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Bait of choice is tough catch on opening day
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Depending on where you fished last weekend when the 2008 walleye and northern pike seasons opened, you might have had difficulty finding shiners for bait. Walleye anglers often favor shiners over other minnows such as fatheads because of their size and, well, their "shine,'' which is believed to be a fish attractant.
In northern Minnesota, lake shiners were difficult to come by, with some bait shops limiting anglers' purchases to a pint when they might have preferred a quarter or a half-gallon. The reason: The late spring and ice-out has delayed shiner runs in Winnibigoshish and other lakes, reducing inventory.
Golden shiners, meanwhile, generally no longer are being illicitly imported into Minnesota (such importations of Arkansas-grown golden shiners via Wisconsin have long been illegal) because of bait shops' increased worries about bringing VHS-tainted bait into the state. This has cut into shiner supplies in the southern part of Minnesota.
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