The Minnow

By Al Lowe
Contributor

If you were to ask a lot of people what minnows are, chances are that one of the answers you would get would be ‘baby fish’. That is not so. There is a family of fish, the Cyprinidae, the Minnow Family. This contains about 1500 different species. About 40 or so occur in Canada, many of them here in northern Ontario.
Minnows are (most of them) small fish, whose mature length varies from about one inch to eight or nine inches, and most of these little fish have silvery sides.
Here are some of the common bait-type minnows. Common names vary all over the continent, and each may have a dozen different names.
The Shiners, of which there are many species, are characterized by silver sides and white bellies. The Common Shiner has an olive-green back, and the Emerald Shiner has a very pronounced green back. The Spot-tail Shiner has an olive-green back but it also has a very obvious black spot at the base of the tail fin. There are many other shiners besides these.
There are also the Daces. The Pearl Dace has a pinkish tinge along its sides. The Redbelly Dace has sides and belly which are usually yellowish, but which, in the male, turn bright red during the breeding season.
Another major group is the Chubs. The Lake Chub has a black back, with the male sporting red patches at breeding time. The Creek Chub (or Horned Dace) has a purple tinge on its sides. The male this time grows several ‘horns’ on its head during the breeding season, for reasons best known to female chubs.
Although almost all minnows are small, there are a few exceptions. One is the common Carp, which may run up to 35 pounds or more.
Now, about those baitfish. Here is a very simple example of what might happen. We have a small lake which has some trout in it. People like to fish for trout. The lake will also have lots of minnows in it, which form part of the regular food chain, and are some of the food for the trout.
Now along comes a fisherman. He gets his limit and is ready to go home. So he dumps his leftover baitfish in the lake. If these are real minnows, there is not likely any problem, but if they are young perch or suckers, he may be contributing to the end of the lake as a fish hole. These will provide severe and finally overwhelming competition for the young trout. Not only will they eventually consume most of the food in the lake, but they may prey on the young trout as well.
When the trout disappear, people will say the lake has been ‘fished out’. They will demand that it be restocked, or some other bandaid action be taken. But the damage is done, and cannot usually be remedied.
So you fishermen out there, if you want to keep fishing in our hundreds of northern lakes, make sure you use only real minnows for bait. Never use the young fry of coarse fish. They will do you wrong in the long term.
And what other fish have names like these - Popeye Shiner, Humpback Chub, Stargazing Shiner and even Tonguetied Minnow?