Minnesota Anglers Are Worried About The Live Bait Shortage This Year

Every true angler knows that fishing is 10% skill and 90% having the right bait. Okay… that’s a little skewed but bait has a lot to do with your success, at least that’s what my brother tells me. Side story, I went back to Colorado the other weekend. My brother uses leaches for his bait. He decided to store them in a container on top of the butter in my parent's refrigerator. Let’s just say mama bear wasn’t too happy.

Back on track...Good thing we have a lot of great bait shops in the wonderful land of ten thousand lakes because that means we have a lot of options to get bait. KIMT talked to the owner of Minske Bait &Tackle who said there is a shortage of Minnows in Minnesota right now. With the winter we had this year, we are finding a lot of long term problems. Many farmers aren’t able to plant because their fields are either flooded or have been flooded. There’s a lot of rivers that are overflowing and many ecosystems were messed up, causing wildlife patterns to change.

This is the reason for the minnow shortage. The article says that the ponds froze and killed all the minnows that would be harvested for this summer fishing. A lot of anglers are trying to get their hands on Sucker Minnows, but they can’t! I know if I used live bait, I would be frustrated as well.

The other issue anglers are facing, they can’t get their minnow traps because of the flooding happening. The article says that some of the more serious anglers set their own traps and get their own bait. Hopefully, we have a calm winter this year so these issues don’t come about next year. I have my fingers and toes crossed because I hate lots of snow!!

Chill With Paisley Dunn Every Weekday from 3pm-7pm on Quick Country 96.6 

Wake Up With Paisley Dunn On Kat Kountry 105 Every Weekday From 6am-9am