I've got these big white vats. I have no idea how big, but we used to use them to water our horses. They're huge. Took about an hour to fill up with the hose. Anyways, just wondering how much work is involved in growing my own minnows. Anyone else have a homemade tank?

ive never done it, but doesn't seem like its much differnt than maintaining a home aquarium, just on a bigger scale.

They look kind of like this only a little bigger. I'd say they're about 4x4x4

My fishing buddy and I keep a trough with minnows in it so we do not have to drive 60 mile round trip every time we want minnows. I am not sure but I was told that minnows will not reproduce in a tank. I have never researched it so I do not know if it is true or not.

Have you thought of a casting net? Then you could keep your catch in the vat when you didn't use them all.

That's a great idea. I've looked at casting nets but the only ones I can find have the 3/8" gaps in the netting. I figured those would not be very productive throwing for minnows.

i keep them in a 50 gallon tank. you just have to keep the water cool. I keep the tank in the back of my garage and it seems to do the trick. I started the tank outside in the back yard but the water was getting to hot and they started to die out pretty quick. keeping them inside keeps them alive about 5 to 6 weeks. I buy them by the pound from a bait suppliers.

i keep them in a 50 gallon tank. you just have to keep the water cool. I keep the tank in the back of my garage and it seems to do the trick. I started the tank outside in the back yard but the water was getting to hot and they started to die out pretty quick. keeping them inside keeps them alive about 5 to 6 weeks. I buy them by the pound from a bait suppliers.

Anything with shade and mesquido larva and they will be just fine. I used to have a boat someone gave me just to haul it off sitting on my property way away from the house, thing was about 1/4 full water all the time. so I just threw the whole minnow bucket in there every time we got home and we very rarely lost any. And you would think it would be a misquedo nightmare but the way the wind pushes that bucket around they pretty much kept it clear. LOW MAINT. But I hear raising them is a nightmare if you actually try and take care of them like fish aquariams style.
even super big ones like your talking about.

Several years ago, I was thinking the same thing. I talked to the bait truck driver from a minnow farm near Fort Smith (Arkansas Shiners) and he said the minnow operation was just like any fish farm. Long, narrow "in-ground" tanks, 1 for spawning, 1 for fry, 1 for the sell-able minnows, etc. Like lastchild said, the driver told me that without the "natural" environment the minnows wouldn't reproduce. He also said to keep the bait alive longer I might try burying the tub 1/2 to 2/3's in the ground (put a screen on top to keep the cats out) for better insulation.

Just don't go to the fish truck and buy 10 lbs of fathead minnows. I worked at a feedstore in highschool and saw lots of people do it. Fatheads are good forage, but they hated fishing with them. I can fish sit for you if you go out of town! Ha Ha You'll put Yak out of business if you grow your own.

It is a lot more trouble than tying your own jigs.


Mo

How hard is it to grow your own minnows?

I think they like lots of water, matter of fact I don't think you can over water those.

Good Luck

Get you a 1/4 inch mesh cast net from BPS...you can net river minners or ghosties easily and they are more durable than you would think. Also, like Mo said, tying jigs cuts the cost and it's a lot more gratifying!