Rosy Red Minnows

[Ohridska Pastrmka]

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone know if Rosy Red minnows can be used as a live bait in zone 15 and 18?

Thanks!

[troutnmuskiehunter]

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone know if Rosy Red minnows can be used as a live bait in zone 15 and 18?

Thanks!

You must mean Fathead minnows.....can't see why you wouldn't be able to use them as live bait providing the lake you're fishing doesn't prohibit the use of live bait...

Are you trapping these or buying them from a baitshop??????

[Todd B.]

Copied from the MNR Fishing Regulations...

NO RELEASE OF BAIT
It is illegal to release any live bait or dump the contents of a bait
bucket including the water into any waters or within 30 m of any
waters (see page 13).

Baitfish
Only the fish species listed below may be used as live bait:

Minnows
Blacknose shiner
Blackchin shiner
Bluntnose minnow
Brassy minnow
Central stoneroller
Common shiner
Creek chub
Eastern blacknose dace
Emerald shiner
Fallfish
Fathead minnow
Finescale dace
Golden shiner
Hornyhead chub
Lake chub
Longnose dace
Mimic shiner
Northern redbelly dace
Pearl dace
Redfin shiner
River chub
Rosyface shiner
Sand shiner
Spotfin shiner
Spottail shiner
Striped shiner

Suckers
White sucker
Longnose sucker

Others
Central mudminnow
Lake herring (cisco)
Trout-Perch

Sticklebacks
Brook stickleback
Ninespine stickleback

Sculpins
Mottled sculpin
Slimy sculpin

Darters and Logperch
Blackside darter
Fantail darter
Iowa darter
Johnny darter
Least darter
Rainbow darter
River darter
Tessellated darter
Logperch

[Lonnie]

I typcially hear the the term Rosy Red used to describe Northern redbelly dace - which is on the list of accpetable baitfish. That's the trouble with using slang names - because you never really know what species people are referring to.

cheers,
LK

[troutnmuskiehunter]

I agree Lonnie but usually, we've referred to dace as either red bellies or yellow bellies...

Rosy Red is the slang version for Fatheads which is on the acceptable species list for baitfish....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathead_minnow

TnMH

[Lonnie]

The fun we have with names! Thanks for clarifying - I would have never made the connetion between rosy reds and fatheads - I often get questioned about minnows and the first part of the discussion is trying to determine what species we are actually trying to discuss. The term Yellow Bellies for instance is again a slang term Northern redbelly dace, but I believe the amount of red vs yellow on the fish varies depending on the sex and time of year.

cheers,
LK

[Ohridska Pastrmka]

Thanks for fast reply!

TroutnMuskieHunter,

Actually, I am planing to raise my own minnows, and before I start this "project" I wanted to know if it's okay to use these as a live bait in open freshwater.
Petshop stores are calling these "Rosy Reds". Some people are using 'em as a "Feeder fish" and some as their pets. They are very small, cute, extremely peaceful , and easy to grow. I found out that Fatheads and Rosy Reds are coming from same family just in different color so I am assuming it is okay to use 'em both.

Thanks again!

[Lonnie]

I do know that fatheads are quite ammenable to being raised in tanks - they like to adhere their eggs to the undersides of rocks - hence the tubercles on their heads to clean the surface before adhering the eggs.

minnows are pretty cool!
cheers,
LK

[troutnmuskiehunter]

Thanks for fast reply!

TroutnMuskieHunter,

Actually, I am planing to raise my own minnows, and before I start this "project" I wanted to know if it's okay to use these as a live bait in open freshwater.
Petshop stores are calling these "Rosy Reds". Some people are using 'em as a "Feeder fish" and some as their pets. They are very small, cute, extremely peaceful , and easy to grow. I found out that Fatheads and Rosy Reds are coming from same family just in different color so I am assuming it is okay to use 'em both.

Thanks again!

Now that's a totally different story regarding buying them from a Petshop and raising them for personal use as bait

I thought you were either buying these from a local baitshop or trapping them...You don't have a clue where Petshops brought these Fatheads in from.....I'd be pretty concerned regarding aquarium fish, associated diseases that they have and the fact that you might introduce diseased aquarium fish into our local waters

Here's a paste from that link I posted earlier.....

Generally only the rosy-red variety is sold in pet shops (though very often several wild types come in with each shipment), and is summarily the most likely to be found in an aquarium.

The fathead's invasive status in Europe is cited as the main cause for the spread of enteric redmouth disease among trout and eels there.[3]

[troutnmuskiehunter]

Double post

[Todd B.]

I'm pretty sure raising your own minnows is definitely outside of the regulations. (i.e. Aquarium Fish ban) All of the bait live bait (with the exception of worms) are trapped.

On a side note I would personally welcome a live bait ban in Ontario similar to the one in Quebec. I've personally seen a number of lakes contaminated with non-native fish that have either been accidentally introduced (i.e. bait buckets) or intentionally introduced (i.e. personal stocking). If an live bait ban is not possible for whatever reason, then the use of live bait should only be allowed on the body of water from which the bait was trapped.

[Ohridska Pastrmka]

Hi all,

Sorry for my ignorance but how do we know for sure if live bait sold in Baitshops are not contaminated or with some kind of carring in disase.
Are they getting through some testing before reaching market or they don't.
I would say that Petsmart stores are much safer then some of Bait shops.
I personally do not see a problem that someone wants to raise their own minnows of course in satisfying conditions and according fishing regulations.
I am strongly against dumping the contents of a bait into the water where that specie isn't native for that lake/river and I am totally respecting all sport fishing regulations.

[Tip-up]

I would say that Petsmart stores are much safer then some of Bait shops.

Totally agreed and I would know as Jig Head once worked there and other shops like it for quite some time.

I have seen some pretty disgusting bait tanks this year

[Lonnie]

Now you're getting it. Fish from tanks or fish from the wild (and the water they are contained in) can carry desease (and invasive species). Clearly you can see which side of this issue I fall on. (heh)
Cheers,
LK

[Todd B.]

Hi all,

Sorry for my ignorance but how do we know for sure if live bait sold in Baitshops are not contaminated or with some kind of carring in disase.
Are they getting through some testing before reaching market or they don't.
I would say that Petsmart stores are much safer then some of Bait shops.
I personally do not see a problem that someone wants to raise their own minnows of course in satisfying conditions and according fishing regulations.
I am strongly against dumping the contents of a bait into the water where that specie isn't native for that lake/river and I am totally respecting all sport fishing regulations.

Ohridska, I'll make this short and to the point before this thread blows up.

1. Use of any aquarium fish as bait is illegal
2. The release of any live bait into any body of water is illegal.
3. The government regulations for raising fish (i.e. fish hatcheries, farms, etc) is not governed by the the MNR, and is subject to much stricter regulations.
4. Determination as to what species are native or non-native to a paritular body of water rests with the respective fisheries scientists who perform the necessary studies, etc, not with the anglers that fish them.