Doing a little crappie fishing on Navarro Mills Lake. Bought 2 dozen minnows yesterday and caught a nice bunch of crappie this morning. Needed more minnows, so I bought another 2 dozen, and in about 4 hours most were dead. So I went back and got 2 dozen more (free). And they aren’t looking too good. Looks like I’ll be fishing with a few live ones and a bunch of dead ones in the morning. I’ve never gone out for crappie with dead minnows before. What are my chances looking like? All the crappie this morning, except for one, were caught on minnows (live ones).

The bait shop said that their minnows were dying, but didn’t know why.

Try rigging dead ones on a jig head like you would a plastic body or chop them up and tip your jigs with the pieces.

At first I thought it was the heat but if the store says they are having iasues with them dieing then I would suspect they have abwater issue. I bought one of those small insulated minnow buckets with a battery powered bubbler. Fished in the heat for 6 hours and only had 2 minnows left and they were going strong and the water was still cold. I was shocked that it worked so well. I've caught crappie with dead minnows but no where near as good as when they are live and healthy.

I have one of the bubblers as well. Mine is a really small one that I got at Bass Pro so that I could use it on my kayak as well as my bass boat. Left 3 dozen minnows in it overnight and the battery was still going the next morning and we only had a couple die. I did put a small amount of ice in the water before I went to bed and opened the lid just in case the battery died during the night..

That said, me and a friend caught a bunch of slabs last year at lake Fork tipping our jigs with minnows cut into 3 pieces.

Wayne

In this heat 100% agree on the air bubbler system for lively minnows (I have three kids that love to fish so go through a lot of minnows). Also with the heat the O2 content in the water is super low so have to watch how many minnows your keep in a standard flow troll or geezer bucket.

Back when I had my center console and more room I had a nice insulated bait tank with an aerator that worked like a champ. At the moment I am fishin out of a 10ft Bass Buster so I don't have room to do much of anything other than catch fish. Lol

It could be the heat, it’s probably also doesn’t help that bait shop minnows usually don’t keep well because they’ve been living in a bait tank for who knows how long. If you have the ability to catch your own minnows, they’ll fare better in this heat.

Here is another little tip I learned thru the years. Make sure your insulated minnow bucket has been cooled before you fill it. Fill it with cool clean water at the house before you leave the house. I'm on well water, so I don't have to worry about chlorine as well.
When you get to the bait store, take your insulated bait bucket and empty it, and have them fill it with the water from the minnow tank. The alkalinity from the tank and the water temp is just right. If your bucket has been sitting out in 100 degree temps and you dump the minnows in you will loose temp pretty quick. Minnows can't handle a sudden temp change. Turn the aerator on as soon as you put the minnows in. And always remember to have backup batteries for your aerator.

Cool, aerated water is the main ingredient for keeping minnows alive. I use ice and an insulated bait cooler to maintain in the summer.

As stated above...cool...cooler the better...and air...and you are good to go. Too much ice will shock the minnows, but you can get that water really cold and they will be just fine with air on them.

I use a 30 Qt. bait cooler. I found a small plastic trash can that fits inside and holds 1-1/2 gallons of water. It goes inside the cooler and divides it. It will hold a 1/2 lb. minnows for days with a little maintenance. The other side of the cooler I put ice in, and throw my fish on the ice. Keeps my minnows and fish cool for a 1/2 day trip, which is all I need for these hot summer days. I use a 12V aerator on the boat, and a 110V aerator at the house. I keep a couple gallon jugs of unchlorinated water in the shop refrigerator to change the minnow water out.

If you can find a plastic can that fits inside your livewell, you can drill holes and place your minnows in the can and use your boats aerator to keep them alive and fresh. This works better in cooler weather.

This...just as he said...

Update. Last night I put about 18 minnows in a small bubbler type and 18 in one that you hang in the water. This morning all the bubbler minnows were dead but less that half of the others were dead. Next time I’ll add ice to the bubbler. Obviously something wrong with the minnows, likely due to the bait shop.

Crappie bit on the minnows, both dead and alive, but the catfish came after the dead ones hard. 5 catfish, 6 Crappie, and 2 white bass. I fished from 7 till 10, but nothing bit till about 9 or so. The crappie weren’t attacking the bait, and I lost 5 or 6 that weren’t well hooked. Frustrating.

Good idea about using the aerated live well to keep the minnows. I’ll probably do that.

Put on a small hand tied jig with a purple body and a yellow tail or a chartreuse body with a chartreuse tail.

Right before you start fishing dip the tails in Chartreuse Spike it. Let dry for 30 seconds and start fishing.

No minnows required.

HOGON, I usually fish with a jig on one pole and minnows on the other until I’m sure what’s working best. Yesterday morning I caught all but one on minnows. Today the jig was purple with a yellow tail, and niblets. Caught nothing on it. I have not tried the chartreuse Spike It, but I’ll get some. I would rather fish with jigs, and a BiL, who is a 5 day a week crappie fisherman uses only jigs and niblets. He uses a spider rig. And, he is absolutely the best fried crappie cook I have ever been around.

Last time I was on Navarro Mills I was using jigs and niblets and catching a few. Then about five guys showed up in those fishing type inner tubes, and they were just catching crappie as fast as they could reel them in. All on minnows. So I went and got minnows, and caught a bunch. Nowadays, I go out with jigs and with minnows. Belt and suspenders, that’s me.

Hey no doubt minnows will always catch fish.

I don't know how you fish a jig and I'm simply trying to help a fellow angler out.

Obviously depth is important. If you can find out the depth they are hanging out at that helps tremendously in zeroing in on those Wylie Crappie.

I'll explain how I judge my depth.

I like to fish with a 10 foot rod. Take your jig and pull your line so the jig is at the base of your rod.
On my 10 Foot Rod with my jig even with the base that means I'm at 10 Feet.
If you drag your line starting at your reel and pull it until you hit the first fishing eye on your rod that you come to going towards the tip of the rod that is 2 Feet. We call that a pull.

So if I'm fishing with a 10 foot rod and start at the base and go one pull I'm at 12 Feet and 2 pulls I'm at 14 feet and so on.

With an 8 foot rod you would need 2 pulls to get to 12 feet and 3 pulls would be 14 feet and so on.

Do you know the depth of the water your currently fishing?
Most guys fish right now between 12-30 feet of water.
Best bite for us was in 15 feet of water or deeper. Are you fishing brush piles or timber? Bridge pylons?

Most our bites came at 14 Feet Down and my water depth was 15-25 feet where I was fishing trees I could see out of the water and just under the water. I saw the ones just under the water with my polarized sunglasses.

We would roll up next to a tree and with my 10 Foot Rod I would go 2 pulls to get to 14 feet. Lower it down and if a fish was there they would slam it sometimes. Others that would peck it like a machine gun and then about 10 seconds later they would slam it. Other times I would feel a lite tick or see the line go slack and set the hook. Other times your line would just get heavy. 14 feet down on trees in 15 feet or deeper water was where they were at for us.

As any Crappie Fisherman can tell you every day is different. We could have went the next day and they might be at 12 or down deeper. So zeroing in on the depth is very important. It's like putting a deer in your scope.

If your fishing brush piles sometimes after you get your jig down to your depth you want to try pull the line up and pitch your jig straight out and let it fall back towards you. A lot of times they will hit it on the fall. Others right after your line goes straight they will hit it. If it goes straight and no hit hold it still for a few seconds. If still no hit twitch your rod tip down like your moving it 1 inch. It makes your bait bounce. Sometimes that will be just enough to make them hammer it. This works great on bridge pylons too. If you are on a tree down at your target depth or bridge pylons or even a brush pile you can grab your line between the reel and the first eye and slowly start to pull your line with one finger to the left or right away from your rod. Keeping pulling slowly and as you do your jig is moving up hold it out to the side for a moment and do that twitch again. No bite let the line go your bait falls through the water again. These are techniques you may or may not know about. A lot of times presentation is key to whether you get a bite and others it doesn't matter at all. It's like color or size. Nothing matters until it does. Small is better right now.

Some folks hang a jig in the water and just leave it be like they would a minnow. A jig just hanging there probably won't get much play at the moment. But pitching it and twitching it occasionally could do wonders. Slowly swimming it could help.

I'm simply trying to help you out.

I do know that some lakes those Crappie simply want meat and your lake may be one of those that they want meat.

I primarily fish Fork and Tawokini.

I use 20 pound braid from Power Pro Super Slick with an 8 pound leader in Vanish Gold Flourocarbon.

When a fish breathes on my line I know it. Fishing with mono for me is like fishing with a rubber band and like anything in Fishing it is a personal preference and also a comfort zone. You obviously want to have confidence when you fish with whatever you are fishing with.

I wish you nothing but tight lines and full live wells.

I rarely use minnows so I'm probably not the best to ask about keeping them alive.

At least you are getting to fish at the moment.

I'm super busy at work.

Best of Luck to you my fellow angler.

i found the fish over brush piles at 13.5 feet. It was hot, but still a good day fishing. Not going to fish this afternoon, but staying in the travel trailer with wine, cheese, and a cowboy movie. Retirement is great. I need to get some of that garlicky dip stiff and give it a try. I’d love to not need minnows.