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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | I was wondering if any of you guys have tanks for keeping suckers long term, like all summer for use in the fall. I usually get a couple of suckers every weekend from September until ice, I'd guess 40-50 maybe? I'd like to be able to keep like 75 big ones alive just so I know I have enough. I think you can net them here in April and May, gotta make sure of that first but if I could do that and keep them alive all summer would be ideal. Otherwise maybe I can try a wholesaler and see if I can get them cheaper than the bait shop and get just big ones (the bait shop I go to has good ones early in the fall, but they sell right away and all that's left are like 15" and shorter).
I figure I'm spending a couple hundred bucks a year on suckers so if I could do it for cheaper and have my own, and not have to drive the extra distance to the bait shop in the morning I'd be better off. |
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Posts: 415
| I store them in a giant horse trough, but not year round. I usually will stock up in fall then if i have any left over keep them over winter for spring. In my experiences, once air temps are consistently in the high 60's and above they are incredibly difficult to keep alive for any length of time unless you are constantly changing water and dumping in ice to keep them cool. They do not like the warm water at all. |
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| Like JaRule said, once the water and air temps get warm forget about it. I can keep large suckers alive for over a week in the late fall no problem but in September and early October they die in a night or two tops.
I couldn't imagine the cost of trying to keep the water below 50 degrees in mid summer.
The best thing to do is to find that sucker stream and catch them or net them.
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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | I was afraid of that. I have a few streams around here that I know I can get them out of, maybe I'll just have to set something up and try to get them around October and just try to keep them for a few weeks. |
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