Frabill min o life bait station

[Dano2]

anyone have it?

How do you like it?

I got one for christmas and wondering

how often one should turn the air thing on.

I have some crappie minners left in it from fishing today,

and just curious as how to use it most effectivley,

the thing really didn't come with info. on this.

thanks

P.S. I think the lid latch was made very cheaply, it snapped on one end already where it hooks to the main cooler(bucket,whatever) so I replaced the cheap little plastic piece with something stronger. should of brought it back, but figured it'll probably just happen again.

[Dano2]

huh? It may be abit early to tell, butI'm starting to think its just a gimmick. Checked on the minnows this morning and about half are belly up, which makes sense because with the lid shut. I would imagine you'd have to have the air thing running alll the time, who the hell wants to buy that many batteries. Minnows lasted for days in my regular minnow bucket , as long as I change water every so often and make sure it doesn't freeze solid.

The only thing I could se this unit good for is perhaps makeing them shiners last longer.

I'll just wait for some input.

thanks

[Duffer]

when i saw it that was my first concern was not being open with air flow.

[Norsky]

What exactly does everyone use for ice fishing minnow buckets??? I have a gallon bucket with another smaller styrofoam bucket inside of it but while going across the lake the water still splashes all over and ends up beneath the styrofoam and the minnows hardly have any water. Those styrofoam lids always seem to break off so easy also. I almost need some kind of cover for a 4-5 gallon bucket and skip the styrofoam. Any good ideas out there???

[Duffer]

i bought a 2 1/2 gallon from clamcorp that is made to fit in my fish trap it has a screw on cover that seals pritty good.

[Norsky]

Duffer, did you buy it online or can you find them in stores??

[R_B]

I put my styrofaom bucket in a five gallon plastic bucket. It is much more stable.

[Dano2]

well I'm convinced this one I got, the frabill min o2 live bait station, looks like a small cooler, well I guess thats what it is pretty much, anyway, its a joke, a gimmick, another over priced sucker deal. I brought home a couple dozen crappie mins from yesterday fishing and have had the air runing all day today, and their almost all dead, what a fricken joke, I've had minnows last in my regular bucket for over a week out in the garage, with almost half the water frozen in the bucket. dump, now I need a chew. Cant bring it back either because I had to modify a cheap broken piece already.

[DUCKBOAT21]

Plano and Frabill both make a plastic foam lined bucket with a yellow flip-up cover that doesn't freeze down. When I am doing some running on the snowmobile I use one of those plastic insulated drinking water containers with the screw on lid (they also have a fliptop or a spout to drink out of) I may have to whack the lid to get it open because of ice, but it won't spill or break. At home I keep the minnows in a cooler with a 110 volt aerator (bubbler) running

[rpaulson7]

I bought the Min-O-Life unit from Gander on December 19. Also that day I bought a half-scoop of crappie minnows, a dozen shiners, and a half-dozen suckers. The clerk at the store said it was way too many minnows for the unit, but I put them all in.

Since then I've added more minnows of each type, and I've thrown out exactly 3 dead crappie minnows. I've had over 50 minnows in there, which seems like way too many, but they're doing great sitting in the garage when I'm not fishing.

In summary, and in contrast to other posts above, this thing keeps my bait alive wonderfully. I run the air unit about 15 minutes per day, and that's it. I've done a 1/2 water change twice in the 2 weeks I've had it. I throw in a hunk of ice when I'm on the lake, or a handful of ice cubes every few days when I'm at home.

However, I would not recommend the unit. First off, the air stone thingy gets clogged up if you don't run it constantly. I have to undo the air hose and blow in it to clear out the stone, then turn on the air. Also, the handle to pull up the basket looks like a great idea, but mine broke off on one side the first day, and has fallen completely off. I've rigged up some cable ties as a new handle. Also the lid freezes shut on cold days, so you have to pry it open. And my final complaint is that the handle on top of the lid is impossible to get a grip on to lift it up if you're wearing gloves. You have to take your glove off to pick it up. I've also put a cable tie on that so I can lift it up with gloves on.

[federline]

I've had this same bait station for two years now. I leave it in the garage, drain some old mucky water and throw some snow or ice in every couple days, run the pump for a couple hours a day... I've got shiners and crappie minnows in there right now from two weeks ago swimming like happy campers.

I think the biggest determination of how long your bait will live is how healthy it is where you buy it. I've got two bait shops in in town - minners from from one last for weeks with the method above; from the other, it's like keeping them on life support machines to get them to last for 5 days.

Bait shops matter - find a good one and give them your business!

[PerchJerker]

For bringing minnows ice fishing I use a small plastic minnow bucket that's not insulated - it's flat on the top and I'd guess that it's about 8 inches tall and 9 inches across. The thing I really like about it is that it fits inside a 5 gallon pail. I put a gamma seal lid on the 5 gallon pail, and now any water that splashes out of the minnow bucket stays in the 5 gallon pail. If I take off the gamma lid I can set my vex inside the pail on top of the minnows, and if I don't put my vex in there I can throw in stuff like 1 lb. propane cylinders and beer cans and put the lid on. I've had the gamma seal for years and don't remember where I got it, but I'd bet stores like Fleet Farm and some hardware stores would carry them.

[Dano2]

federline, that could be it too, I will try another bait shop.

The other thing that comes to mind is perhaps the water change.

Maybe they didn't like this Moorhead water compared to the small town water where I bought them, who knows. I'll keep experimenting with it.

Rpaulson, do you leave the lid open when its at home in your garage? Maybe that would be the key, as I had mine latched shut and ran the air most of the time, but they were still dieing.

I saw one that is more of a bucket that frabill makes too, that one looks more sturdy, and is bigger, wish my wife would have gotten me that one, heh, heh, but its the thought that counts eh? also, I'm just waiting for that latch to pop open when I'm carrying the thing by the handle, its made so cheap (the lid latch)(actually the entire thing) that most the time when I carry it, I put another hand on the bottem.

thanks

[Duffer]

i was wondering the same thing how does the bucket version work it also has holes in the top so the lid isnt sealed and has a styrafoam insulation so it wont frezz as esaly and it has the airator.

[Duffer]

the bucket version not the cooler version.

[Chris-Neises]

Mine also works well. I have had mine for over a year and have used it for both summer and winter. The unit will freeze shut in bitterly cold temps though. I replaced the pump with a quieter model. I have been pleased with the product.

[Duffer]

i bought it online.

[Dano2]

well lets hear from you guys that are haveing good luck with the cooler version, how you are useing them as far as, How often you run the air?, do you leave the lid open when you have it at home?, do you change the water? things like this.

thanks

[Ed Carlson]

I like the system.

Don't over crowd it with bait, keep the water up and filled with fresh unclorinated water and the bait will do well.

At home I plug the hose to the aerator into my Frabill 110 V aerator and save the batteries for field use.

[mistermom]

My minnow bucket is a square 2 1/2 gallon plastic bucket that had cat litter in it. Cleaned out of course! The top snaps on real tight but isn't too hard to remove. I drilled some small holes into the top of the cover and keep it in the garage. My minnows have stayed frisky. I just change the water every so often.

mm

[Dano2]

Figure I better give an update, as I dont want to ive this thing a total crummy review since Its been working fine now.

Although I still wouldn't recomend it since it's built abit cheap. anyway, I've had the same minnows in it now for a little over a week, and only one has died. This time I bought them from a different bait shop, and also only changed water once after a week and used my filtered water instead of the city stuff takeing Eds advice on not useing the chlorinated stuff. Sooooo, its one thing or the other I did wrong last time, but I think I'll just stick to this system. I think it'll pay off , especially this summer when buying redtails and shiners.

thanks