Shiner Issues?

The go to bait in the last 5 years or so has been the spot tailed shiner. Past shortages have prompted Team Walleye to buy our bait for opener through a good friend of ours. This has assured us a good supply of bait through at least Monday. Last year we purchased a couple of large 30 gallon Bait Tamers for our minnow stash which has resulted in a marked improvement over our previous minnow holding cage. This year with 24 guys in the group we are thinking about up to 4 gallons of shiners will be needed. That's a lot of minnows.

One of the issues we need to think about is the water temperature. A check with my friend Bill, who we arrange the purchase of the bait, I have learned that the shiner harvest is pretty much over with! In the past couple of years it has been questionable as to the ability to get shiners with the late ice outs as shiners are harvested from the large lakes in Minnesota. This year with ice out 3 - 4 weeks ahead of schedule, the shiner harvest is already over with. A bumper crop, the challenge is for the wholesalers to keep them alive and viable till May 15th. A normal to late spring assures water temps in the mid 40's to low 50's however this year we could be pushing the mid to high 50's. That assumes this beautiful weather continues. High 50's could pose a problem with assuring out minnows will survive both the 2 hour trip from Mille Lacs as well as the temperature change going from cooler well water to the elevated temperature that may exist in the harbor at Brindley's. It may force us to keep our stash of bait in the main lake this year. Time will tell and we will call Tim at Brindleys and find out what the water temp is in the harbor. If too high we will have to make an adjustment as 4 gallons of shiners represents a substantial investment to lose within an hour of unloading. This is one of the aspects of all the planning needed to assure that our opener at Leech is a success.

Written by Team Walleye correspondent, Dave Anderson