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catching darters

Started by Guest_Zephead4747_* , Apr 02 2007 06:56 PM

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31 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 06:56 PM

I like the idea of putting a few darters in my tank I'm going to get for my birthday. If I set a minnow trap up in a river near my house do you think I could catch some? How do you guys usually catch yours?

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#2 Guest_edbihary_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 07:05 PM

I like the idea of putting a few darters in my tank I'm going to get for my birthday. If I set a minnow trap up in a river near my house do you think I could catch some? How do you guys usually catch yours?

Seine usually, occasionally dipnet. I doubt the minnow trap will work.

If you get that pickerel you wrote about wanting, and put darters in the same tank, the darters will quickly become dinner.

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#3 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 07:09 PM

The pickerel is a possible project for next year.

I was asking because me and a few friends are tenting it overnight and bullhead/rockbass fishing by a river.

Could I potentially get a madtom in the minnow trap?

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#4 Guest_arnoldi_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 07:43 PM

I've caught darters in a minnow trap so its possible, not likely but possible.

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#5 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 07:52 PM

What kind of water/substrate/plants should I find to put it in?

You know those areas that have a sandbar that sticks out into the river creating a small v shape with perfectly calm water in it. I often find smaller species of fish/minnows in them. What do you guys think?

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#6 Guest_madtom15_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 08:18 PM

The pickerel is a possible project for next year.

I was asking because me and a few friends are tenting it overnight and bullhead/rockbass fishing by a river.

Could I potentially get a madtom in the minnow trap?

Madtoms sometimes can be captured with minnow traps. Rotted meat is a good bait to use for madtoms. For minnows, a slice of bread does the trick. It's good to position minnow traps so the openings open to the direction of the current; i.e., so the fish naturally swim in that direction. Put the trap near cover of some kind.

Travis Haas

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#7 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 09:28 PM

It seems to have been said in another post that cat/dog food is good bait. We have a ton of venison jerky. could I throw a chunk of that in there also? it is heavilly peppered. Is that bad?

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#8 Guest_teleost_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 09:44 PM

Salt, garlic and pepper sounds bad for fish but good with adult beverages.

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#9 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 09:48 PM

I have a minnow trap, pretty sure it is outside rusting. IMO it is a very poor way to collect fish. A walmart seine is actually pretty effective, and costs about 14 bucks. I would really reccomend moving straight to a seine, and skipping the trap, in a short period of time, you will likely cast the trap aside also.

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#10 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 09:49 PM

what about a piece of breakfast sausage?

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#11 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 09:50 PM

Salt, garlic and pepper sounds bad for fish but good with adult beverages.

Unless carp is your quarry. :twisted:

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#12 Guest_Brooklamprey_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 09:57 PM

I would not bother with a minnow trap for darter. It will not be very productive.
For madtom try chopped chicken liver as bait...It is catnip to them...

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#13 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 02 April 2007 - 09:59 PM

ew no thanks. Speaking of carp, My friend has a tiny pond near his house and someone last year threw a bunch of goldfish in it. They made it over the winter and We want to end them. This small pond is covered in them Do you think two guys trapping them during the sumemr could dent the population. Could we realease a smaller species of panfish to thin them out? The pond gets no deeper then 1.5-2feet deep I was thinking green sunfish but what do you guys think?

p.s. We saw a dead one on shore that looked like your typical walmart species of goldfish except it was like 10 inches long O_o. We migh ttake the fishing rods and try to thin those guys out too. We migh throw some random minnows in there too to feed the panfish after the goldfish are thinned out.

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#14 Guest_killier_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 10:46 AM

I have a minnow trap, pretty sure it is outside rusting. IMO it is a very poor way to collect fish. A walmart seine is actually pretty effective, and costs about 14 bucks. I would really reccomend moving straight to a seine, and skipping the trap, in a short period of time, you will likely cast the trap aside also.

unless it is legal to use a 20 feet long seine I believe that if a warden cought you you would be in a big fine even if the seine is rolled up to 8 feet or what ever the law says it is my brother got a 50 dallor fine and lost his lincence for useing a 20footer seine from wal mart

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#15 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 05:29 PM

Walmart only carries 20 foot seines?

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#16 Guest_sandtiger_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 06:42 PM

I don't care much for minnow traps. They can collect a large number of fish but not a very wide range of species. I have never caught a darter in a trap and suspect I never will.

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#17 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 07:32 PM

Yeah, that's ok. I'll just catch feeder/bait minnows with it then.

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#18 Guest_edbihary_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 11:21 PM

Walmart only carries 20 foot seines?

I don't have a clue what WalMart has. But you might want to try Jonah's Aquarium, in the Commercial Vendors section of the forum. I got my Pennsylvania-legal 4-foot seine there, and he has other sizes as well. I know he has 6- and 8-foot seines.

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#19 Guest_nativecajun_*

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Posted 07 April 2007 - 07:20 AM

It seems to have been said in another post that cat/dog food is good bait. We have a ton of venison jerky. could I throw a chunk of that in there also? it is heavilly peppered. Is that bad?

I read an article and again I cannot remember where. But madtoms/catfish seek out spots of seclusion/hideing. I have read that if you put simple tin cans with holes large enough for them to get into and make a string of them like a trot line and sink them in madtom area. In the course of a day or two go and check them and it was said that this is a very effective way to catch madtoms. No bait. Just a place for them to hide.

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#20 Guest_flamingo_*

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Posted 07 April 2007 - 04:39 PM

The only darter i've ever caught in a trap was a large fantail- other than that, the trap is pointless for that. Get a seine like suggested, or build a net/trap and kick them up into it.

I also use a seine from walmart, it isn't big- made out of really strong material so it's useful. It's great for collecting in heavily planted areas and rocky ledges since you don't have to worry about tears.