Ken Rotchill
Well-Known Member
Is there any minnows for sale anywhere ? Looking for some for Wed, morning.
minnows
- Thread starter Ken Rotchill
- Start date
Just like the fishing even the minnows are hard to get this year. Glad I got my salties. 
Any special tricks for those salties?Just like the fishing even the minnows are hard to get this year. Glad I got my salties.
I tried some little bit ago
Not much luck with them. But I guess the fish may not have been there so hard to tell!
Does it really matter what kind of salt you use?
I picked up a few bags of preserved shiners at angling sports. Keep them on board just in case. Also have had luck with the Gulp shiners and if all else fails and you do get into some perch, i have a potato peeler to harvest perch eyes for bait.
Fish Farmer
Well-Known Member
I was going to say you have to catch some Perch first.
I stopped the other day and tried some salted and some minnows I had frozen and nada, but they may not have been Perch I was marking on bottom.
kissmybass
Member
North Erie Marina just got a fresh supply
I tried those preserved shiners from angling sports in London
Perch didn't want anything to do with them the day I was trying them
There is no special trick to it @Derkd9 but yes it totally matters what kind of salt you use. Ordinary table salt is the worst because for one it is far too fine and secondly it is it heavily processed to eliminate trace elements, is bleached, heated and also contains an additive calcium silicate to prevent clumping. Iodized table salt means that iodine also has been added which I believe really turns off fish. The road salt is coarse pure salt, no additives and keeps the minnows in excellent condition. It also works better than Kosher, pickling or sea salt, trust me I have tried them all.
Here's how I have done mine for many, many years.
1. Drain fresh netted minnows well.
2. Using the small freezer bags put 1/4 cup of ordinary road salt (same kind used for sidewalks etc.) in the bag.
3. Place minnows on top then another 1/4 cup of the salt
4. Seal the bag full of air and gently tumble the bag until salt is distributed uniformly throughout the minnows
5. Lay bag flat and gently press most of the air out then seal it
6. Place the bags of minnows in the freezer until needed
When fishing I always keep them in a very small lunch cooler with ice on top so the heat doesn't turn them into a goopy mess. I only open when I need minnows shaking excess salt off into the bag before putting on the hooks. This also helps to keep the boat cleaner. Good luck and I think you will be pleasantly surprised how well they work.
Just like to say I have never caught a fish on those preserved minnows you can buy in a jar. They have more chemicals in them than a 20 lb. lake trout that's spent it's entire life absorbing chemicals off the bottom of Lake Ontario. They also look like the minnows people have dropped on the Bruce pier after laying in the hot sun for half a day.
packrat
Well-Known Member
There is no special trick to it @Derkd9 but yes it totally matters what kind of salt you use. Ordinary table salt is the worst because for one it is far too fine and secondly it is it heavily processed to eliminate trace elements, is bleached, heated and also contains an additive calcium silicate to prevent clumping. Iodized table salt means that iodine also has been added which I believe really turns off fish. The road salt is coarse pure salt, no additives and keeps the minnows in excellent condition. It also works better than Kosher, pickling or sea salt, trust me I have tried them all.
Here's how I have done mine for many, many years.
1. Drain fresh netted minnows well.
2. Using the small freezer bags put 1/4 cup of ordinary road salt (same kind used for sidewalks etc.) in the bag.
3. Place minnows on top then another 1/4 cup of the salt
4. Seal the bag full of air and gently tumble the bag until salt is distributed uniformly throughout the minnows
5. Lay bag flat and gently press most of the air out then seal it
6. Place the bags of minnows in the freezer until needed
When fishing I always keep them in a very small lunch cooler with ice on top so the heat doesn't turn them into a goopy mess. I only open when I need minnows shaking excess salt off into the bag before putting on the hooks. This also helps to keep the boat cleaner. Good luck and I think you will be pleasantly surprised how well they work.
fess up WR----you really use your OTHER recipe for doing up salties(you know the one I mean)
fishing girl pink
Well-Known Member
Great report how to do it. I was using table salt. Thanks.There is no special trick to it @Derkd9 but yes it totally matters what kind of salt you use. Ordinary table salt is the worst because for one it is far too fine and secondly it is it heavily processed to eliminate trace elements, is bleached, heated and also contains an additive calcium silicate to prevent clumping. Iodized table salt means that iodine also has been added which I believe really turns off fish. The road salt is coarse pure salt, no additives and keeps the minnows in excellent condition. It also works better than Kosher, pickling or sea salt, trust me I have tried them all.
Here's how I have done mine for many, many years.
1. Drain fresh netted minnows well.
2. Using the small freezer bags put 1/4 cup of ordinary road salt (same kind used for sidewalks etc.) in the bag.
3. Place minnows on top then another 1/4 cup of the salt
4. Seal the bag full of air and gently tumble the bag until salt is distributed uniformly throughout the minnows
5. Lay bag flat and gently press most of the air out then seal it
6. Place the bags of minnows in the freezer until needed
When fishing I always keep them in a very small lunch cooler with ice on top so the heat doesn't turn them into a goopy mess. I only open when I need minnows shaking excess salt off into the bag before putting on the hooks. This also helps to keep the boat cleaner. Good luck and I think you will be pleasantly surprised how well they work.
when i use to fish perch years ago...i caught my own minnows every spring and salted them (limit is 120)...my method removes unwanted moisture...i spread fresh caught minnows over newspaper...and then using a box of table salt...(remember salt is salt...lol) shake the salt over the minnows covering them completly.... move them to more news print to absorb moisture...then put the minnows with out the wet salt into individual bags...top them off with fresh salt just enough to cover them...get them in the freezer ASAP...this method will not end up into minnow soup or mushy minnows..lol..choose larger emerald shiners to salt
The trick is to get that median in between not to dry and defiantely not a mushy minnow...now that perfectly salted minnow will now be double hooked with the gill plate of the minnows firmness hooked right on the barb...thus the perch taking the hooked minnow always head first!
The trick is to get that median in between not to dry and defiantely not a mushy minnow...now that perfectly salted minnow will now be double hooked with the gill plate of the minnows firmness hooked right on the barb...thus the perch taking the hooked minnow always head first!
Last edited:
Dmanwithnoname
Well-Known Member
Here is the best article I have found on the subject.
http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/tips/general/how_to_make_salted_minnows.htm
http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/tips/general/how_to_make_salted_minnows.htm
okay now you have 3 ways of salting minnows and the different salts (rock & table & canning)...tell us which salt & drying method works the best for double hookin a salted minnow that has a very slight firmness and softens in water quickly fishin and most important catches perch!
Last edited: