09-22-2022, 11:58 AM
So I've been trying to find my fall supply of carp minnows with very little luck this year, but I've been picking up spot tail shiners every trip, not very many, but four to eight per trip... Really funny to me that I have never seen these before this year, and now they seem to be the most plentiful bait fish in my cast net ventures... I'm almost to start keeping them instead or returning them hoping they will reproduce, I think after 4 trips showing shiners, there may be enough to keep some for bait... Has anyone ever froze them? If so how well do they keep? Are they worth trying to freeze as bait for later in the year? I know the fatheads get really mushy and don't stay on the hook very well, so if the shiners don't keep well, I won't target them... but I was just wondering while I'm waiting to find the carplets.... Hoping the cooler temps will start to move the carplets into an area that I can use my cast net without snagging up...
This last year I really used a lot of my carplets for the cats all season, where past years I didn't do very well with them, this year they have seemed to work fairly well all year... I might have done better with carp fillets, but I haven't caught any carp to fillet, like most years... I haven't even seen that many carp cruising the surface this year, so I don't think a bow would have helped my bait situation... I've heard that the white bass are scarce for Utah Lake this year, and I've noticed it's harder for me to find good bait as well up north... What to do????? Night crawlers work pretty well when I can find them, but dry conditions has made them hard to find unless I check my fields after I irrigate... Oh well if I was fishing more often I'd probably found a bait solution, but hopefully fall will be better on the fishing trips, so I better get my bait figured out soon... Later J
This last year I really used a lot of my carplets for the cats all season, where past years I didn't do very well with them, this year they have seemed to work fairly well all year... I might have done better with carp fillets, but I haven't caught any carp to fillet, like most years... I haven't even seen that many carp cruising the surface this year, so I don't think a bow would have helped my bait situation... I've heard that the white bass are scarce for Utah Lake this year, and I've noticed it's harder for me to find good bait as well up north... What to do????? Night crawlers work pretty well when I can find them, but dry conditions has made them hard to find unless I check my fields after I irrigate... Oh well if I was fishing more often I'd probably found a bait solution, but hopefully fall will be better on the fishing trips, so I better get my bait figured out soon... Later J
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!