How We Tested: What to Look for in a Good Minnow Trap
Proven metal designs
Folks who’ve never actually used a minnow trap will recommend fabric mesh designs. And at a glance, those tightly-woven sides look attractive. They’re ultra-light and often fold down to almost nothing.
What’s not to like?
Everything, actually!
These mesh designs aren’t durable, and from the base material itself to low-quality zippers, they tear in no time.
They also sport large openings, allowing crawfish, bluegills, crappie, and anything else looking for an easy meal into your trap, where your bait becomes dinner overnight.
Do yourself a favor and skip these products, sticking with the tried-and-true metal designs on our shortlist.
You won’t be sorry!
Small mesh
A good minnow trap has a small mesh to prevent bait from escaping and limit access by potential predators.
Smaller is better but also requires more material, increasing price.
And as minnow traps are made to be inexpensive, there’s an upward limit on the material that is used to manufacture them.
Among the best options in this regard is the Gee-Feets’s G-40. I haven’t measured, but the mesh strikes me as slightly tighter than the Eagle Claw and South Bend.
Small funnels
The business end of your minnow trap is the funnel (or funnels).
They need to be tight enough to exclude potential dinner guests, but large enough to allow minnows easy access, while preventing a quick exit.
I like mine to be about 1 inch in diameter, as this helps to cut down on crawfish, and it’s not a bad idea to squeeze the funnel of your trap down to this size if you can.
Break-open design
Collecting your minnows through a small opening is a pain.
The best minnow traps have a break-open design that allows you to dump minnows directly into a bucket.
While the Eagle Claw and South Bend certainly work, the Gee-Feets G-40 is probably the best minnow trap on the market.
Featuring a small mesh, two appropriately sized funnel openings, and a break-open design that allows you to collect your bait in a snap, it’s the perfect design, well-executed, and made in the USA.
We hope that this article has helped you find your new minnow trap, and if it has, we’d love to hear from you!
Please leave a comment below.
Source: usangler.com