Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations I need to talk to the pros about this one

Hey guys, I recently bought a silver minnow trap at wall mart all my other traps works just fine but the silver one has no minnows at all? it was right beside my good minnow trap and it was full of minnows and my other silver one has none and it has bread hot dog wieners and dog food, Why is it happening to me? do I have to burn it? Please response and give me some tips thanks!

Welcome to Pond Boss!

I have heard that the silver or non-coated ones don't produce that well, but I'm not sure if that's true or why.

They do make some of those that have a black vinyl-ish coating, so you may prefer that.

Ty

I had two traps, one wire coated with black plastic/vinle and a blue and white plastic one. Set side by side and baited the same the black one would out trap the b/w one 10 to 1. Still have the black one and is working fine, the plastic one has been recycled. Also locating the entrance hole just below the surface seems to get better results than a fully submerged trap, maybe because I chum around the outside of the trap.

Interesting. Just the opposite in my experience. Black wire coated one got diddly squat. However a regular wire mesh one did much better.

The reason the new silver trap is not catching fish is because the wire mesh is new bright and shiny. Fish avoid the shiny traps until the bright finish wares off. The new shiny traps need to have a drab color to appear as underwater rocks and other natural habitat. I paint mine a blend of green, brown, and black, or use other drab colors. Then they will almost always out fish the black vinyl coated traps. I'm with CecilB1, the black rubber coated traps will usually catch fewer fish on each set compared to drab colored wire mesh traps. Get some dark colored paint on those new traps ant then you will catch lots more minnows.

Some time back, maybe about a year ago in Pond Boss Magazine, Eric West reported on a study that found silver colored minnow traps performed better than black traps.

I hope a lot more chime in about this topic. I have a terrible time getting minnows in any trap. I mostly use a cast net.

I have a few swamps near my home. And was thinking about supplementing my fish with crawfish. Can anyone suggest a good trap design?

OK if Cecil, Bill and the Catman all say black traps don't perform as well that confirms that I raise very dumb fish. Wish the Yp were so easily fooled.

oops, meant to say perform better. Wonder why my minnows aren't so bright.

I've had better success with silver minnow traps vs. black ones. But, they seem to work better after they've been in and out of the water a few times, usually after a few weeks. I think it's like what someone else said, the shine has to be off of them.

FHM, GSH, BG, RES, YP and tadpoles all have been in the minnow traps.