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Three of us fished with goldies today and only managed 36 perch. We moved a lot from the intake to the ship channel and marked a lot of fish that we couldn't get to bite. Talked with several guys who got shiners out of Michigan and they were catching them a lot faster on the shiners. I don't think it makes much difference when the bite is good but when they're finicky like today the shiners seem to work a lot better. If the bait shops in Michigan can get shiners why can't we get them in Ohio?
I have noticed the bite has been slowing way down the last week or two and have only had goldies. When mention it to the bait shop they don't seem happy to hear this. The people who go out and catch minnows don't seem interested doing it. They ship goldies in and make just as much profit and don't have to do as much work. I do agree when the bite is hot it does not matter what put down they will bite.
You might think I'm crazy but I noticed when I used the dead Goldie's after they started turning white we caught more fish with them. Maybe they put off more scent or maybe it makes them more visible. Try for yourself and see.
Spoke to a minnow guy this morning. He said there are so few shiners they have to go back to another job to have a consistent income. We used live goldens and frozen shiners today. Tough pick but live goldens did better. Setup at 9am between rattle and west reef got 50 and a bonus 17" eye by 11:30 with weak sticks in the boat (I caught over half) then it **** down.Attachment 4791
They ship Shinners in and make the same amount ?
Don't know who told you that but that's the furthest from the truth. The dealer have to go pick up the Goldie's themselves that they sell.
Minnow catching is not as easy as most think it is . Sure dipping a couple of hundred off a dock or pier is enough for you to fish with. .
Dealers needs to catch about a 100 gallons to supply the shops they take care of. A gallon consist of roughly 2500-3500 minnows depending on their size.
Yep a lot tougher to catch that many to supply the shops.
Michigan is allowed to ship Shinners in from other states but Ohio stopped the dealers from doing so due to the spread of VHS. .
Believe me ,all the local shops would love to have Emeralds 100% of the time for you !!