Minnows

Minnows are one of the most commonly sold baits in bait shops but a lot of anglers don’t really know what they can catch with minnows. The truth is, minnows will catch just about anything and they are a sure-fire bet to help you catch at least some fish every time you go out.

What fish like eating minnows? You can catch bass, chain pickerel, crappie, yellow perch, bluegill, trout, catfish, bullheads, and pike using minnows as bait. Shiners and fathead minnows will be the focus of this article as they are readily sold at most bait shops and catch a ton of fish.

Fish that Can Be Caught on Minnows

Bass

Pros: Fathead minnows are great baits for small largemouth bass and medium-sized smallmouth and spotted bass.

Shiners are amazing baits for bigger bass and golden shiners over 6” long are often used to catch trophy-class largemouth bass over 10-pounds. Minnows and shiners are easy to hook and hardy enough to remain alive long enough to draw a bite from bass.

Cons: Bass swallow live bait resulting in deep-hooked fish that are risky to release. Lures are more commonly used for bass because they don’t result in as many lost fish. Minnows and shiners are not legal in all states and waterways so lures will be a better option.

How to: To fish for smaller fish like panfish, trout, and small bass, use fatheads. For bigger fish, go with shiners. You can run a hook through their lips, through their lips out their nostrils, or behind the dorsal fin in the back. 

Crappie

Pros: While small shiners work for crappie, one of the very best baits you can catch crappie with are fathead minnows. Fathead minnows and shad are the two best crappie baits. They are hardy and readily available. They are natural crappie catchers.

Cons: They can be tough to keep alive after a few casts but even catch crappie when injured or dead. 

How to: I recommend hooking minnows through the lips for crappie. You can just use a plain size 4 baitholder hook or attach the minnow to a jighead. I like fishing minnows under a bobber rig near docks and wood but you can also just drop the minnow down without a bobber.

Chain Pickerel

Pros: A solid, sturdy bait that catches a lot of chain pickerel in summer and winter. They are definitely in my top 3 of chain pickerel baits.

Cons: Pickerel mangle these fish. You will be swapping out shiners each time a pickerel takes a swipe at your bait because they have nasty teeth. Shiners are also illegal in some states for use.

How to: Go with shiners 100%. Forget fatheads for pickerel. You can run a hook through their lips, through their lips out their nostrils, or behind the dorsal fin in the back.

You can catch pickerel during warmer months on shiners but they really shine through the ice either on tip-ups or deadsticking. 

Trout

Pros: Trout really like hitting fathead minnows. You can catch all species of trout in streams, rivers, and reservoirs using fathead minnows as bait. Shiners don’t work as well and rarely outperform minnows for trout.

Cons: Illegal to use in some states and many rivers. Even though they are good trout baits, there are a number of other live and artificial baits that work better for trout than minnows.

How to: Hook minnows through the lips and allow them to drift in the current. In lakes, attach minnows to jighead and slowly jig the baits along deeper structure or main channels.

Yellow Perch & Bluegill

Pros: Minnows are a great bait for big yellow perch and bluegill. In fact, some of the biggest panfish are caught on fathead minnows. They are great baits.

Cons: You won’t catch many small panfish using minnows. While you will catch fewer fish, the ones you do catch will be bigger.

How to: Hook minnows through the lips and drift fish with them around docks, weeds, and submerged timber. They work great ice fishing too.

Catfish & Bullheads

Pros: Both minnows and shiners will catch catfish and bullheads. You can fish them alive or dead. You can also catch bullheads and catfish on cut bigger shiners. Some of the biggest bullheads I’ve caught were on shiners.

Cons: There are simply better natural baits for catfish like shad, bluegill, and clam-meat. 

How to: I recommend fishing with dead shiners or minnows for bullheads and catfish. Not rotting shiners or minnows but very freshly dead baitfish. And use a size 1/0 circle hook to prevent the fish from being swallowed.

Pike

Pros: They are natural fish magnets. Pike will devour big shiners if presented. Shiners are hardy enough to survive a few casts. 

Cons: You won’t catch big pike using shiners. Pike will destroy your shiners with a single bite. They have nasty teeth and will tear up your shiners even if you miss the hookset. Fishing for pike with shiners, prepare to burn through a ton of bait.

How to: I recommend hooking them through the back behind the dorsal fin. Set the hook very hard upon getting bit because the toothy mouths of pike require a ton of hookset to drive the hooks home.

Common “Types” of Minnows

There are a whole range of fish loosely classified as minnows but for the sake of this article, I want to only focus on the two primary types used for fishing in North American waterways. I want to focus on shiners and fathead minnows.

Shiners

Shiners are bigger than fathead minnows and can achieve lengths greater than 8 inches. They are the preferred bait for chain pickerel. They also catch walleye, catfish, big crappie, and big bullheads.

Pike may take a poke at them too. Trophy bass are routinely caught on monster golden shiners in the south. This practice seems to be very popular in Florida where double-digit bass feed naturally on big shiners.

Fathead Minnows

These are the most common species of baitfish available at bait shops. They will measure between 1.5 and 3” long. They are the ideal bait for yellow perch and crappie.

They also catch big bullheads and big bluegills. You can catch small bass, trout, and catfish using fathead minnows. They are a readily available and hardy bait that catches a lot of smaller fish.