where can i catch minnows in the valley

[fearfish]

where can get bigger sized minnows in the vally
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[GEEZER]

TubeDude most likely caught 'em all. 'Ceptin a few he left for seed.
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[fearfish]

Haha well I just need a few dang it
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I not only didn't catch them all...I didn't catch any yet this year in my usual spots. Combination of low water, predation by cormorants and pelicans and heavy harvest by hordes of new minnow chasers has totally depleted my sources.

I have been trying to get up to Deer Valley to try the ponds up there again. It's off and on there but some years there are lots of minnows and other years there are only a few big ones...or hordes of inch-longs.

And for the last two years the drain channels at the Farmington Refuge have been non-productive as well. Thankfully I have been developing my use of Gulp minnows.

Within the next few weeks there should be hordes of baby carp from this year's spawn showing up in some places. Look in protected eddies along the Jordan or right off the ramps at Willard and Utah Lake. But if you use a cast net or minnow traps be sure you don't catch and keep any "protected" species.
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[SkunkedAgain]

There are lots of them coming out of the spawn grounds this morning but the weeds are so thick I don't think a casting net will work. Find a shallow slough and watch for the little fellers jumping and dimpling the surface. I just don't know how to catch them where they are at. They also may be too small for my net still. Good luck. J
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[RonPaulFan]

Responding to:
[quote SkunkedAgain]... the weeds are so thick I don't think a casting net will work. Find a shallow slough and watch for the little fellers jumping and dimpling the surface. I just don't know how to catch them where they are at. They also may be too small for my net still. Good luck. J[/quote]

I'm wondering if a solution might be to modify a casting net with a hoop to hold it open and lower it onto the weeds with a long strong pole. My surf casting rod could handle this. Then when the minnows school over the net, simply lift up and rest the rod on a forked stick and tilt the net for the weight of the minnows gathered in the middle to slide over to be scooped out with the ones to be released remaining to be quickly put back with the net ready for the next catch.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Ron that may work in the right spot, but Cutler is too murky to see the fish so it wouldn't work very well here. Thanks for the suggestion. J
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[RonPaulFan]

If water clarity is insufficient for that even watching "the little fellers jumping and dimpling the surface," then there's the minnow traps. From a preparedness perspective, traps generally are productive and useful when there is so much to be done that there isn't leisure time for netting, so I tend to favor the minnow trap in concept.

But, I've seen minnow traps used and have never seen one fill up with minnows.

What performance have others here noticed with minnow traps? Are some designs substantially more productive in actually catching minnows?

Tube Dude has used them and painted them. Here's recent discussion I remember on casting nets including some on traps:

http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gfo...nt;#898890

Crawfish traps are productive and crawfish are good bait. I've been successful catching large bass with realistic crawfish lures and noticed crawfish in the stomachs of many bass.

But, this minnow question is a good question for our group. Since murky water shouldn't inhibit baited traps from working, I wonder if there is a type that performs better than the ones I've seen surrounded with minnows yet only having a few if any actually trapped.

My guess, if I were to design my own minnow trap, would be to make it's entry huge and on the surface because that's where I see the minnows swimming. But, that gets us back to a suspended hoop net just below the surface. I suppose if it's somehow automated, then it becomes a trap. Maybe it can be rimmed with one way bristles that are like swimming through blades of grass swimming in yet not yielding to attempts by the minnows to swim out.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Sorry Bro, but your input is largely the suppositions of someone who is mostly inexperienced at catching Utah Minnows. Making a minnow trap with an opening on the surface would get you very few minnows. Most of the time they are in deeper water and near the bottom. And if the water is murky you have no way of knowing where they are or how deep they are. AND YOU CAN'T CATCH THEM WHERE THEY AIN'T.

There are not many places where you can drive up and see the minnows you will be trying to catch. The ones mentioned are the tiny carp fry from this year's spawn...far too small for most cast nets and/or minnow traps. Only a very fine meshed dip net would catch many. But as they get bigger they disperse to other places and eventually form schools of larger fry that ARE good targets for nets and traps...usually by late summer or early fall.

Not only is proper trap placement important but so is bait. In most cases a few pieces of crumbled up bread will suffice. But some minnows seem to respond better to having some dry dog or cat food in with the bread crumbs...additional scent and nutritional goodies. I have seen it make all the difference in the world on some trips...and not worth the effort on others.
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[RonPaulFan]

Thanks, Tube Dude, for experienced based information as opposed to my guesses and questions and that's also why I linked to your previous posts.

Thanks for your distinction regarding carp fry, so they are not the tiny fish I often see at the surface that are often called minnows that I suspect don't become big fish like carp. Do those have any usefulness as bait and should they ever be caught for bait? Perhaps it's a moot point to figure out how to trap those.

I'm glad to read your posts on catching carp fry that are useful as bait. Do you ever see them on fish finders?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]The annual spawn for most species is just finishing up. The newly hatched fry of many species relies on small aquatic goodies...like zooplankton and insect larvae...to be able to grow to larger sizes. And when there is an early morning bug hatch there can be several different types of small fry feeding on bitty bites floating on the surface. However, that usually lasts only a short time...until the sun gets bright, the breezes kick up or watercraft begin to put a chop on the water.

Howsomever, there are mosquito fish (gambusia) planted in a lot of our waters to eat mosquito larvae. They seldom exceed 1 -2 inches in length and are sometimes mistaken for the fry of larger species. I sometimes catch a few in both my minnow traps and small mesh cast nets. They are legal to use for bait and are great for tipping jigs. Bluegill, perch, crappies and white bass love them. But they are not big enough to work as well for larger species...except when tipping ice jigs during the winter.

It is difficult to differentiate what species of fish you might be seeing on sonar...when you see a large mass of small fish on the screen. But based upon what species are in the lake and your own personal experience you can usually make an educated guess...perch fry, shad fry, etc. Carp fry, on the other hand, usually swim in shallower water and near the bottom. It would be rare to be able to see and identify them as such on sonar.

Finding, intercepting and catching carp fry is a luck of the draw situation. It involves much searching along the shorelines of carp spawning waters and a lot of minnow trap casting...or cast net throwing. But if the water is murky and/or you do not know what is on the bottom you can lose baskets or cast nets on rocks, stumps or other immobile bottom denizens.

Some of my best baby carp catches have come from having a long handled dip net and hunting down cruising schools of carplets that made themselves visible along a shoreline. On a couple of other occasions I got two quick baskets full of wiggling carplets in quick succession and then nothing for the rest of the day. They move around a lot...looking for food, cover and better temperatures. Good guessing and good luck are major parts of the equation.

Carp begin spawning as early as mid April...in parts of a lake that warm above 65 degrees earlier than others. But they may spawn over a period as long as 2 months in Utah Lake...depending on daytime average water temps, weather fronts and other factors. And in lakes at higher altitudes and colder waters they may begin spawning weeks later than in the lower level lakes.

In Utah Lake and some other waters of protracted spawning activity, this can result in carp fry of widely different sizes in the same school by late summer or early fall. (see attached pics) They do grow fast and most of those spawned early are about 6 inches by winter...too large to eat for all but the biggest walleye, cats and pike. That's why it is a good idea to harvest as many as you can during the time they are ideal bait size...3 - 4 inches...and then freeze them up in trip-size bags for later use.
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[snoopypole]

Twin Lakes and Lake Mary, each about a 30 minute hike from the parking lot at Brighton, both have lots of visible red sided minnows in the rocks along the shore. Seems like it would be a good place to try.
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