American Bait Minnows 



are those that are found in the swiftly flowing water of the riffles. 

 Not only are the species better, but the fish are more vigorous 

 and active, and more tenacious of life, as well as more 

 silvery or brightly coloured, which are the points chiefly deter- 

 mining the excellence of a bait minnow, as such. To be effective, 

 a bait minnow must be bright or silvery enough to attract the 

 attention of the fish, it must be active to show that it is alive, 

 albeit in distress or under restraint, and its tenacity of life must 

 be great to enable it to withstand the changed and constantly 

 changing environment and the slight physical injury incident to 

 its being impaled upon the hook. The size of the minnows 

 selected will of course be determined by the kind of fishing the 

 angler wishes to do. 



In seining for bait minnows a great many small fish will be 

 caught which are not wanted. It would seem that it ought not 

 to be necessary to urge that these should all be returned to the 

 water, but entirely too many bait-gatherers and anglers fail to do 

 so. The seine is hauled out upon the shore, the minnows that 

 are wanted are put into the live-bucket, and the rest of the catch 

 is dumped upon the shore to die. Among the fishes allowed 

 to perish miserably in this way will be found young of many 

 food-and-game species such as both species of black bass, the 

 rock bass, bluegill, and yellow perch, as well as many other 

 species that are either valuable as food or which serve as food 

 for our game fishes. The great scarcity of fish in many streams 

 and small lakes is undoubtedly due in large measure to this 

 wholly inexcusable carelessness and the criminal indifference of 

 those seining for bait. 



Various sorts of traps are used for catching minnows. The 

 most common and perhaps the most effective is made of wire 

 and constructed after the manner of the ordinary rat-trap, which 

 permits easy entrance but exit from which is difficult. These 

 traps are, of course, baited, usually with small particles or balls 

 of dough, and are set in places which minnows are known to 

 frequent. 



Minnows may be caught also by means of a small dip-net 

 by properly baiting it and allowing it to rest upon the bottom 

 until the minnows are over it in numbers feeding upon the dough 

 with which it has been baited; then by lifting the net quickly 

 the minnows may be secured. 



XXXIX 



