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Old May 8th, 2004, 08:42 AM
Dwayne E. Cooper
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Default Feeding and attracting wild shiners?

On Fri, 07 May 2004 11:03:08 GMT, (Dale Coleman)
wrote:

Hi all, the other day I went down to the local lake and threw out some
bread near the weeds waited a bit then tossed my cast net.

I was surprised to find some nice wild shiners in the net. For some
reason I had thought the lake mostly held bream.

This got me thinking it would not take much to feed and attract many
more shiners.

So my question is what are the best feeds to use that might attract
the shiners but maybe discourage the bream some? What I have observed
is the bream are quick to take bread on the surface but the shiners
seem to like to stay down a bit, does that sound right? Maybe a feed
that sinks would work best???


Lotta guys don't know this..but shiner fishing can be a blast...

My background: Before I started guiding down on Okeechobee back
in the 80's, I researched the shiner industry hot n' heavy and got to
know most of the commercial shiner fishermen and marinas down there.
Basically, I had a list of guys I could count on in case the supply
got low. I also spent a lot of time "every day - mornings are best"
baiting holes and catching shiners...so we had a backup source of
shiners in case the supply was really low that year. (If you are a
guide and don't have shiners...you are pretty much out of business
down there). I'm proud to say that we never ran out of shiners. We
had 2 huge tanks set up at our cabin to hold our reserve shiners. I
had another huge tank in the back of my pickup truck that I used when
I needed to transport shiners (pretty much all the time). Every
morning, I'd usually pick up 10 to 12 dozen fresh shiners daily and
take em' to our boats that were always on a slip in the rim canal.
This was always done before we did the last minute marina stop (for
coffee, snacks and whatever) and last minute update of the weather
report.

Want to catch your own supply of shiners? From a guy who's
caught thousands of shiners (by rod and net)...here's how:

1. Pick 5 likely spots to target shiners. (ie. opening of small
trails/ditches, outside edge of eelgrass/pads) and bait these
spots with a healthy scoop or two of hog feed (higher protein than
dogfood and won't float away - trust me, don't use dog food!). If you
can't find hog feed (try your local Co-Op)...any other feed with high
percentage of protein will work (as long as it doesn't float).

2. Wait at least 1 day (2 days preferred) and come back and throw out
a small handful of oats in the area. Wait 5 minutes and watch the
water for signs of activity.

3. Use a 10' cast net and toss out. It takes a long
time to get this down right... Practice like crazy before hand bc you
have to make your 1st cast count!

OR

3. To catch by pole: Boil up some spaghetti and roll it in the
smallest of balls (no bigger than 3/16th of an inch in diameter). Put
it on the smallest of long shank hooks...I'm thinking at least a #14
or #16...smaller if you can find em'... Use a long crappie rod
(longer the better so you don't scare em'...14' foot is fine) with the
smallest bobber available (no bigger than a 1/2 inch in diameter).
When the bobber just barely starts to move downward...gently lif
upward and toward your boat. (Do not set the hook! Just lift the rod
slightly and swing into the bank/boat. The swing should land on the
bank or boat). 2 guys can get 4 to 6 dozen in an hour or two if they
know what they are doing.

Don't worry about the bluegill, catsigh and bass that will frequent
your shiner holes. There's nothing you can do about that except catch
em!

--
Dwayne E. Cooper, Atty at Law
Indianapolis, IN
Email:

Web Page:
http://www.cooperlegalservices.com
Personal Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/OnTheWater
Favorite Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosiertradingpost.com/FishingTackle
1st Annual ROFB Classic Winner