what kind of minnow is this?

[cvanderweyst]

I noticed this strange minnow in with the bait I purchased the past weekend. I tried it and caught a 20" walleye, but it was the only minnow like it in my bucket. The I baught more minnows and got one more of the mystery minnows. I have been doing some research and the only thing it resembles is a rainbow darter, but it has one less dorsal fin than the rainbow darter. It has a rounded tail instead of a forked tail like most minnows.

Any help would be appreciated in identifying this creature.

[croixeyes]

Thats a mudminnow

[fishwater]

Good call croixeyes. I get those in my traps all the time, some of them over 4". I finally found out the name when I visited the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth this Fall with my daughter.

Rainbow darter was my first suspect as well, thought the murky water from the ponds at our place caused the brilliant colors to get all muddy.

[zamboni]

I don't know, but if you are catching the heck out of the walleyes on them, I want a whole bucket full.

[cvanderweyst]

anybody else tried fishing with them?

[croixeyes]

We use to pick them out of the fatheads, in the tanks of the baitshop in Stillwater.They work very well...

[cvanderweyst]

I was using about a 4-5 incher and the walleye hit it like a northern. I usually let them run with a large minnow till they stop and choke it down but this fish wasnt stopping, it took about half the line off my rattle reel in no time.

[Pleasant]

used to fish with a guy that got them from bait guys for practically nothing, pinched the heads off and used them for jigging for walleyes.. he always got some nice fish.

[hhguide]

Cvanderweyst, there are a few other minnows that work well around our area like that I call them Slicks! do you get it from christophersons?

[Twins 57 Fan]

Amazing. We throw those out of the bucket because we never do well on them. Is this a joke?

[meatfish]

treat these as if they where your children and save them for your rattle reel for the over night!

[erickol]

central mudminnow. I picked one out of a scoop once and put it in the aquarium. makes a good tank fish in addition to bait.

[livintofish]

Umbra limi or the central mudminnow as stated. They will do just fine as bait and are native to most waters in Minnesota. They are a known perfered diet for many species as they generally live in shallow areas and have a high tolerance for turbidity.

[snoozebutton]

We used to get a lot of those when we trapped minnows but they never seemed to work too well. Called them croakers because they'd make a kind of croaking sound when you threw them on the ice.

[Tullibee]

Mud Minnows have always worked very well on walleyes for me. No Joke.

[meatfish]

Great for over night shallow bite.Wish I could find a bunch of them!I can't think of a time when they did not do their job!

[Heartman]

I remember Jim Keuten from Jim's Bait here in Duluth swearing by the mud minnows. He loved them - the walleyes loved 'em, and they stayed alive and frisky on a guys hook forever, it seemed.

Ah, the good ol' days at Jim's Bait. Coffee and limits daily...

[mrklean]

i tried them before when i would get a few with my fatheads, never had any luck with them. Must be doing something wrong everyone else is catching eyes with them

[PDOGG]

A buddy and I were on an 'eye bite a couple years back were mudminnows were all the fish would hit!!! So we went back to gander mountain that night and cleaned all there tanks of them and they didn't charge us a dime. Pretty cool!

[Tullibee]

I have heard of bait shops giving them away as well. I would take every last one.

[cvanderweyst]

drake- I got them in with the pike minnows at Fleet farm C-store. They are definately lively and they dont die as easy.