Garage bait

[Castinski]

I'm looking into using a coleman cooler I have laying around (used it for muskie suckers this fall-worked great) to hold bulk minnows for ice season this year. It has a few holes drilled through the top just large enough to slip an aerator hose through. I want to try to keep it in an unheated garage. I'm hoping that the aerator will keep the water moving enough that it won't freeze through more than I can break out each day.

Has anyone done this successfully without a heat source? Any other ideas for cheap unheated garage bait tanks?

It would be great to not have to go to the bait store as often. Not much room in the house for them either.

[Jim Almquist]

I think you will find that you will have to bring it down to the basement. I have a very thick styrofoam cooler that holds a lot of water but it was not enough to stop it from freezing when it stays close to zero for a couple of days.

[broman]

I keep my bucket in the basement as well. I have one of those intake tubes for the furnace that brings in cold outside air. I put my bucket next to it and it keeps it cool.

[bobbymalone]

I have basically the exact same kind of cooler set up as you. Works great on somedays in the unheated garage, but when it gets bitter cold --- you've got a minnowsicle.

the basement works much better.

[CAMAN]

Unless your garage is a well insulated tuck-under style that doesn't get extremely cold then you may be fighting a losing battle. Coleman coolers are not known for their high R-value. If you truly cannot bring it inside you may want to try and build an enclosure around it. I'd take a 4x8 sheet of 2" thick pink rigid insulation and build an enclosure, with a lid that seals well, around the entire cooler. Make it large enough so the pumps can fit inside between the cooler and enclosure. The tiny bit of heat generated from the pumps should be enough to keep everything from turning to a block of ice as long as the enclosure is build and and sealed well.

[tsande00]

Anybody ever try using a small box with a light bulb inside for heat? A guy would have to be cautious of not creating an electrical and/or fire hazard but it seems like you might be able to make something work if some thought was put into it.

[LightningBG]

Anybody ever try using a small box with a light bulb inside for heat? A guy would have to be cautious of not creating an electrical and/or fire hazard but it seems like you might be able to make something work if some thought was put into it.

Thats what I was thinking. A little 10-15 watt bulb would keep it plenty warm inside a cooler.

[hydro]

How about an aquarium heater. Its built to be used in water and has a built in thermostat.

[bobbymalone]

How about an aquarium heater. Its built to be used in water and has a built in thermostat.

It's also built to keep room temp water at 80 something degrees.

I bet it would burn out fairly quickly from working too hard.

[EBass]

Quote:

How about an aquarium heater. Its built to be used in water and has a built in thermostat.

That would be the way to go, but they are made to keep temps at 75 degree. You'd want the minnows in 40-45 degree range. But that seems safer. May want to check with some Aquarium places.

[Castinski]

My basement won't work well. It stays too warm. Same problem as the house. The goal is to keep the water below 35 degrees and above rock solid to keep the tank cleaner. Those aquarium heaters only go down to about 70 degrees or so. Those won't work unless I run them on a timer for short periods of time (an option I guess). The garage is detached, but does have some insulation and stays just a bit warmer than the outdoor air temp in the winter.

Any other suggestions? Any body got any examples of bait setups they use out in the cold? I'm thinking maybe more volume and more water flow may be a possibility for keeping it from locking up solid. I expect some ice, but need to be able to access it to get the bait out.

[tsande00]

I'm going to try a large Styrofoam bait container with a small hole cutout the lid that will allow me insert a low watt light bulb, one of the smaller types. If it works I'll let you know, but I have my doubts.

I have not been able to successfully keep minnows in my garage or house. (too cold or warm). Every time I add water from the faucet all the minnows are dead within a day so my second problem besides keeping them cold is keeping fresh water. I tried adding snow last year and that was somewhat effective but so far I haven't been able to keep these darn things alive for a week.

I think you are onto something though by increasing the volume. The smaller the container the faster my minnows die, even with the aerator.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

With a limited amount of electrical knowledge, a guy can take a dog dish de-icer, and in conjunction with an remote bulb or immersion style thermostat have a nice little heater to maintain those optimum temps in a well insulated cooler regardless of outside air temp.

[Steve Foss]

Those aquarium heaters only go down to about 70 degrees or so. Those won't work unless I run them on a timer for short periods of time (an option I guess).

I think that's worth a try. You'll want to get a heater for a larger capacity aquarium (50-75 gallon) so it has to work less to warm the water. Still not positive it'll stand the cold temps, but we have 6 tropical aquariums, and the heaters are pretty tough.

You may end up with trouble regarding cold/heat. If your water is 33 degrees when the heater kicks on and the heater is set at its lowest setting (about 70 degrees), you might get the heater glass shattering because of the stress.

Another option might be a heating pad like greenhouses use under their seed flats to keep temps consistent. Put that under the cooler and experiment with a timer. Could be the ticket.

[muskE]

My father keeps minnows in an octagonal tank (10 gal?) in his insulated, but unheated, garage. The areator keeps the water moving and the volume of water soesn't seem to ever freeze. He fills it will water right from his spigot and they don't seem to want to die if he remebers to feed them.

The key may be to buy a bigger areator than required for the tank to have a healthy current to keep the ice at bay.

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

I haven't used a cooler like you are suggesting but have used the Frabill bucket with the styrofoam insert in the garage and the basement. It has been so cold in the garage that ice forms around the edge of the bucket and the aerator but I have never had it freeze so hard that it killed the bait. If you get extended extremely low temperatures then move it in the house. The key in the house is to change the water on them and I usually did this every 24 hours or so.

We were at LOW one year and my buddy insisted on leaving the bucket outside overnight. The next morning the minnows were frozen in the ice. Another buddy thawed them out in the cold water kitchen sink and I think we lost 4 minnows out of 4 dozen after he defrosted them. I think they were fat heads and not shiners which will die if you look at them wrong. Do what you want once or twice and the cold and the minnows will tell you what to do next!!!!!

Mike

[kerryd15]

When keeping them outside I do not run the air on them. Keep them sealed in the cooler. When you have a chunk of ice around the edge move inside for half a day then back outside. Remember when you pump outside air into the cooler what is the temp of the outside air? They can freeze up real quick.

[CAMAN]

Remember when you pump outside air into the cooler what is the temp of the outside air? They can freeze up real quick.

This is why I suggested making a styrofoam sealed enclosure around the cooler and placing the pumps inside between the enclosure and cooler. The pumps make a little heat and will warm the water and enclosure slightly. It is probably the cheapest option aside from bringing it inside when it gets too cold. It doesn't cost anything to heat, other than the power you're already using to aerate the water, and won't need to buy any heating elements, etc, that could cause an electrical hazard.

[leech~~]

Another option might be a heating pad like greenhouses use under their seed flats to keep temps consistent. Put that under the cooler and experiment with a timer. Could be the ticket.

I think Steve maybe on to something here. Also, you may try and find an old heating blanket to wrap around the cooler, just don't get to sloppy with the water. Or maybe try a Bird water feeder heating element they use to keep Bird water feeders open during the winter and maybe hook it up to a dimmer switch to lower the temp a bit?

[DTro]

Before you get too caught up in keeping bait, make sure you don't have dispose your minnows when leaving the lake. These laws are changing faster than we can keep up with them, and if I'm not mistaken there are some lakes now that you have to toss your bait when done for the day.

[BrandonJ]

Before you get too caught up in keeping bait, make sure you don't have dispose your minnows when leaving the lake. These laws are changing faster than we can keep up with them, and if I'm not mistaken there are some lakes now that you have to toss your bait when done for the day.

Yes this is true, but I can already see myself watching out for the fuzz smuggling fatheads. I think if you bring spring water with u can change out the water on shore in order to keep your bait. But that may have changed too.

[Castinski]

This is why I suggested making a styrofoam sealed enclosure around the cooler and placing the pumps inside between the enclosure and cooler. The pumps make a little heat and will warm the water and enclosure slightly.

I think I will start with this idea using two aerators. The aerators are usually warm to the touch after running overnight (not hot though) and styrofoam is cheap. If it starts to freeze more than I can break free every day, then I will move to some kind of heater on a timer. I'd rather not mess with more electrical components than I need to right off the bat.

No worries on the bait laws. I won't be taking all of the minnows in my tank out with me daily, just enough for each time. The point is I can keep several dozen in there so I won't have to stop at the bait shop, wasting precious minutes during prime bite time. The prime walleye bite near my house occurs at dusk and there is often little time between work and dark to hit the ice.

Feel free to keep dropping ideas or examples of your setups. Thanks for the help everyone.

[tsande00]

Regarding the heating pads...don't those draw a fair amount of juice? I wonder if the increased cost in your electric bill would be worth keeping the minnows alive or not.

[amateurfishing]

i asked a question regarding this last year. after buying a bucket, aquarium aerator, pump, hose, etc. i worked on the project with testing the minnows for 3-4 days, personally the constant aerator noise was annoying and garage ended up being to cold in the long run anyway. i just decided to get a bag of minnows for $2 when ready to go fish, come home with leftovers, add snow every day as it melts and dump dirty water from top of frabill stryo bucket, maybe loose a few minnows every day,& just keep checking once or twice a day. the whole "trying to keep them alive theory" did not work for me as it ended up costing me a lot more in $ & headaches than a bag of $2 minnows was worth. I kept em in garage fridge as long as i could till temp just got too cold in garage, then my unused ones just ended up in lake when done fishing, figured little donation to feed our wildlife once in a while wont hurt me & start with fresh $2 worth of minnows next time fishing. I was spending $25 or more on equip to keep em alive, did not see sense in that in long run so returned it all. just my opinion

[Finlander]

I used to put my minnow bucket under the fresh air duct thats next to the furnace in the basement and that kept the water around 40 degrees. The fresh air duct was a flexible hose that I could aim into the bucket. See if that is possible to do!