Emerald outlook?

[Mark]

Are the Emerald Shiners available? With such a shortage last year I'm wondering if I should start to "stock pile" and freeze some just in case we have a repeat.

[rscotfish]

i think its going to be just as hard if not harder then last year so got a few friends who own bait shops and a few friends who have minnow boats was told they think 80 percent of minnows are gone due to smaller walleye eating them and white bass are thriving and eating them a long with perch and other fish. a gallon of goldies cost 80 dollars. while a gallon of shinners 30 dollars if you can get them but 1 bait shop has frozen shinners he got in the late fall and winter boats were getting a few as the lake did not freeze up last year and he was the only one buying. he carry's goldies but now the cost is going up to 3.50- 4 bucks a dozen just to break even. one minnow boat owner is quitting to get a job because his operation cost is more then he can make selling shinners. but now ive been told pinheads are showing up so who knows i bought a net and im going out for my own

[fishhead315]

To bad with the Bait laws changing last year. The Michigan baitshops had very little problem last year. Most stores had shiners early in the AM. Then had goldies or sand minnows after they were gone. .

[pimplepounder]

The last few years I have been using belly strips from white perch. When the perch are hitting good they work awesome and they last and last. This is a trick my Dad taught me that he used when they ran out of bait back in the 60's although he used strips of perch belly. I on;y take enough bait to catch a white perch and I am set.

That's all I use any more, even when I tip Swedish pimples through the ice. Eyes work good too.

My 2 cents.

[Mark]

The last few years I have been using belly strips from white perch. When the perch are hitting good they work awesome and they last and last. This is a trick my Dad taught me that he used when they ran out of bait back in the 60's although he used strips of perch belly. I on;y take enough bait to catch a white perch and I am set.

That's all I use any more, even when I tip Swedish pimples through the ice. Eyes work good too.

My 2 cents.

Thanks Mr. Pounder. I do the same thing too. Last Fall we had a good deal of info about this same topic, a lack of shiners and what to do. After a few ideas and thoughts and a lot of discussions someone wrote in that you are not allowed to catch fish and then cut them up to use as bait (by Ohio Law) and then throw the carcass back into the water(?). I have to ask, is any of this true? And if you do throw a fish carcass back in won't the Gulls end up eating it? What if you catch and use a Gobi and then end up tossing it back in? Has anyone here had the ODNR press this issue? I mean do they actually watch for us catching white perch and cutting the belly meat or eyes for bait and then throwing the rest of the fish back into the water? If they had to gather evidence of this would they go out and film us, and then get the Gulls that ate the fish and have their stomachs pumped? If it went to Court how the hell would you swear in a seagull?

[pimplepounder]

Hello Mark,

Well, if you take a couple home with you and cut the strips up and put them in baggies that solves this problem.

I do the same thing with perch eyes. Just put them in the freezer. The best part about it is that they are very tough and they stay on the hook for a long time. Also you do not have to trow the carcass into the water and you can use just about any fish even perch belly left overs after cleaning.

Cat fisherman use cut bait all the time. I am sure though, that a bait dealer will see things differently because it works so well. By the way, you can catch a goby and use it for bait if it is dead. I read this in ODNR literature..

[Justretired]

May I ask how big do you make these pieces and what shape and how do you hook them on the hook?

[Fishing Addiction]

I remember in the late 60s dad popping the frozen eyes out of perch laying on the ice parked by the toledo water intake in our van that eye would last forever. You can cut the belly meat about the same shape and size of a good size shiner or long thin strips and the white helps look like one. I prefer shiners myself but if we run out this works too.

[Mark]

May I ask how big do you make these pieces and what shape and how do you hook them on the hook?

I will slit the belly as if to remove the entrails in about a 2 to 3 inch long cut. Then cut up toward the gill at one end and up toward the back dorsal fin, then cut across so I'll end up with a strip about 2 inches long and a good 1/2 inch across. Repeat on the other side. I use the thin Aberdeen Hooks. Simply "thread' the bait 2 or 3 times on the hook in a sort of "S" pattern. Some only hook it once and let it "trail". Other parts can be used as well, the eyes are a good attractant along with strips cut from the rest of the fish. I think the belly meat is used first because it's easiest to get to. You will notice that the bait will stay on the hook a lot longer than minnows. I've caught 5 or 6 fish before changing it, not because it fell off but because a lot of it was eaten away! If you want, look back to the discussions posted here last September-October. It'll take some digging but there were a lot of people writing in.

[pimplepounder]

Dittos, with what Mark and Fishing Addition said. The belly meat seems to be the right thickness and the skin and scales are tough. Just cut them the length and shape of a nice shiner, eye balls are great tipped on jigging raps and pimple too. That is my go to on hard water for sure.