often as possible to cull smaller minnows and rebait with bread. Hope this helps, best of Luck this season.

[RLS]

I personally trap small feeder creeks this time of year. I have a place where a culvert dumps into a ditch and then dumps into the river. They come up to where the culvert dumps in to spawn. It has a gravel bottom and usually warms up much quicker than the river. I usually wait for a couple warm sunny days to set my trap. It seems a little early yet, but I might try it myself.