08-05-2017, 07:03 PM
[#0000FF]Having a cast net will give you a lot of options you can't get by occasionally buying a package of whatever they have at Sportsmans.
Whenever I get home from a minnow catching excursion, the first thing I do is sort them and freeze them by size. I keep the very smallest...2" or smaller...to use for tipping jigs or ice fishing. Then I package them up in sizes roughly 2-3 inches, 4-5 inches, 6-7 inches...and larger...in trip sized packs.
I do use the larger chubs...like those from Scofield. But I seldom use them much until later in the year...or for big cattin' night trips. Even then I am more likely to cut them into two or three pieces rather than fishing them whole. But I have caught some big fish on whole large chubs. Although it pays to rig a double hook "stinger" rig if you are fishing those big ones.
Earlier in the year I start with small 2-3" minnows...about the size the fish will be feeding on from the most recent spawn and hatch. But I will also usually take along a package of 4-5" minnows...for larger fish that want bigger meals.
I don't have any hard and fast generalizations. I believe in offering the fish a variety of options and letting them tell me what they want. I have caught some of my best minnow munchers on small sized minnows...and I have caught cats and bullheads that were not much bigger than the baits they chomped.
Late fall minnowing at Willard usually sees me fishing small minnows again...under 3". These work best when late hatching shad are too small too make the food transition from zooplankton to other foods and the zooplankton start thinning out in the colder water of fall. The smallest shad die off and the predators are used to finding dead ones to dine on. One thing that helps is to rig those small minnows on a dropshot rig...about 18" to 24" off the bottom.
Most of the time I drag a minnow slowly behind my tube...without any weight other than the hook and an inline barrel swivel about 2' above the leader. I fish with an open bail and let takers take the bait a ways before setting the hook. But I also play around a lot with slip bobber rigs. Cats will come a long ways up off the bottom to hit a suspended minnow. Walleyes often will not pick up a minnow on the bottom but will more readily accept one hanging just above them.
Lots of variables in the sizes, styles and rigging of hooks. I keep messin' with new setups all the time.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Whenever I get home from a minnow catching excursion, the first thing I do is sort them and freeze them by size. I keep the very smallest...2" or smaller...to use for tipping jigs or ice fishing. Then I package them up in sizes roughly 2-3 inches, 4-5 inches, 6-7 inches...and larger...in trip sized packs.
I do use the larger chubs...like those from Scofield. But I seldom use them much until later in the year...or for big cattin' night trips. Even then I am more likely to cut them into two or three pieces rather than fishing them whole. But I have caught some big fish on whole large chubs. Although it pays to rig a double hook "stinger" rig if you are fishing those big ones.
Earlier in the year I start with small 2-3" minnows...about the size the fish will be feeding on from the most recent spawn and hatch. But I will also usually take along a package of 4-5" minnows...for larger fish that want bigger meals.
I don't have any hard and fast generalizations. I believe in offering the fish a variety of options and letting them tell me what they want. I have caught some of my best minnow munchers on small sized minnows...and I have caught cats and bullheads that were not much bigger than the baits they chomped.
Late fall minnowing at Willard usually sees me fishing small minnows again...under 3". These work best when late hatching shad are too small too make the food transition from zooplankton to other foods and the zooplankton start thinning out in the colder water of fall. The smallest shad die off and the predators are used to finding dead ones to dine on. One thing that helps is to rig those small minnows on a dropshot rig...about 18" to 24" off the bottom.
Most of the time I drag a minnow slowly behind my tube...without any weight other than the hook and an inline barrel swivel about 2' above the leader. I fish with an open bail and let takers take the bait a ways before setting the hook. But I also play around a lot with slip bobber rigs. Cats will come a long ways up off the bottom to hit a suspended minnow. Walleyes often will not pick up a minnow on the bottom but will more readily accept one hanging just above them.
Lots of variables in the sizes, styles and rigging of hooks. I keep messin' with new setups all the time.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]