Seems to me minnow buckets are now costing to much to keep replacing. As soon as the plastic lid breaks on a Frabill bucket (like every 18 months) they have gone on to a new models and you cannot get replacement lids. Buckets are now running around $25 or more for plastic ones. Most of the new plastic ones come with Styrofoam lining inside the plastic bucket. This was well designed by a non fisherman, not realizing the Styrofoam gets dirty and it becomes another chore to clean it after each use. Metal ones are to clunky.

So with the above negatives being said, here are my questions. Does anyone on here use the Frabill 5 gallon bucket lids, if so how do you like it? How important is it to have the minnow bucket liner, that the minnows go in and then sets inside a plastic bucket? Was thinking about ordering these lids for 15 dollars on Amazon, I can get 2 for the price of a minnow bucket. I have many clean 5 gallon buckets and battery powered air pumps. I do not want a lid you can sit on, I have chair with back support for that.

Or is there other options I am missing. Please don't say use jigs instead. I like minnows and jigs for crappie fishing.

Thanks in advance for everyone's input.

I still have my father's JC Higgins he got from Sears all metal and works just like new. All galvanized metal.

I still have my grand dads metal one and it was old 30 years ago. I rarely use it, but occasionally when I get the crappie bug it sees action.

Engels bait coolers are the way to go if you want lively minnows. They will last a lot longer than the plastic buckets too.

I just use the plastic yellow/white ones with the spring opening, had it for 3 years now and no issues. Not sure the brand but it was cheap ($10) and works well.

Well , I solved my bucket problem. Went back to my 28 quart cooler that is sold at walmart. I quit using it because I thought it was to heavy. So I filled my 2 gal minnow bucket with water , poured it in the cooler and made a mark where to quit adding water. This is much lighter now carrying 8 quarts vs the 16 quarts I had been carrying. I have this cooler set up with clips to lock the lid down when traveling. Drilled a hole for the pump air hose and hung a clip with a ring on it to hang the pump on the outside, hung a small clip on the side for the minnow net. And finally I melted the plastic pieces on each side of the lid that stick out that normally put pressure to keep the lid closed. By melting these back some it makes it really easy to open the lid. (Most of the coolers in the store I can no longer pop open, they are hard and if I cannot open it I move on to another one that I can). Just half to remember to put the net up before driving off as the net will blow away. This will last for many years, beats the Frabill bucket hands down, hope this helps someone else.

I converted an old Igloo water cooler, similarly to the way BRTom describes above. I strap it into the boat and can keep minnows frisky for days. I also have an old galvanized bucket and insert that has been around for several decades. Still works great, except the bucket has been used as a [censored] bucket for the wife and kid more than a minnow bucket, at least in the last five years or so.