Congrats on making a good haul of minnows. If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you freeze them in packages of about a dozen. If you have a vacuum sealer, that is the best. However, if you do not, then use stout plastic (not ziplock).
First, carefully arrange the minnows so that they are straight and not bent. Add just a small amount (teaspoon or so) of water and squeeze out all of the air bubbles before twisting and rubber banding the bag. This prevents freezer burn and the minnows are “fresher” when you thaw them.
The fish species you listed all eat small minnows, and they don’t check for ID…where they came from. As long as they are dead, they are legal to use almost anywhere. One of the most effective ways to fish them is to hook them up through the head, with a size six or eight hook…depending on the size of the bait and the type fish you are going after. Do not use weight unless you have to cast farther than you can pitch the minnow without weight. Then use the lightest weight you can…or a small bubble with just enough water to allow a slow, natural sink. That is what you want…to make the fish think they are being served a minnow that has just croaked.
This works especially well in clearer waters, where trout, bass, walleye and other predators can see the sinking minnow from a distance. But, it is also effective on finicky cats, or other fish in murkier water, that would reject a bait if they felt too much resistance…like from a sinker. You can add to the finesse approach by leaving the bail open on your reel and allowing the fish to take some line before setting the hook. On some days, that will not be necessary, because the fish will gulp and go. But, on other days, they pick it up and drop it a couple of times before getting it down far enough for a good hookset.
Almost any fish flesh works for cats in Utah Lake, and your minnows should be welcomed there by everything. Whether they will work better than carp minnows, I do not know, but I would guess it should be about equal. Maybe you can take a poll (pole). I used to catch and preserve a lot of carp minnows every year and they worked gangbusters for everything in the lake, all year.
I think the time for finding the large schools of small carp minnows is well past for this year. If my memory is working correctly (not always reliable), I would say that I had my best harvests in the lower Provo and in the stickups south of the Provo River inlet from about mid June through early July. Then they scatter out into the open lake and take their chances. But, while they are bunched up in schools you can seine, scoop or cast them by the thousands. Hint, you can sometimes get a bunch by dropping a minnow trap around the docks in the harbors, baited with a piece of bread.
The larger minnows you got (I’m guessing chubs) can be fished several ways. If you want BIG cats, fish them whole. You won’t get as many bites, but the ones you get will be worthwhile. A nine inch chub is only a light snack for a twenty pound channel cat. I have found whole white bass, crappies, sunfish and even carp up to over a pound in their guts. To fish the chunks, use a larger size hook…maybe size 1 to 2/0…beak style or “octopus” style…and just wrap the hook around the spine in the middle. Better yet, try the new circle hooks…but do not strike to set the hook. Let the fish set the hook by pulling it into the corner of their mouth. That has been the subject of other threads in the past.
If I have large chubs or small suckers, I prefer to scale them, fillet them and then use the scaled (skin on) fillets either whole or cut into smaller strips. These work well by themselves or as additions to jigs, as sweetener.
I will suggest that you save some of your minnows for fishing the lower Provo in the fall. As soon as the temps start falling and the fish get more active, there are a lot of fish that leave Utah Lake and wander up the lower part of the river, resting in the deeper holes. Fishing those minnows on a weightless line is a good way to catch some big white bass, lots of cats and a few walleyes too. Early and late in the day is always best…and, of course, at night…especially during the full moon of September and October. If you do not get a pickup on the drop…or shortly thereafter…drag the head hooked minnow along the bottom periodically…or give it a little “shivver lift” once in awhile to make it look like a distressed baitfish.
Well, that’s my input. Any minner exspurts out there got any other helpful idears for JB here?