how many minnows can I put in a .6 gallon bucket?

[Sneaky Duck]

I had a gift card for Gander Mountain and got one of the little half gallon insulated clam bait buckets.  I needed something to hold a few minnows for my tip-up (it's embarrassing saying that since i only have the 1.  HAHA)  and also for using minnow heads to tip my jigs.  I'm curious how many minnows though I can feasibly fit in it though without them immediately dying from lack of oxygen.  I haven't been using live bait so I apologize for the rookie question.  I don't plan on keeping them more then the 1 outing and really rarely fish more then 3-4 hours.  I'm going after walleye so I'm thinking 2-3 inch minnows would be about right unless you have a better idea.

 

Thanks!

[bigblue]

I have used the Clam .6 for a couple of years runnin' and gunnin perch . I get about 50 perch minnows in which is plenty . The insulated cover keeps them from freezing up and lack of oxegen doesn't seem to be a problem in the cold. Hope this helps.

Edited December 30, 2013 by bigblue

[Sneaky Duck]

Thanks bigblue!  I'd think that's probably plenty for my needs!

[Sk8man]

Its been accurately answered so to add to it....you can get a whole lot more if just the heads

[ontherise]

You can get the whole school in that there minnow bucket.

[Sneaky Duck]

Sorry for the stupid question, but what do you do with minnows that you buy but don't use?  I ended up with a dozen or so extra last weekend.  They wouldn't have lasted and I offered them to a few other guys on the ice but no one wanted them so I threw them out.  I didn't let them go because I didn't know if that's legal since they weren't wild.

[Sk8man]

The DEC folks want people to destroy them and not just "let them go" some place. The receipt that you are supposed to have is good for 10 days....I keep my unused minows in a bucket with an aerator in the garage if I am going back out within that time frame.....otherwise they end up in the ding weeds out back

[Sneaky Duck]

Thanks Sk8.  I was pretty sure that would be the answer.  I bought a aerator last weekend and put the minnows in a big bucket in the basement but didn't get to use them all and they started to die off so i chucked them.  To keep them for 10 days do you feed them anything?  Fish flakes or something?

[Sk8man]

I don't feed them but keeping the water cool (not hard in this weather) helps keep them longer (warmer weather) and I never use chlorinated water....lake or stream water