anyone not use minnows much?

[mrpike1973]

hi so i bought minnows as usual didnt get much on them. mostly fish crappies sunfish. from the stand point of convenience i think lugging minnows around is a pain. always spilling on something. i've tried the coolers and they always freeze yet i'm always afraid if i dont bring minnows i'll miss out. i hear a lot of people dont use minnows any one for your thoughts thanks

[frazwood]

I haven't bought minnows for ice fishing in many years. I found that crappies will eat wax worms or soft plastics often enough that I don't bother with the inconvenience any more.

Also, I've learned to enjoy fishing even when I don't catch anything. So I have that going for me... which is nice.

[mww24]

I only buy minnows when targeting walleye. It seems like panfish feed on so many small creatures under the ice. Waxies/larva or goofy plastics seem to suffice.

[jjz]

Only time minnows are worth bringing with for crappies is for after dark bites and sometimes very dirty water during day. These situations the bigger target of the minnow seems to get their attention alot better.

[Jim Uran]

I don't think I bought minnows at all last year lol. I fish with plastics and waxies, maggots, etc.. But if I go out with my brother and sit in his house, he buys some to hang under a float..

[Agronomist_at_IA]

For panfish......spikes, waxes, plastics.

Crappie.....I like to have crappie minnows just in case.

Walleye wouldn't want to fish without some minnow meat for them.

[Portlis]

Heh, it's funny you bring up this topic because that's basically where I'm at right now too.

I honestly have more luck with smaller baits; spikes, waxies, or even plastics, than I do minnows these days. You never* catch gills on minnows, and crappies seem more than happy to eat other stuff too. Even on a dead stick, I seem to catch just as many crappies with a waxie on a jig just sitting there doing nothing as I do minnows.

I'm finding the ONLY reason I still ever buy minnows for crappies is the off chance of a walleye biting these days. I rarely catch walleyes on waxies / spikes / plastics while fishing for panfish, but it's much more common on a minnow under a float. And you just never know when a walleye bite will hit, so I like to be ready with them if necessary.

Depending on the lake though, I definitely don't bring minnows out with me all the time any more.

[MNCPRGUY]

I am slowly converting from an almost all live bait fisherman to exclusively artificial. I will likely never get to that point entirely, but I definitely buy fewer minnows now. To me it's all about building your confidence with artificials. To do that you have to put the meat aside and have some luck without it. Over time your confidence builds.

Right now, I am still using minnow heads on jigging spoons and a live minnow on a dead stick for walleye, and an occasional sucker on the tipup for pike. As far as pannies go, I will put my Maki plastics up against anything live any day of the week.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I'm switching more and more every year to maggots and meal worms. In a permy minnows don't bug me but yeah, I'm the guy who always spills stuff in the porty.

There are a couple lakes around me where during the day the crappies will bite on a jig tipped with maggots just sitting there. So, this helps. I've also been known to pinch off a bunch of minnow heads, while still at home, put in a ziplock and stick in my pocket along with the bait puck.

[slurpie]

Only buy minnows for walleyed. Don't remember the last time I bought Waxies either. Plastics have came a long ways.

[Pleasant]

I normally have minnows but then I fish out of the permie most of the time so have a place to keep them

[th64]

I have to bring minnows to certain lakes but I do not bring many. When I get to a lake i punch a lot of holes and scout it out. for scouting a minnow is no good but I will have a tippy set up while I am scouting. If the bite is off sometimes they only will take a slow falling weightless minnow and then only around sunset or at dark-it can save your trip.

On a few lakes though they(crappies) never want a minnow. For 'gills you can't beat a real bug-would love to be wrong-would love to get outfished with a plastic, plastics are easier and cheaper-I use them when I run out of real stuff. Best ones I have found are those Atomic nuggies or wedgies, can get them at Thorne Bros-great action

[otterman91105]

Fot me its minnows for walleyes and euro larvae for panfish.

[Rick G]

With all the new options in plastics on the market, using minnows for panfish has become a thing of the past for many ice anglers. I do use quite a few of them for cats and walleyes though

[GSP4ME]

I caught a ton of nice crappies on Euro Larva last year and couldnt get them to hit minnows.

[minnbowhunter]

lots of good info here guys, thanks but I find it odd that no one has mentioned the Gulp products. I have tried them with pretty good results.

[amateurfishing]

last 2 seasons I had lots of success with crappies on minnows, even bass, & occasional northern. I have yet to have any success with a minnow yet this year(but did loose 2 big bites up the hole this am with em) but did get a northern on waxies today, go figure

[th64]

If fish can see, taste ,and smell, the difference between real and artificial they will take real every time. Imagine an artificial steak. Could you tell? Probably. In the summer I use plastics for everything-water is warm, fish are moving, bait is moving, strikes are reaction strikes. Even on ice I will use a #2 jigging rap and catch everything W/O even plastic on it just hard metal-but they really have to be in the mood. Big companies would love to sell you plastics-can you name the companies that sell minnows to your bait shop? Keep your options open and try everything-getting skunked on ice is the worst!

[Rick G]

If fish can see, taste ,and smell, the difference between real and artificial they will take real every time.

Not every time... I can, and do out fish live bait anglers all the time in the winter. Now I'm not saying that brand "x" plastic will out produce live bait in all situations, but it does work every bit as well as the live option in most cases. A lot of it has to do with having confidence in your presentation

[WalleyeChaser]

I'm in the minnows for walleyes and maggots/plastics for panfish camp as well. Walleyes seem to be a little more finicky and want meat on spoons and jigs. I catch more panfish on plastics and maggots mainly because I'm a whole hopper type and they are just more user friendly.

[Lawrence Luoma]

What is a minnow? lol I bet I haven't paid for a minnow in over 15 years and that includes all species.

[Farley]

I use gulp all the time. Minnow heads\waxies\2" minnows. I think I've had better luck with the impulse line but its kind of a different offering. Like most others I prefer the real thing for walleyes though. Slowly getting there.

[JBMasterAngler]

I prefer minnow heads for crappies, I'll also use them to keep away smaller perch. I only use live minnows for lake trout and walleyes, and stream trout (where legal). I only use eurolarvae, waxies are worthless in cold weather! I have zero faith in plastics, gulp, etc. I've tried it all and live bait has out fished it every time!

[Chad Holst]

I almost always take minnows with me, for almost every place we fish in the SE. Why? Cat fish.

My most common set up is:

Get in the house, set up the chairs, turn on the heat, throw 3 fatheads on the ice, step on the fat heads, glob the pieces on the treble of a jigging PK spoon, send it to 1 inch off bottom, set up jigging rod, sit...catch. Use all the tricks you want, you will NOT outfish a glob of smashed minnows on a trebble for Cats through the ice. And we have tried!

Walleyes, and kitties get the minnow.

[Trev]

I'm still a minnow guy for crappies a lot of the time. enough so that I always bring minnows when I target crappies. Many of my spots for crappie I don't need to run a gun, just sit in my warm portable and jig with minnows,minnow heads, minnow tails, waxies and some plastics. It's my experience that you can keep it fresh by continuously switching up bait and jig color( glow red to glow yellow) for example. I also want a dead stick with a minnow always.

Sunfish are a different story, waxies and plastic.