Bait for Minnow Traps | What bait should You use?

bait for Minnow traps

What Bait Do You Put in a Minnow Trap?

Catching fish can be a great trip or profession due to the variety of fish found around the world. However, it can get rather tiresome if you don’t catch any fish all day. How do you avoid that?

Well, the best trick is to have the perfect bait for the fish you want to catch! In this article, we are going to be delving into the most effective bait for Minnow traps! So, let’s look at the different types of bait!

Best Bait for Minnow Traps:

Minnow is quite small fish and can be attracted with great ease! Without even knowing it, you’ll have numerous baits lying at home that you can use. Some are:

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Breadcrumbs:

An ideal type of bait, as everyone can find it in their household, and it is very cheaply acquired! Not to mention, they can be spread apart through a wide area and will be easily visible to the Minnow!

best bait for minnow traps

Thus, it is the most desirable bait for Minnow traps, and it will work so well, you’ll think its magic Minnow trap bait!

Dog food:

If you’re a dog owner, you can easily spare some dog food as bait, and catch some minnow with it!

Cat food:

As it is with dog food, cat food can also work great as bait to help you acquire tons of minnow fish!

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Bacon:

Rather expensive as bait; however, it can be very effective. Bacon tastes great to us, but will it to minnow?

bacon minnow bait

Well, the smell of bacon travels very well and is strong, so placing it as bait underwater will attract bait very fast! 

Hot dogs:

Hot dogs also have a heavy smell to them, and when placed underwater, will work as great bait for Minnow fish, just like bacon.

(P.S. All of these baits work wonderfully well, however, breadcrumbs are ideal to use, as it is very cheap to just buy some bread and rip them apart! However, it is even more effective if you spread a tiny amount of the other baits along with them. This helps the smell of the meat to spread, while the breadcrumbs provide a large amount of food for the minnow.)

minnow bait near me

As we have mentioned, these are just a few types of bait. Catching minnow fish is very easy as long as you have the right type of bait! However, just knowing about these bait isn’t enough, you’ll be guaranteed to find more types of bait yourself if you know how these baits are used to attract the minnow fish!

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Minnow

How to Use Bait to Attract Minnow Fish:

Placement of Trap/Bait:

Minnow fish are very small fish found in river streams. This means that when you’re trying to set up bait for them, you’ll need to ensure that it is further up along the stream, allowing for the stench of the bait to travel through the water. This will allow for the greatest yield in minnow fish.

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How the bait should be:

We have provided you with some types of bait, but what seems to be the stand out feature for all of them? The last point also delves into its importance. The smell! Having a stench on your bait is very important, as minnows are small fish, and will flock towards it as long as they can smell it. With a keen sense of smell, they can make their way to the bait as long as they can be attracted by the smell.

Tip: You can even use styrofoam as bait, but it needs to be surrounded with a little bit of food, to ensure it can acquire it’s stench. The look of the styrofoam will attract fish to them, and the smell will help attract further fish to it. 

Saltwater Minnow or Freshwater Minnow?

If you were not aware, Minnows can be found in both saltwater and freshwater. However, this doesn’t necessarily change the bait needed to capture them. Rather, one added benefit of saltwater Minnows, is that you can also use Shellfish as bait! 

In terms of any bait being less effective towards a certain type of Minnow, you have no need to worry. They are in the end, the same species of fish, and they both love the taste of the same bait! 

Not to mention, Minnow fish themselves are a great bait for catching them! Once you have caught a large amount of Minnow fish, you can use the small or younger ones to entice the larger Minnow fish to come get them! And if you’re in luck, you will also end up attracting some Crayfish/Crawfish!

Minnow Trap Bait and Placement:

The best type of traps to be used when fishing for Minnow fish is the torpedo-shaped traps. These are very commercial, and you’ll find them available at any fish store. 

To place the bait into the trap, you’ll need to open it by separating the two sides of the trap (probably with a latch or a slide open).
The bait you will use can be put inside the trap, through one of the ends that the fish will use to enter. Just as it is easy for the fish to get away once, inside the trap, the same goes for the bait in it!


As we have said already, the fish will be attracted to the smell of the bait inside the trap, so make sure whatever you are using, has a smell on it that can attract them. The fish will be using the funnel ends of the trap to enter it, and it also disallows them from leaving the trap.


With a decent amount of bait, you’ll be able to attract a horde of Minnow fish any time you want to go fishing for them!
You might also find it useful to add light sources to your traps. Items such as light sticks can be great to attract a higher amount of fish. Minnow fish themselves are attracted to big spots of light, and it is just a good measure to create the best opportunity for yourself!

Close one of the ends of your trap

Open your trap

Add a glow stick


FAQ:

What is the most suited bait for Minnow trap?

As we have already discussed, breadcrumbs are the most efficient, as they can be spread apart through a large area, but it works best when paired with some meat to allow a smell to spread.

Where is the best place for a Minnow trap?

You’ll have to base this on what the water body you’re fishing in is like. If it has a current moving downstream, then you’ll need to set up further up the stream to allow the stench of your bait to move down the water and attract the Minnow. This works in still water as well, just slower. However, in such situations, you’ll do best to fish in the broader area of the water body

Final Words

Minnow fishing may seem awkward and tough at first, considering they are such small fish. However, once you get the hang of it, you’ll realize it’s much easier than it seems!

So, grab a trap and the bait, and get it set up! The best part is, you won’t have to go running around for the best bait, because it’s most likely already in your home! So have fun and good luck!

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