03-07-2003, 07:02 PM
[cool]You can catch minnows this time of year, if you find where they are. Look for small ponds and creeks not overly populated with predator species. Lots of farm ponds around the central part of the state (SanPete) that are full of chubs. Used to be areas with lots of chubs and sucker minnows along the Sevier, below Yuba too.
I haven't checked for a few years, but the Strawberry, below Starvation used to be full of chubs too. I would stop there with a small hook and piece of worm or doughball and fill a cooler full of hefty chubs. Small to medium sized ones would be fished whole. Larger ones got filleted or chunked. A small piece of chub meat on a "bait bug" gets a lot of votes from hungry fishies. Whole big chubs have taken some hefty cats from Utah Lake and Willard. Cutler and the Bear River too.
You won't find concentrations of minnows whereever there are lots of bass, walleyes or other minnow-eating predators. Browns are also efficient at keeping stream populations of minnows down. Lots of browns usually mean few minnows.
It is legal and popular to harvest the minnows around the docks at the Berry. Kill them and cast them fresh for best results. However, you can freeze them for later use too...but the fresher the better.
Another good source of minnows for the freezer are baby carp. Usually June is a good month to walk the banks of the lower Provo, looking for big schools of baby carp...a month or so after the spawn. Use dip nets or cast nets to gather as many as you can. Freeze them in small plastic bags,with a bit of water, removing all the air to minimize freezer damage. Thaw them in the refrigerator for a day or two before you go fishing. Thawed baby carp in the fall will slay the monsters of Utah Lake during the fall feeding binge.
I have never done well with the bottled minnows. Probably because self respecting fish don't like the liquids used to preserve them. But, I have used freeze dried minnows. You can buy packages of them and store them at room temperature. Simply follow the directions on the package to rehydrate them before a trip. I also like to dose them up with some salt and some shad oil, for extra flavoring. They are much tougher, but more effective than bottled. A lot of midwestern ice fishermen fish with freeze dried minnows all winter and do very well with them for perch and walleye.
Hope this helps.
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I haven't checked for a few years, but the Strawberry, below Starvation used to be full of chubs too. I would stop there with a small hook and piece of worm or doughball and fill a cooler full of hefty chubs. Small to medium sized ones would be fished whole. Larger ones got filleted or chunked. A small piece of chub meat on a "bait bug" gets a lot of votes from hungry fishies. Whole big chubs have taken some hefty cats from Utah Lake and Willard. Cutler and the Bear River too.
You won't find concentrations of minnows whereever there are lots of bass, walleyes or other minnow-eating predators. Browns are also efficient at keeping stream populations of minnows down. Lots of browns usually mean few minnows.
It is legal and popular to harvest the minnows around the docks at the Berry. Kill them and cast them fresh for best results. However, you can freeze them for later use too...but the fresher the better.
Another good source of minnows for the freezer are baby carp. Usually June is a good month to walk the banks of the lower Provo, looking for big schools of baby carp...a month or so after the spawn. Use dip nets or cast nets to gather as many as you can. Freeze them in small plastic bags,with a bit of water, removing all the air to minimize freezer damage. Thaw them in the refrigerator for a day or two before you go fishing. Thawed baby carp in the fall will slay the monsters of Utah Lake during the fall feeding binge.
I have never done well with the bottled minnows. Probably because self respecting fish don't like the liquids used to preserve them. But, I have used freeze dried minnows. You can buy packages of them and store them at room temperature. Simply follow the directions on the package to rehydrate them before a trip. I also like to dose them up with some salt and some shad oil, for extra flavoring. They are much tougher, but more effective than bottled. A lot of midwestern ice fishermen fish with freeze dried minnows all winter and do very well with them for perch and walleye.
Hope this helps.
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