Sticklebacks

[hoggsback]

On the main FM homepage is story by Turk Gierke of his discovering sticklebacks mixed in with his other minnows. I recently encountered the same thing the other day while crappie fishing. I had two rigs down, one deadstick and the other jigging. I never had a bite on the deadstick but was continually catching fish on my jigging rig. When I packed up my gear and reeled in the deadstick, I found I had a stickleback minnow on my jig. I was *&$%#@ and figured I might as well have been fishing only one rig the last 2 hours.

Any others have success with sticklebacks? I am surprised at the success Turk had using them.

[Shack]

Here is a post I wrote about them last year. I had more responces to the duplicate one I posted, but people thought I was nutz. Here you go.

[qoute]

The stickleback minnow! This is a topic I have not seen before brought up in this forum. This forgotten and tossed aside minnow is the reject of the minnow world. Fisherman cringe when they see that stickleback in their bucket. It is rare you will see this little minnow. Your local bait store tries very hard, so your bait bucket is not graced with the presents of this minnow. Some people say it is a sign of a poorly manicured batch of minnows. I my self think different. If my bait bucket happens upon a stickle back, I look at it as a sign of luck. For when the fishing is just plain slow, I throw on the stickle back for a change of pace. I have had good results and bad. The other night out crappie fishing I found my self in a rut. I had purchased a scup of crappie minnows and had a very rare occurrence of having four sticklebacks in the scup. I stabbed my stickleback with my hook and dropped it down. With in five minutes I had a tap and a tug on the tip of my rod. It was getting late and my fishing partner and I had to leave, so I did not get a full run at this ugley minnow. I do know in past I have found my self in the same predicament as above and have caught fish on them. I do not have much experience with this minnow, because most bait stores do such a good job of weeding them out. I do know they are very active on the hook and give a differnt presents to the fish. They also stay very active for a long period of time, longer than a crappie minnow will. I have done some research and found a little bit of info on this minnow. The stickleback minnow is about 2-3 inches sometimes 4 inches in length. Its habitat is cool shallow water. It lives in freshwater and saltwater. The male stickleback builds a nest made out of stems and held together by mucous threads. The females lay their eggs, and then when they hatch, the male guards the nest and the young. So if you have not tried this minnow and things are slow. Throw it on and report back on what happens. Also feel free to report on any of the other weird minnows you get in your bucket. I know I get weird minnows when I get a scup of rainbows, but do not know what the name of this minnow is.

May your minnow bucket be empty at he end of the day,

SHACKBASH

[qoute]

Click here to see my last season's stickleback minnow post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Todd_J]

I've never had any success using them. I believe them to be the 'fruit cake' of the food options; sure they are edible, but I'd rather have a second helping of stuffing please. While i do not doubt Mr. Gierke success on that particular day, I'm certainly not going to seek out sticklebacks on my next trip to Grumpy's Bait and Tackle.

[randyfaas]

I found a tiny sunfish in my last bucket of minnows(about . I haven't used it yet, though. I was not sure of the legality of it.

[sparkydm]

Once while fishing crappie and walleye in the spring, my supply of minnows dwindling, I put on a tiny bullhead that was in the bucket. I caught 2 nice crappies and 1 walleye with that little guy. Incidently, I've had good luck with sticklebacks through the ice, but not in open water.

[jwhjr]

I've yet to have luck with them either, but I may give them another shot if I get anymore in the scoop.

[Random guy]

I try to dig the stickle backs out of the tank to use. A couple old timers used to do the same years ago and I thought they where just goofy but they always caught fish...hmmmm.

Now if I find stickle backs in the bait bucket in the summer when guiding they get saved for the guy that keeps missing fish.They stay on the hook better and I swear walleye know what they are and gulp them harder.

[I_Got_One]

I have found that the stickeback is a great little minnow to find in the bucket and they are most commonly found in minnow supplies where the shop traps there own minnows forsale as opposed of purchasing them from a wholesaler. They are a common forage base in several of the lakes that I used to fish when I live in central wisconsin. I started to use them as bait when i was checking the stomachs of the fish i caught. I found the sticklebacks in crappies most commonly but also found them in walleye pike and gills. However not many of the bait dealers in the superior duluth area do not trap there own bait there for i have not seen many in my bucket. I do however still see them in the fish that I catch in shallower water, and I can not recall a time where I have found them in fish that I caught suspended over deep water. I actually find very few if any minnows in the crappies and gills that I catch suspended over deeper water this is also why I started using less minnow when targeting those fish. Especially on the smaller lake where all the locals will only use minnows I have found on slower bites spikes and waxworms will out preform.

[Kodiak]

there are different kind of sticklebacks too the 3 spined and 4 spined.

think it makes a difference?

[sjburnt]

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[anyfishwilldo]

 Originally Posted By: sjburnt

A few years back, I tried to raise them at home. Got one to make nests, but could not get a hatch, probably because I could not sort out the right pair without disturbing the nest and tank. They are an interesting fish!

WOW, you really need to get out more.

[Tom7227]

Well, maybe he needs to spend a little more time learning about things. Here's a link to a couple of pieces about minnows. I had a couple of strangers in my bait bucket the past few times and I started to wonder what they were. I have an aquarium that I've had various fish in, and it has been a learning experience to watch how they feed, how they interact, what they'll eat. For instance the sunfish would be the last one to go for a minnow but the first to go for a piece of corn. The bass would eat a minnow or leech within a second of it hitting the water. Perch were as fast, and the crappies were slow. I'm not sure what these lessons will mean when I'm on the lake, but they were fun.

Give it a try. You can't ice fish all the time can you?

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/julaug06/minnows.html

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/cyprinidae.html

[Kilmo11]

i have never had any luck with them, it is very intersting that some of you guys prefer them. i might have to give them a second chance next time i have some in the minnow bucket

[minnow man]

Another overlooked minnow that sometimes realy works is the central mudminnow most bait dealers throw them out but sometimes the'll outfish a sucker or shiner. The're ugly so people dont seem to like them much,you'l have to ask for them. Good things come to those who bait

[sjburnt]

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