How to transport minnows.

[DrJ]

Can anyone tell me the way they have taken minnows across the border.I know they can't be alive. It seems to me I've read in the past about covering them in ice or borax? I just tried drying them and vacuum sealing but it just crushed them.Any help would be great. Thanks DrJ.

[Hemlock]

Dr.J,

No live bait into Canada. That is the only rule. As long as they aren't kickin' you can package them however you prefer. You might be better off having them somewhere handy in case they want to see that they are dead.

If it were me, I'd buy them at your bait store of choice in the US as close to the date of departure as possible. And put them in several ziplocks. Having several ziplocks of minnows allows you to have two or three bags in the boat each day. Easier to do that then put up with, "Can you pass me the minnows?" all day.

[Wiskers]

I get my minnows the day I leave or the night before.. put them in zip lock bags and put them in a cooler full of ice.. they should be done kicking by the time you get to the border and all is well. some times they are so fresh that when you get to fishing and put them in the water they start swimming believe it or not.. that is fresh bait...

[walleye_guy18]

DrJ,

Last year I tried making salted minnows and it actually worked really well, I made them 3 days before we left for our trip and they lasted roughly 5 or 6 days without ice once we started our trip.(we canoe in so ice wasn't an option)they stayed really firm and worked really well, so well that I think I will bring 24 dozen this year instead of 12 dozen.

[DrJ]

Walleye Guy 18, Could you explain how you go about preparing the minnows. Thanks alot DrJ.

[whitecrow]

Ive tried everything for me the best is mixing a thick salt brine in a suitable plastic container. put live minnows in when you leave on trip. they die in a few seconds, but remain almost perfect for many days. you must keep them in a cooler. take a half dozen out at a time place them in a cup of water. works great for me. also i have frozen leachs a dozen at a time in water in butter tubs. keep in cooler and they thaw slowly. they lighten a little in color, are tougher so stay better on the hook. and the walleyes love them. enjoy

[Kingfisher]

Welcome whitecrow to Fishing Minnesota! Hope you enjoy the site as much as I have.

[Wiskers]

I too tried the salt brine this weekend.. it worked out real well.. Cats like the salt any way but the minnows stayed pretty firm for 3 days...

I just mixed up a salt water brine with as much salt as I could put in it.. 5# box, and just put the minnows in it.. one tip would be to add some ice now and again..

[walleye_guy18]

when I did made my salted minnows I started off by putting them in a salt brine for roughly 3 hours. then I put a couple of layers of newspaper on a cake pan and laid out all the minnows on there and put it in the fridge for about 1 to 2 hours just to get them kind of dry. after that I took a gallon bucket and would alternate...layer of salt...layer of minnows..etc. I put the salt bucket in the fridge for 2 days. after that I took the minnows out and put them in the zip lock bags that you can seel shut around the minnows. as soon as you get the minnows in the bags you have to put them in the freezer until your ready to leave.

Like I said in my early post, I had these minnows un cooled for 5 or 6 days and they never even started getting soft. I probably would have had them longer but on the first day of the trip I caught about 3 dozen walleyes.

hope this helped

walleye guy

[Bubbadust]

My father lives in Rochester and talked to a bait store in town there (I can provide the name if needed) that packs bait for Canada and it seems very reasonable. We are having him pack 1/2 flat of nightcrawlers (20-24 dozen) and about 33 dozen minnows in a brine solution and then frozen all for $45. (I can't remember the exact number of minnows, but I think that's close) Seems like a pretty good deal to me compared to buying them and "preparing" them all myself.

[Ed Carlson]

I found that fresh frozen Spottail Shiners hold up well. They need to be flash froze alive and stored with NO-WATER (or very little water) in the bag so they stay firm. They have a hearty head and can hang on a hook/jig well as long as you do not allow too many to completely defrost befor use. re-freezing once thawed will lessen there ability to hang on a hook/jig. Try to thaw only what you need for the day or just use them frozen as I most often do.

I have not pre-salted any yet...it may work? The waterless freezing has done well for me so far.

[FullTilt]

What kind of minnows are you guys using when you salt them.

[Bubbadust]

The bait shop that packed them for us packed them in ziplocs with a ton of salt and then froze them. They held up pretty well, but they don't smell very good. We just took a bag out of the freezer and threw them in the cooler each day. I don't know what kind of minnows they were. We actually didn't use very many of them, as nightcrawlers worked much better.