Minnows

Assuming you bought live minnows and had a slow day of fishing; what do you do with the left over minnows?
I used to let mine go. Then I thought I would see if I could keep them.
It has been a week and so far so good.
I put them in a plastic tub and bought a filter. I use dried blood worm fish food. I leave it in the garage and no probs.

I hear`ya Tote...

 " I know a Guy "  who keeps them in a aquarium @ Home and fattens them up for next time...

 I believe the Fish & Game Gurus frown on this because of possible diseases that could arise

 from intermingling tropical fishes and then returning to the waters..

 This " Guy in Mention " has only the minnows in the tank, with water used from where minnows

 were bought and or tap water

Tote, don't get too attached and start naming your little fishies.  They might become pets.

I used to release 'em at Papa Bill's backyard pond but now I release 'em at Aquan's pond. I always wanted to raise them myself because there are no live bait shops around the peninsula 

Tote, If I were you, build a pond and raise your own and sell 'em

....now I release 'em at Aquan's pond. I always wanted to raise them myself because there are no live bait shops around the peninsula 

Now, I know where to go for a late night minnow run. 

I do the same but I just keep in the same bucket I use on the water 4gal. I just use a bubbler and shiphon off about 1/3 of the water off bottom once a week then add some water that's been sitting around for a couple of days. I had 20 last for 4 weeks in the summer and only 1 died. After 4 weeks they were fatter and livelier than when I bought them.

Shoot, I still have all 12 of the jumbo minnows I bought on Dec 30th! They're in an icechest in the garage with a aquarium air pump (plugged into the wall socket). I usually toss em into one of my backyard ponds but its soo cold right now they'd probably die.
PK

....now I release 'em at Aquan's pond. I always wanted to raise them myself because there are no live bait shops around the peninsula 

Now, I know where to go for a late night minnow run. 

Chuck, Unfortunately, the mendo minnows are either gone (eaten by the racoon or birds) are are in hiding cause I have not seen any on them since their release. The Koi however, seem to thrive and no one seems to bother them......strange.

Mooch...ya think the koi are smiling everytime you toss in the minnows = sushi.

I used to keep my leftover minnows in a 5 gallon bucket at home between my trips to Berryessa.  They did fine for weeks on an aerator, some fish food and tap water with the chlorine/chloramine removed.

They did get fatter/bigger but by keeping them in the garage it looked like they got lighter in color.  I didn't keep them outside due to the extreme temperature changes and I thought the neighbothood cats would get them.

Gary

I dispose of them in a humane way.

My trips are so far and few between that I used to let them go in the lake at the end of the day.  However, I became concerned that should they grow to maturity, I'd actually be introducing a new species into a lake and thats not a good thing.

If I were to keep them between trips, they'd no longer be minnows by the next trip.

Michael

golden shiners are alive and well pretty much everywhere so you don't have to worry about an introduction, that happened sometime in the 1800s.  The are low on the trophic level and don't seem to run away with it.

I do the same basic thing as Tote, except I use an ice chest to keep the temp more stable. I have had them in there for months...just gotta feem 'em.  Works awesome.

Thanks for the heads up Sean!  May have to make room for a cooler should I have minners left over after my next trip.

Michael

as long as the shiners are kept in the cold, they live for a long time (at least a couple of days) with only bubbler...  The temp is usually that biggest factor for them to survive in the small container (high temp = low DO & more waste).  If you can change the water (no more than 75%) that would be great and make sure to take out dead ones.  The dead fish make the water bad very quick.
I use 5 gal buckets to keep my minnows alive.  I made a little hole to put through the air tube on the lid & attached the portable bubble using reclosable tapes. 
at home, I keep them in the garage (won't get too hot in Bodega...)  I cut the lid out to put a small hang on filter (the lids are nice, so I won't find dried died fish everywhere & avoid the raccoons & bobcats).  When I need them, I change the lids & ready to go!
It depends on their density & size, but you can keep them this way for a long long time...