live minnow

[miles]

Has anyone ever run a pin set up with a live minnow underneath it? Seems like it would be affective but hauling a minnows around would be a pain.

 

[Float_On]

I've been throwing that idea around in my head for a while regarding Niagara.

People say GULP minnows are wicked.

I've been thinking of either trying a big bucktail or maribou jig. Live bait would be a bugger to haul down there, but gulp is so expensive.

I made a bunch of bucktail jigs for walleye opener last year and caught about 10species in a day on the things.

Every fish eats fish.

 

[emirribolov]

I do it when i go pike and bass fishing on the lakes, have not try it on river yet I use my pin for everything hahahah

 

[Rain-Bow]

People have done it at the Niagara. They'd take live minnows down to the whirpool and would do surprisingly well. I believe there is a lot of potential in the use of live minnows, but I personally wouldn't carry around an entire bucket with me.

 

[pop-vlado]

Live minnows would work great. I would never bother paying for them or hauling them around though. Gulp minnows are also not required. You can use any kind of minnow grub (Powerbait, Fin-S, ect.) or minnow imitation flies - they will all work. Trout are not picky eaters, most well presented baits that comes near their mouth are pretty much game :mrgreen:

 

[Knuguy]

If you were using minnows why use a float? Why not just fling the minnow out with a small sinker and let swim around?

 

[miles]

Thanks guy!

I use them lots when I'm fishing up north for walleye, pike and on hard water.

I was thinking of using them in the same way as a jig, possibly a jig tipped with a minnow.

I have a cheap portable aerator that takes two D batteries that would keep a dozen or two minnows alive in a few liters of water so I don't think it would be totally out of the question .

I just noticed I have a pack of 2" powerbait minnows, I'm headed out tomorrow so I will drift a few.

Minnow and minnow imitations are something that I want to experiment more with for steelhead and other trout.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks guy!

I use them lots when I'm fishing up north for walleye, pike and on hard water.

I was thinking of using them in the same way as a jig, possibly a jig tipped with a minnow.

I have a cheap portable aerator that takes two D batteries that would keep a dozen or two minnows alive in a few liters of water so I don't think it would be totally out of the question .

I just noticed I have a pack of 2" powerbait minnows, I'm headed out tomorrow so I will drift a few.

Minnow and minnow imitations are something that I want to experiment more with for steelhead and other trout.

i usually keep a container of berkely gulp minnows with me, have great success with em up your way on lake huron in the red bay area, just put em in a different container, the lids tend to leak on the ones they supply.

they also work well around log jams where real minnows swarm and you know big trout are hiding underneith out of view

 

[Float_On]

If you were using minnows why use a float? Why not just fling the minnow out with a small sinker and let swim around?

Man cannot freely swim around in the whirlpool...
A minnow has no chance.

Need lots of weight to get the bait down 10+feet through the currents. Floats are great indicators especially for rainbows.

With a straight line, it's easy for untrained anglers to miss stikes and not even know it. A fish could take an offering, feel a line or hook and spit it out. All the while, you don't notice a thing.

Bottom bouncing is very sensitive work - I give the true masters credit. (Not the guys who chuck an egg sinker & "egg sack" and sit down)

 

[OCDComputing]

Man cannot freely swim around in the whirlpool...
A minnow has no chance.

Need lots of weight to get the bait down 10+feet through the currents. Floats are great indicators especially for rainbows.

With a straight line, it's easy for untrained anglers to miss stikes and not even know it. A fish could take an offering, feel a line or hook and spit it out. All the while, you don't notice a thing.

Bottom bouncing is very sensitive work - I give the true masters credit. (Not the guys who chuck an egg sinker & "egg sack" and sit down)

I have to ask..(n00b question), Egg sinker meaning sliding sinker and then cast it out give it slack to allow your bait to present?

Edit...lol...I guess I could Google it....lol

 

[hightechdecks]

white jiggy buggers

 

[NADO]

Funny timing for this thread. I was depressed this weekend about not being able to get out on the ice for some ice fishing so I took my ice fishing shiners down to the river to try my luck on some steelhead with them. Where I was fishing was gin clear and I didnt have any luck with the shiners all day. I ended up getting the only fish on a cloudy white bead with 4lb fluro lead later on in the day. I will try this technique again when I head out to a place where less walking is required because it sure was a pain dragging that minnow bucket around all day! lol

 

[FishingNoob]

I have to ask..(n00b question), Egg sinker meaning sliding sinker and then cast it out give it slack to allow your bait to present?

Edit...lol...I guess I could Google it....lol

I would think you are correct.

 

[miles]

Funny timing for this thread. I was depressed this weekend about not being able to get out on the ice for some ice fishing so I took my ice fishing shiners down to the river to try my luck on some steelhead with them. Where I was fishing was gin clear and I didnt have any luck with the shiners all day. I ended up getting the only fish on a cloudy white bead with 4lb fluro lead later on in the day. I will try this technique again when I head out to a place where less walking is required because it sure was a pain dragging that minnow bucket around all day! lol

That's interesting, I wonder if you would fish them a bit high in the water table like what people say to do with jig heads. I tryed a few minnow imitations out on a Huron trib yesterday, it was totally blown out and muddy so its hard to say. I was on another trib today and it was surprisingly low and clear? Hooked three fish the first hour, on beads. I have a bunch of those white beads...the only bead I don't think I have ever hit a fish on. Hit em on wild colors just not white lol

 

[Slickrick]

got one today on a berkley gulp minnow. they work

 

[goodentight]

got one today on a berkley gulp minnow. they workView attachment 10902

My buddy said he walked down with ya today! Nice bow

 

[Slickrick]

no kidding. small world. i think he was behind us when the rock slide happened on the US side. that was something else.

 

[Porkpie]

I can tell you those gulp minnows work... And the fish will drop the float HARD, it's like an attack! Very cool to watch!

 

[Knuguy]

Man cannot freely swim around in the whirlpool...
A minnow has no chance.

Need lots of weight to get the bait down 10+feet through the currents. Floats are great indicators especially for rainbows.

I wasn't thinking of the whirlpool. I was thinking of more normal situations with, say, 4-6 FOW. Wouldn't a minnow w/o a float work in that situation?

 

[miles]

It's possible but atleast in the area I fish I am generally in moderate to fast flows, often 3-5 fow. Without weight of some kind I can see it being difficult to get it into the strike zone and hold it there for the duration of the run. I can imagine some slack line being created as well and IMO that can lead to foul hook sets.