Grantsville minnow run 11/13/08

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
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:sunglasses:Made a “speed run” to Grantsville with Waljustia yesterday, to check out the carp minnow situation. Thought I would do a pictorial and include my new PDF instructional on freezing minnows in water.

Got to the (low water) lake about 2 PM. Hit the south ramp area. Immediately saw large dark masses of minnows in the shallows. Almost every toss of the cast net produced hundreds of “Grantsville grayling” (carp minnows). Didn’t take long to acquire more than Dave and I wanted to package and freeze.

Dave made a few casts with a variety of lures, and soaked a minnow on a jig under a bobber, but did not get any inquiries. One of the locals fishing there did score a feisty rainbow on one of the minnows we gave him.

Drove around to the north side of the lake, where Dave made a few more casts…with no results. As we were getting ready to head back to the big city, we met ratstar driving out from where he had been fishing. He had scored a nice 21 inch brown and was on his way to the hospital to get the grin surgically removed from his kisser. Neither of us introduced ourselves so neither of us knew who we were talking to. No excuse for that.

The bank tangler local we talked to at the ramp said that this is the first year he has seen the carp minnows swarm like that in the shallows. He said there are more big carp now and he is sure that is the reason. He was happy to see us harvest a bunch of the bitty bites.

He also said that there have been quite a few browns coming out of the lake recently, with one group from West Valley City bagging 3 good sized ones last week, along with a bunch of rainbows.

I’m tired of bagging carp minnows, but look forward to introducing them to big fishies in several ponds over the next year.

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Nice haul Pat. What has been your experience catching-wise of using carp minnows vs using Utah chubs for bait?

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I thought when you mentioned you did alot of float tubing but I didnt want to look like a jackass asking you! Good to meet you guys. Next time you come out let me know!

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Nice haul Pat. What has been your experience catching-wise of using carp minnows vs using Utah chubs for bait?

:sunglasses:I have never conducted a side by side test. But, in the “olden days”, carp minnows were a lot more available to me and that is what I used most. Got lots of fish of several species on them.

In talking with DWR biologists, I was reminded that both carp and chubs are “cyprinids”…members of the same family of minnows. As such, they put out very similar scents and are usually accepted equally…especially when carp are in the “minnow” stage.

I know that a strip of properly prepared and fairly fresh carp meat will catch a lot of different species too. I have tipped jigs with carp “nuggets” for perch, trout, white bass, walleye and OF COURSE catfish. And, while dragging strips of carp meat for catfish, I have taken walleyes, white bass and wipers on it.

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One thing is for sure, carp are the most durable.

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Thanks again Pat. This was a good trip. Fun to see the minnows in there as thick as they were. For those interested, the locals said that they start to stack up in the after noon and get thicker as the afternoon moves into the later hours.

They are on the South side ramp. We didn’t really see them stacking up anywhere else.

I thought it was funny, the fisherman there on the side with us said he was happy to see us taking them out.. then asked “But, what you gonna do with all them minnows?”[sly]
Guy obviously has no idea how many fish TD gets a year on minnows and how well they store.

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:sunglasses:Yeah, that was a bodacious haul of minnows. I got over 90 “trip bags” out of what I kept. Should last me until January.

Don’t know if you heard what else the “local” said about the minnows. He was just politely inquiring about our uses for them because he heard another guy saying he was getting a bunch to feed his chickens. We wondered if maybe we had some outlandish plan for them. I don’t think he bought my statement that “I’m gonna make spaghetti out of them.”

Now we gotta go feed them carplets to some bigger fishies.

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I don’t do any tubing (except my maiden trip this year). Any chance you meant to reply to TubeDude?

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I took the pointers you guys posted and hit the south ramp at Grantsville. This was my first time throwing a net, so it took me a lot more throws than you. I only stayed about 45 minutes but brought home 19 “trip” bags. Thanks for all your posts.

Had the south ramp to myself except a young girl and her grandma. They had one 13" rainbow on a stringer. The little girl asked what I used the minnows for and after telling her how to use them I gave her 15-20 of them. Her grandma came down by the water to fill a little butter cup with water and as I turned to walk away SPLASH. I turned back and she was head first in the lake. I ran over and picked her up, felt good to leave work early because I don’t believe the granddaughter could have picked her up.She seemed a little shaken up but said she wasn’t hurt.[angelic] I believe I should have a good year on the ice now :slight_smile: free minnows and a good deed, made my day.

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How do you get to this nirvana of minnow heaven ?? Directions please !!!

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take the I-80 West to the Tooele off ramp head South towards Tooele when you come to SR-138 turn right this will turn into main street at grantsville drive thru grantsville until you come to West ST. ( 400 west ) and turn left stay on this road about 4 miles and you will see the dike for grantsville res on your right turn onto the paved road and follow to the reservoir.

[left] I don’t have the time to make it out there so if anybody would care to share the wealth I will give you some gas money for some carp minnows. I have a minnow trap that I would let somebody use for trade of minnows.
[/left]

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TD -

I tried to do my own homework here, but in the most-excellent Minnow[/u] tome, there isn’t a mention of the size of the cast net you’re throwin (p 4). Perhaps that info will be in the Anniversary Edition, and I’ll be lucky enuff to a score a signed copy during the book tour, but in the meantime…

I’m betting a 6’ diameter? And if so, where to purchase? SW didn’t have any the other nite. Or did I overlook them?

Ahhh, this brings back childhood memories of barefoot days on sunny Florida beaches throwin the net for mullet.
Makes me darn near lachrymose enuff to offer up to write the prologue for the book.

We could make millions…

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:sunglasses:Utah regs limit net size to 10’ diameter. That is the size I use. You can buy inexpensive (cheap) cast nets at many locations, but the smallest mesh size most commonly available is 3/8". That will suffice for the larger minnows but you will lose many of the smaller ones. Either that or they will get “gilled” in the net and you have to waste time extracting them in order to get a good spread on your next throw.

I use a quality monofilament net with 1/4" mesh. I think I got it from Cabelas, online. I also think it was about $90. But, in terms of the extra minnows…including many of the trout-preferred smaller ones…I have more than got my money’s worth.

I have also spent time on the beach, netting mullet for bait…but mostly in Mexico. Never can tell what you might get in your throw in Florida…or on some beaches in California.

Can’t help you with the teary eyes. Stay out of the bad air during temperature inversions…and call Lady D to cheer you up.

The minnow “book” will be undergoing a rewrite…with pics…sometime early next year. No prologue necessary. Maybe an “amateurlogue”…or a “semi-proficientlogue”

If you get a good net, let me know and I will show you a quick and easy way to toss one of those things without having to hold any of it in your mouth. Yuck. Unsanitary. Of course, so are a lot of other things we put in our mouths…unlike fine highlands nectar.

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Utah regs limit net size to 10’ diameter. That is the size I use.

A 10’ net??? Wow, that’s a pretty big net. Apparently the old dog can still hunt. [;)]

I use a quality monofilament net with 1/4" mesh. I think I got it from Cabelas, online.

Yep, Cabelas got em’. Too bad the text description says 1/4 but the table description’s got it at 3/8. Oy, more homework.

Never can tell what you might get in your throw in Florida.

I could, but then I’d have to kill you.

call Lady D to cheer you up.

“Up” would be the right word…[:p]

The minnow “book” will be undergoing a rewrite…with pics…sometime early next year. No prologue necessary. Maybe an “amateurlogue”…or a “semi-proficientlogue”

That’s pretty snappy. I walked right into that one. But now I’m gonna use it and say I thunk it up all by my lonesome.

If you get a good net, let me know and I will show you a quick and easy way to toss one of those things without having to hold any of it in your mouth. Yuck. Unsanitary. Of course, so are a lot of other things we put in our mouths…unlike fine highlands nectar.

If my dimming memories still serve me, I would double it up on my forearm. But a Grantsville run for us could be in order. Problem is, I may not be doing this until after hardwater sets in. And since I pride myself on bein one of the sharper knives in the drawer, I’ve already figured out that throwin the net onto hardwater would severely limit a successful haul? Yes? No? (I know, I know, pretty impressive reasoning skills.)

unlike fine highlands nectar.

Tween this and the Lady Di reference, now fer sure I’m feelin downright lachrymose. You remember our conversations. And here I was thinking I wuz just another “reply” amongst an indiscriminate many…

Tell ya what, if we do this, I’ll bring the highlands nectar, but you gotta bring the Margie-Ritas, whoever they are.

Thx for the quick reply, TD. You threw me a curve on net size, and I had completely forgotten about mesh size. I’ve gotta return to do at Cabelas anyway; this’ll give me the push I need to drive down there.

tg :sunglasses:

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:sunglasses:A couple of points of clarification:

1. A 10 foot net is one that is 5’ in radius. I think that is how most purveyors list/sell them.

2. At last check, Cabelas only stocks 3/8" mesh nets…when they have them in stock at all. You will most likely have to order online to get the 1/4" mesh.

Okay. You bring your Scottish Koolaid and I will bring my Mexican lemonade.

Right you are. Throwing a cast net on the ice may be good practice…for learning to throw. But, the results may not be quite as good as when the water softens a tad. Kinda like trolling off the back of a snowmobile.

My method for tossing the ten footer requires only that you grip it about two feet down, pull up one edge and hold another edge with the other hand. A simple swinging throw usually gets a good spread on the net. But, too much Koolaid or lemonade could greatly reduce the efficiency.

By the way, I have a GRUNDLE of carp minnows from my run…plus a lot of '08 chubs still left. PM me if you wanna play “Let’s Make a Deal”.

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Ha you pansies and your throw nets!

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Ha you pansies and your throw nets!

:sunglasses:Sorry, but blue is not a good color on me…especially my feet. You go right ahead and keep wading in bare feet…with your wimpy whiffle net…and we will come chisel you out of the ice.

Pansies? At least that is not “skunk cabbage”.

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That is quite a haul Pat, how many carplets are you putting in each “Trip Bag”? Do you think a cisco net with a 10ft handle would get me close enough to get a few[;)].

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That is quite a haul Pat, how many carplets are you putting in each “Trip Bag”? Do you think a cisco net with a 10ft handle would get me close enough to get a few[;)].

:sunglasses:The little carpies swarm in dense schools, into water right up against the shoreline rocks, so the cisco net should be an ideal harvesting tool. They were actually too close to make a good throw sometimes and part of the cast net would still be up on shore. Some of the schools would gather among larger rocks, where I could not throw the cast net without fear of snagging the weights. The cisco dipper would have worked a lot better. I was wishing I had brought mine.

**I vary the numbers I put into bags according to the graded size of the minnows and what kind of fishing I plan for them. The larger ones…up to six inches…take more room in the bag so I only put about a half dozen in a bag. The 3" and 4" size are the ones I use mostly for Utah Lake and Willard…for cats, wipers and walleyes. A “long dozen”…14 to 16 minnows…is usually enough to get a limit, even if you donate a few to sneaky biters or snags. But, I almost always take one extra bag to split between TubeBabe and me if the bite is good or we are bad at hooking fish. **

**There are usually a lot of smaller minnows in the haul…the 2"-3" size. I use these for ice fishing and for perch, white bass and trout during open water conditions. Ideal for tipping jigs for big trout…whole or half. Typically you go through a lot more when fishing for active schooling fish so I put more in the bag…up to a couple of dozen. I just grab a couple of handfuls and stuff them in. I don’t get “retentive” about it. **

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A dipper net should be fine to catch them.