Hey guys I'm a disabled vet and can't throw double cowgirls and pounders all day so I like to have suckers in to water too. Problem is I can't get get large suckers here in Sanford until ice hits. I would like to get a large aquarium or small pool with a good filter system and keep it in my basement so I can purchase the suckers in the winter and keep them alive for the fall. Any one have experience with what I might need or where suckers can be purchased in the state for fall season?
Scott is right, buy them as you need them. Keeping them alive and healthy for more than a couple weeks at a time is challenging. Trying to buy them in the winter to keep for the following fall would require a pond with flowing water. I buy 25+ at a time in the fall and I'm comfortable keeping them strong/healthy for 10 days with a filtration/aeration system. That's as long as the weather is cool, if the water in the tank is above 60 all bets are off and if they've brought any virus or disease with them it only takes two days for them all to die. As soon as their health declines, they're no longer good live bait.
It would be nice to have something in Michigan but it also doesn't bother me because if suckers were readily available too many people would be using them. Aside from the fish getting conditioned (which they do), live bait in the hands of someone that doesn't know what they're doing isn't a good thing. When I've talked to shops in the past about getting correct size suckers I'm also very clear that this is for me and I don't want them carrying larger suckers. Normally they don't want to carry them anyway because they're too much of a pain to deal with. It's one thing for a shop to loose $50 in fatheads because of a system failure but quite another to loose $500 in suckers.
This is that magical time of year that the bait shops sucker supply grows from 6-8" to 12-16" in just 2 weeks! I have been trying to get someone to be honest with me about it for years, with little success. I even got a local guy to claim the world, only to deliver half the size this year, and it only cost me about $100. I still have 8 or 9 left that are borderline tip-up size… Anyhow, it is the right decision to make us buy them, but you can still catch them in the waters you intend on fishing, which is unfortunately more difficult in most places than it is worth it. I keep a large tank in my garage, and had very mixed success this year. My first batch died in the first week, so I started over, and the second batch is 2 months old and still kicking. Water temp is a major part of it, it was 50-60 degrees in my garage for the first batch, and I couldn't keep them cold. In full disclosure the people that promised the world, also got it to me 3 weeks earlier than I wanted [smilie=bangtard.gif] and I wasn't ready. Anyhow, it is a bit of work, requires a bit of space, and a lot of water changes/treatments, but it is possible. Keeping them in the summer and early fall, however, would be nearly impossible!
Jason was being sarcastic I am sure, they do get some good ones in at ye olde, but they also sell out pretty quickly. Calling first is a good plan! I also saw sportsman's direct say they could get a few in this year, which may or may not be closer to you.
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