Keeping bait fresh

[Fishin4Life]

Hey I have a question for you guys. I have a real issue keeping leaches and minnows fresh for a few days. It gets spendy when you don't use them all and have to toss them each trip. Could I hook up a small 5 gallon fish tank at home with an Aerator to keep them fresh? Put the leaches in one of those bags and just toss the minnows in? Does anyone do this? What do you think?

[Ralph Wiggum]

I run a cooler with an aquarium pump and it works wonders. Just make sure that if you have city water, you use some dechlorinator drops, or the chlorine will wipe out your minnows pretty quickly.

[PierBridge]

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Put the leaches in one of those bags.

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Leeches will last a long time in the refrigerator.

[slick814]

Leeches will last next to forever in the fridge... clean the water once in a while, feed 'em a little raw meat now & then, and they'll last you for about as long as you want them alive.

Minnows, make sure that the water you use is as pure as you can. Keep them cool, aerated and fed, they'll last a long long while too.

Crawlers are the hardest of the bunch, actually... keep them in a cool, dry place... something on the basement floor, maybe a closet under the stairs or something like that, and then put some in the fridge a day or so before you're going to use them, makes 'em quite lively when the time comes to use them. Make sure that the bedding is loose & damp, not dripping, and pick up some worm food, and you might end up with a worm farm by accident.