Catching Bait

stripeman 103 said:

Put a piece of bread or gum in the trap. You can also try chicken to I heard it works rather well.

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Ive got 50 small chubs in my tank that I caught the other day doing this. Put in a couple pieces of bread and find a deep hole in a creek you know has baitfish in it, around my parts its mostly all chubs. Try to find a hole that has an overhanging tree on the side, there'd be an undercut under the tree, and the minnows are all up in it. Set it at night and check it the next day, should have yourself enough bait for awhile.

Im planning on doing the exact same thing youre doing, vertical jigging these small chubs in the deepwaters, except im trying to get on marsh creek for jumbo perch and crappies, with an outside shot at walleye. If you need a buddy to do this, let me know! I dont have a canoe and have been trying to find one for the past couple weeks. Id be down for nockamixon, though I dont know how successful youd be at galena. I ice fished the deepwaters at marsh creek (50-60 FOW) last winter, but never got safe ice on that part of the lake this year and its been killing me. Last year had some decent perch and lots of crappies through the ice. Saw a 27" eye caught as well... got it all planned out, just need a boat! this year got a 30" musky through the ice, but this was in 30' depths.

BigBass33 said:

Hey Guys,

I got a nice mesh like minnow trap on my last trip to Cabelas. I'd like to catch shiners, creek chubs, crayfish, small bullheads and sunnies and whatever else will swim in and use them on the lakes. Any suggestions/tips on the best way to do this? What about locations? Best bait to use? Daytime, nighttime?

Also, I plan on jiggin with these livebaits on Lake Galena and Lake Nockamixon in the deepwater in my canoe. Here's what I'm thinking:

30" floro rig with a jig on the end (maybe a rubber jig or swimbait) with a dropper loop about 12-18" up the line from the jig. I'd attach a 12-18" leader to the dropper loop and put livebait on it (something I mentioned above or maybe I big nightcrawler) and vertical jigging.

What do you guys think? Should I bag the jig on the bottom and just use a weight? Is there a better wait to do this?

I will be targeting bass and walleye with this rig, with hopefully a shot at a striper, musky, or big cat.

Thanks guys

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I've always used bread in minnow traps, nothing else.

For walleye, a minnow tipped jig bounced along the bottom is a killer. Nothing fancy, don't need any special rig. Most important is finding the fish and the season and bottom makeup will dictate that. More often than not you'll find them on rocky points but you can also catch them in weeds, even shallow if the weeds are heavy enough to afford cover. I spent years catching them in Lake Erie just outside of Presque Isle Bay in less than 10' of water that was gin clear because of the zebra mussels, the key was heavy weeds. Lots of guys would run offshore to deep water and use downriggers because they didn't realize there was a shallow water fishery for them. I spent my time fishing within a mile of shore and did just fine. However, they're low light predators, fish between late afternoon and early morning for your best shot. Cloudy days help. Spring and fall are best. Don't overlook nightcrawlers for walleye, another great bait. Tip a jig with one or use a worm harness or a rig like an Eerie Dearie Take a look at some literature put out by InFisherman, good info there.
Mike

BigBass33 said:

Wow thanks for the reply. So you think I should can the two hook rig?

I thought having a swimbait/jig on the bottom and a livebait trailing higher up might trigger more strikes. Also, how do I identify those ledges and rocky areas without knowing the water? (I am specifically talking about Lake Galena and Nockamixon)

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I think you should try whatever lure, combination of lures or rig comes into your head. Always be open minded and looking for different and possibly better ways to do things. A method that you try might be the ticket, the thing that works when others don't. That's why I mentioned shallow walleyes, be open to all sorts of possibilities. I mention jigs because it's one of the oldest most proven ways to catch walleyes. I'd venture to say that more walleyes have been caught on a jig than any other method, save perhaps a plain baited hook.

As for the bottom. I don't know those lakes and can't comment on them. I can say this, topography rarely makes an abrupt change beneath the surface of the water. Look at the land leading down to the water, is it gentle or steep, dirt or rock covered, bare or covered with weeds or trees, is there a creek flowing in, are two points of land meeting, is a point of land entering the water? Observation is important and often reveals what lies beneath. As well, Google those lake names and look for lake maps. If they're man made lakes, look for an old topo map, something that shows the land before the lake.

Mike