Tips on Keeping Fishing Minnows Alive

Minnows make one of the finest fishing baits for catching bass, white perch, and catfish. They are also excellent bait for many other types of fish. The minnow is found naturally in the waters where the fish live and there shiny skin attracts the larger fish. The problem is these creatures are very fragile and keeping them alive in order to use them for bait is the one key problem.

The first thing you need to remember is that you do not want to shock the minnow when you transfer it from the store where you purchase it and the fishing hole you are headed to. You should take the bag that the minnows are in and set the unopened bag into a bucket of water that is the temperature of the water you will be fishing in. This will allow the minnows to acclimate themselves to the new temperature and will keep them from becoming sick and dying.

You need to keep minnows in either a bucket with water, a live well, or a bucket that is designed to be hung over the side of the boat so that the minnows are constantly in fresh water. The live wells on boats generally have built in aerators to keep the oxygen level in the live well sufficient for the tiny fish. If you are keeping your minnows in a bucket you can purchase an aerator that is operated by batteries and keeps the oxygen in the water level sufficient. If you do not have an aerator you can periodically use a cup of water dipped from the minnow bucket and pour it back into the bucket. Repeat the process of dipping the water out and pouring it back several times in order to increase the oxygen level in the container.

You never want to allow the minnows to become too warm. If the water they are in gets too warm they will die quickly. If your minnows are in a bucket keep a lid on the bucket or cover it with a towel to block the sunlight. You can place ice in the water to cool it down for the fish but commercially produced ice contains chlorine and this will also kill the minnows. So make certain if you add ice to the water it is in a container where the chlorination from the ice cannot contaminate the water the minnows are in.