golden shiners/ smtihfeld lincoln area
 

hi guys
shouldn't be a spot burn but wondering, since i am pretty much only sweetwater with the kids this year, if anyone knows any pponds in the smithfield/lincoln/glocester area that holds goldens as the bait store is killing me...want to catch my own

thanks

jim

How big are you looking for? And how many do you plan to trap per week?

Jim,

You might try the following:

1. Locate a bunch of real small ponds in the area via google earth or the like.

2. Bring some bread crumbs for chum and fire it out, then look for dimpling on the surface from feeding activity.

3. Try small #10 or #12 hooks with earthworms for catching them or use a throw net if its legal where you are.

4. Build a holding pen as it may take several trips to accumulate enough to fish with or simply catch a few and feed them right back out there.

5. Check out the Fresh water guide to RI fishing as it may list the known fish species for the spots you're considering. Most ponds have shiners but larger ponds/lakes tend to disperse the bait and make them more difficult to locate and catch. Small farm ponds typically yield the best for me.

I've been doing the same type of fishing with my two boys and they actually enjoy hunting down the shiners and catching them as much as the actual fishing.

Jim - No humor intended, but an old aquaintance use to get his shiner supply for bass fishing at Sylvester's Pond, located opposite the fire station at the base of Cumberland Hill Rd. in Woonsocket. Most tiny ponds hold shiners - saw someone cathcing them on bread balls at Globe Parks this spring.

Little ponds like 200' x 200' are usually the best for me. They are most active dawn/dusk. Start scouting the little ponds closest to your home. Most ponds are not good shiner ponds to get a bunch real quick. Once you do find a good one do not share it with anyone! They can get cleaned out real quick.

Little hook and break or waxworms work. Use a bobber to suspend a bait but watch the bait as they bite light enough not to move the bobber.

Jim, I believe the small pond on Cooper Rd by the dry hydrant has shiners in it..(Just north of Farnum Pike)

Why not use salt water minnows? (mummies or killies) as people call em.

This is the best bait around, and free.

A minnow trap is about 10 bucks and use stale bread.

My dad did this when we were kids as we did a ton of freshwater fishing. and buying shiners would have been crazy money

They last longer, cast great, and live without water.

When we go out now, we pack em in a cooler with some ice cubes and seaweed, no net needed.

I think the salt content they put out attracts the fish too.

Just a suggestion
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The goldens I like are 8-10", so trapping them is illegal.

If it's legal in your state, try baby sunfish or yellow perch.
In Mass you can use them as bait, and since the sunnies breed like flies, and breed more than once a season you could easily find a ready supply of bait.

I catch them on a #12 hook tipped with either a piece of worm of a piece of plastic from an old crawdad lure. Both work, and you can usually pick the size before they bite.

My reason is simple: sunnies and perch are the natural food source for bass and pickerel, so presenting them in a vunerable position can trigger awesome strikes. Oh, and they stay alive longer than shiners do, particularly if they are store bought.

Just some food for thought!

x2....I had a sweet shiner pond that I thought was a secret. NOPE..the place was LOADED. I went back last Fall to stock my bait tank for the winter ice fishing season and they were GONE. Someone cleaned them out. I only took what I needed. We found someones bait trap in the brush and put 2 & 2 together.
I had a friend who trapped mummies for ice fishing...he hooked me up. They worked just as well as shiners and they were MUCH more robust. You couldn't kill these things....I had them in my tank from November till March!!! Unfortunatley we had NO ice last year.
Go down to the Kickemuit river in Bristol....there are several public boat ramps. Park, throw a Mummie trap....do some quahogging, then go back and check your trap. You'll have some mummies.