Experiences in bait collection.

[Allen Morgan]

Several weeks ago, I bought one of those battery powered green LED submersible lights.  I was planning on using it to draw in minnows at night so I could scoop them up with a net.

I finally got a chance to use the thing last night.  I went to one of my home lakes, that has several floating fishing platforms.  I initially dropped it into the water on the deep side.  Well, after several minutes, I didn't notice ANYTHING coming in.  I moved it over to near the weedline.

Within seconds of dropping it in, I had a couple "somethings" swimming around the light.  I'm not totally sure what they were.  These critters were probably less than 1/2" in length, and closer to 1/4".  They looked like very tiny tadpoles.  I could see very prominent eyes.  I'm thinking they might have been Damselfly nymphs.

Within a few minutes, I had something else swarming around the light.  These were extremely tiny, about the size of sand grains.  I could see them, as they were present by the thousands.

I kept looking for minnows.  Never did see any.  However, the real fun started about an hour into the soak.  I saw my first fish.  It came rushing in from my left, around behind the light, stopped, then rushed behind me.  It was just barely within range of the light.  I could see the shape of the fish, but not identify it.  Size-wise, it was either a big Crappie, or a small LMB.

The next 30 minutes was really fun.  Every few minutes, several fish would move in, and circle the light just far enough out that I could see the outline of the body, but not identify it.  I did have a few Bluegill move in close, and start inhaling the small critters.

I'm probably going to have to use this thing where the minnows are, shallow water.  I have a few spots like that around, just have to try it.  Of course, the weather is against me as well; it's coming to a close in the warm-water season.  Water temp has dropped about 13 degrees.  But, I may end up doing some night-fishing trips with this light, out of my kayak, at some known Crappie holes.

[mike martinez]

Hey Allen,i have a friend who uses one of those lights at night on a dock to catch gill.According to him they work very well......

[Allen Morgan]

Well, my fishing plans for tomorrow morning just got shot down, so it looks like I'll be back out there tonight, for a much longer duration.  We'll see what happens.  This time I'm going armed with live minnows and Crappie jigs.

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

Hope ya do well Allen  and then we can see some pics !!!!!!!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Those lights work. They take at least an hour to draw the phytoplankton, small critters an fish.
The other guys explained it very well. I wanted to get one myself, but rarely go night fishing.They seek lire the perfect thing during summer. What kind did you get and where?
Was it expensive?

[Allen Morgan]

Brand name is Berkley, 6 LEDs, takes three AA batteries (first set was included!).  I got it at Academy Sports for $20.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Thanks Allen!

[Leo Nguyen]

Interesting. Have you tried the combination of both green lights and 300 lumen flood LEDs? They surely bring everything around you.

[Allen Morgan]

Not yet.  I have one of the floating white lights; it was given to me a couple months ago.  Only problem is, it has the battery clips, so I'd need some kind of 12v battery.

[Allen Morgan]

Well, I went out again last night.  Same lake, but a different spot.  I went to a different floating platform, that's over some of the deepest water in the lake.  I dropped the light into the water about 6' from shore.  I managed to light up a few aquatic nymphs as I lowered it into the water; they immediately swarmed onto the light.  I went to go get my gear ready, except actually baiting a hook with a minnow.  Within minutes of dropping the light, I had zooplankton as well.

I decided to move my light closer to the platform, over deeper water.  Again, there are zooplankton and aquatic nymphs all over right here.  I had swarms on the light within five minutes of dropping it in.  Five minutes later, "something" knocked the light from below, rocking it.  There I was, sitting in my chair, and within 10 minutes I had fish on my light.  Never saw any minnows, but saw lots of fish.  Some of them were to big to be Bluegill, so I'm guessing Crappie or LMB.  Again, I never caught one.  I had a few bites, but no hookups.

I think I know why I can't connect with fish.  My minnows are dying within minutes of hitting the water.  Crappie around here rarely hit a dead one; they want live minnows.  It's really starting to cool off there (last night was FOGGY).  I've been keeping my minnows on the porch, I have an aerator in the bucket, which I hook the hose to a fish-tank aerator that runs on house current.  My bucket is colder than the water in the lake.  I think the thermal shock is killing the minnows.

I've got a couple "insulated" minnow buckets.  I'll have to start using them, and possibly temper the water in the bucket with water from the lake to get the temps close enough that I'm not killing minnows.

[Leo Nguyen]

Indeed, the shock kills any fish that small off in matter of minutes. It even put the larger fish in a stage that close to a belly up during a 10 minutes, 8 degrees offset. You may want to do a few 5 to 10 ft subsurface water temp record log throughout the day. You can then adjust the insulated temperature of the bait bucket to match a +/-2 degrees average difference. That should provide the optimal survival rate for bait fish this small. I do the same for the shads in our fresh waters around here.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Maybe you could put a minnow trap in the area, and just use the "local" variety?

[Allen Morgan]

I haven't been able to get any here.