Minnow Conundrum

[cousinlll]

It's freakin hot out (even for me!) & I'm a bit board so.......

Was thinking about this on Halibut Warrior & my last night fishing outing on Friday evening.  Noticed that our minnows were not as lively on the hook as they should of been.   After dropping my line down to depth and a few minutes later bringing it back up, the minnows were pretty much toast.  We all know that a lively minnow is important in getting Crappie's attention.

This leads me to think this:  We all are attempting to keep the minnows cool while in the boat by adding ice & cool water.  But when we go to use them, we are then shocking them as they go from the cool bucket water right into +80* water of the lake.  Even with being careful hooking them, they end up dying due to the shock.

So during the summer, we should probably take a page from aquarium guys by acclimating the minnows to the lake water temps.  They usually float their fish in the transport bags for a bit while the water temps equalize.  My thought is that we should be slowly introducing lake water into your minnow bucket to equalize the water temps therefore minimizing the shock.

Keeping the minnow bucket aerated, of course, is equally important but maybe my wacky thought might help keep the minnow alive longer while on the hook & increase bites.  I have invested in a 12v aerator, because I want to be just like Fish Hawk! , and on my one time out the previous Friday night noticed it did make a tremendous difference.

Your thoughts?
 

[IAMMAC]

I usually always exchange the water at the lake no matter what the temps are.  But make sure your lid is on tight, just ask Bob or Don  about that at the BHC this past year!  Kind of off the subject but you can use 100% oxyegen to airate them, it's more dangerous but it makes them dance!  A lot of the Tournament Crappie guys do this. 

[wadefisherman]

When it gets hot my minnowizer works pretty good, I used to use it to keep my shrimp alive in Texas. It cools and oxygenates the water at the same time. It creates a mist kinda like misters.

http://www.bargainoutfitters.com/net/cb/hypark-mino-mizer.aspx?a=341359

[sparkchaser]

After our trip out a couple of weeks ago I thought of this too. Maybe why our bite seemed to turn off like a light switch. Seemed like within minutes of the minnow going down, they were lifeless. I like the 4 cup transfer as Bob stated. Seems like a safe way to equalize the temps, as not to shock the minnows.

[BloodyDuck2]

I have a tote that I keep my minnows and shad in. I have a swamp cooler motor that sprays water out to oxygenize and to cool the water. I use lake water as well and will add and dump periodically in the night to assure the water is lake temp.