When I was a kid, I think we used bread as bait, but also rememeber punching holes in a can of mackeral. What bait should I use for small shiners? Will bread work?

Dont know where I'd ask all these dumb questions without s-b.com :tm:

My neighbor uses dry cat food for shiners

when i used to have minnow traps under my dads boat i tried a bunch of different baits like bread and clams and stuff.... but i found that the best bait is nothing at all, the traps would be loaded with bait fish if i just left them empty..... give it a try

I used to use cat food as well, not the dry type though. I would punch holes in the top of the can (small holes),, (Favorite Flavour - tuna/mackeral in OIL, stay away from the meats obviously)...shake the minnow trap to release some more flavour, you can also see how many you have (roughly) when you shake or move the trap. You'll see the silver in their sides. Use plastic zip ties to keep the can centered. I've also used onion bags w/zip ties to keep the bait centralized. Any old bait will help (Pogies/Squid/Mackerel/etc). Bread also worked well...then again so did potato chips

And yes, I've also caught them with an empty cat food can still in the trap. Don't over-bait the trap or they'll just swim above it and enjoy the floating buffet.

Once I graduted to the "Ring Net" it was all over. From Silversides to MummyChogs....Shrimp to Butterfish, It was a blast catching bait when I was chasing every and any species.

Why did I have to get bit by the Striper Bug??? :behead:

I used doritos when I was a kid, caught shiners and crayfish

I use stale bread

I,m doing great with ZERO bait >>> getting enough to throw a bunch back after every trip ><><:tm:

I think they think they are getting into protective cover....which they are :uhuh: then off to the baitbucket or livewell.

thanks again everyone.
I've got some stale bread and some freeze dried old eels. Ill try both.

Going fluking?
shoot me a PM

no, actually was going to get small some shiners for snappers. I usually use a small Phoebe lure, but the kids cant really cast so I figured I'd bait hooks with small shiners.

thanks again everyone.
I've got some stale bread and some freeze dried old eels. Ill try both.

Your trap will be PACKED with that combo.:cheers:

My 11 year old has been minnowing in Bass River the past five days used one of my small frozen squid and taking about 20-30 chubs and shiners out of the trap twice a day. The shiners don't last long, but make great food for the green crabs she was also trapping in her crab trap.

I used to net my own bait a lot as a kid. I found that the best bait for spearing was sardines. I would buy the cheapest can of sardines I could find at the supermarket and smear a little in the meshes of the net. When I used bread, all I would get is killies and grass shrimp.

I used some moldy nasty bread this weekend and I was loaded up with silversides in about 5 minutes.

they may have voluntarily got in the trap to avoid the millions of snappers trying to eat them!