Question

patjava30

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2015
29
0
1
Upstate New York
how does everyone feel about getting minnows/small fish for a tank from a bait shop? I have a local family owned long running bait shop that my dad and j have used for fishing bait for years. I thought I could get some smaller stock fish for my tank so there are some smaller fish and hen larger fish. I'll quarnteen them first for sure, what do you think?
 

xraycer

Arapaima
MFK Member
Sep 5, 2013
5,383
2,571
203
Southern NH USA
Sure, you can do that, but why not just buy a $10 minnow trap from Amazon or Walmart and catch wild ones for yourself. Very easy to do, all you need is some bread. You can even score tiny sunfish and bass with these traps.
 

patjava30

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2015
29
0
1
Upstate New York
Sure, you can do that, but why not just buy a $10 minnow trap from Amazon or Walmart and catch wild ones for yourself. Very easy to do, all you need is some bread. You can even score tiny sunfish and bass with these traps.
That's my plan for bigger sunfish/rock bass. I don't know what kind of minnows are in local lakes though...
 

xraycer

Arapaima
MFK Member
Sep 5, 2013
5,383
2,571
203
Southern NH USA
I don't know what kind of minnows are in local lakes though...
You should be able to access the NY state fish and game website and get some sort of a listing on the different fish species in NY, or get pictures and post on MFK to see if members here can ID them.
 

Anders247

Exodon
MFK Member
Apr 9, 2015
106
12
23
Maw Installation
They're mostly fatheads.
 

Oddball

Administrator
Staff member
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Apr 27, 2005
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Bama
The shiners from the bait shops in the south can reach a foot in length. These do well in aquariums. The groups I've kept as dithers/snacks with my FRTs have spawned in the turtle tanks on numerous occassions..
 
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divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
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Pittsburgh, PA
I've had bad experiences with minnows from bait stores. IME just catch some wild ones and they'll live longer and healthier.
 
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