PROPAGATION OF MINNOWS AND 

 OTHER BAIT SPECIES 



BY J. R. Dobie, O. L. Meehean, and G. N. Washburn 



INTRODUCTION 



With a shortage of minnows in public waters now a 

 reality and strict legislative regulations on minnow 

 seining looming in the near future, the bait dealer is 

 faced with the necessity of rearing his supply of bait 

 fishes in ponds or other private waters. Most dealers 

 will find the change from free-lance seining to the 

 propagation of minnows in ponds difficult. This bulletin 

 is a summary of available information on bait culture 

 and is intended as a guide for those interested in 

 raising minnows and other bait species as a commercial 

 venture. 



The growing number of fishermen appearing each 

 year in the northern States has resulted in a greater 

 fishing load and an increased demand for suitable bait 

 minnows. In an effort to satisfy the demand, commercial 

 minnow dealers have seined lakes and streams over wide 

 areas and have trucked their perishable commodity over 

 great distances. Dealers, fish-culturists, sportsmen, 

 and biologists fear that the supply of bait fishes is 

 being depleted and that this drain on the natural food 

 of game fishes is a serious problem. 



Several variable factors determine whether col- 

 lecting of this kind is a wasteful or a profitable un- 

 dertaking. Seasonal fluctuations in the availability 

 of bait fishes are the rule; they are not found in the 

 same pools or over the same shoals in our lakes and 

 streams at all times. These changes in the supply of 

 minnows are matched by inverse fluctuations in demand: 

 there are fewer anglers fishing during spring and fall 

 when minnows are plentiful, and a great demand exists 

 during the warm summer months when the supply is limited. 

 Only a few minnow dealers have constructed outdoor ponds 

 or indoor tanks large enough to hold many thousands of 

 fish from the time of their greatest availability to 

 the months of greatest demand. 



The natural geographic distribution of several 

 commercially important minnow species sometimes does 

 not coincide with regions where they are most in demand, 



