Proper Care Of Your Minnows
The suggested size of your tank is between 25-30 gallons which is enough to support about a scoop or an approximate of 10lb of live bait. Remember, do not overfill your tank with live bait and keep in mind that a smaller number of live bait is a whole lot better than having a tank full of useless dead bait.
The water flow inside the tank where you will be keeping your bait should also be fast enough to enable your bait to swim against it. If it becomes too fast, the bait would swim to its death. However, if it becomes too slow then the bait would die from lack of oxygen. Try experimenting with various flows till you get the right one.
If the water becomes rough, simply slow down in order to keep your bait from hitting the inside of your tank.
In the old days someone would have been assigned the job of holding the minnow bucket to make sure it didn''''''''t spill the important bait.
You should also begin your bait tank at your slip or in the launch ramp in order clean out things that got into it when you are not using it. Also, make sure that it works.
Never put bait that has been dropped on your receiver or deck back into the bait tank. If this dropped bait doesn’t survive, it can cause injury to you’re the other bait inside the tank when it starts to swim erratically. Save it for use to make chum instead.
Always use a dip net to get bait from inside your tank. Always slide the net in front of the bait you wish to get and let it swim into your net by itself. If you drag your dip net along the tank, you can risk injuring other bait.
And that’s it, folks. Just some simple tips you need to remember when it comes to the proper care of live bait.