Anyone know of a minnow trapping business for sale?

I think I heard a while back that one of the ones in Kenora was thinking about getting out of it.

What exactly is this Minnow Trapping Business?

What exactly is this Minnow Trapping Business

?

It's a retail business that sells live bait for the sport fishing industry. The minnow trapper in this case uses a light aircraft like a Husky, J3 or PA 18 to fly and out of small minnow lakes and ponds. When the trapper first flies into a lake he sets minnow traps. He then returns a few days later to harvest the live minnows. The planes are equipped with a small live tank to transport the fish. The tank has ice and an 02 tank to force oxygen into the water supply to keep the fish alive.
Most minnow trappers but not all have retail stores they sell live and artificial bait as well as licenses and fishing gear. They sell minnows to lodges and fly-in fishing outfits. The profits can be very, very good. They are licensed and regulated to some extent in Ontario by the MNR. You can minnow trap with a private license. They are some of the best light float plane drivers there are. The minnow lakes are quite small and sometimes conditions conspire against them. Most have enough spare parts and wing sets to get airborne in a hurry if they crash which is part of the business with the ones I know.

What would this cost as far as plane, licenses... well everything I guess? Also, what kind of profits are we talking here? This has become very interesting. And could you also provide some info on the cost of using the Cub or Husky... mx., fuel, etc.

I guess what I'm asking for some extensive detail on the matter. I'll try a search myself as well. But maybe someone could point me in the right direction faster than I can find it.

What would this cost as far as plane, licenses... well everything I guess? Also, what kind of profits are we talking here? This has become very interesting. And could you also provide some info on the cost of using the Cub or Husky... mx., fuel, etc.

I guess what I'm asking for some extensive detail on the matter. I'll try a search myself as well. But maybe someone could point me in the right direction faster than I can find it.

Well a Husky would be a very high end aircraft and quite costly. Lots of minnow guys use J3's and homebuilt super cub clones. Home built floats or Eddie Peck specials from Nova Scotia. They try to have one fusalage and wing set built up plus a couple of engines, Anything from 90 hp to 180 hp in the PA 18's
With home built you can keep cost down because you can perform your own maintenance.
What are licensed shop rates now days 100 to 150 bucks an hour?
I have no idea the cost. Most use time ex'd engines that are topped. Throw in a couple of props, you could be looking at $140000 in aircraft, floats and parts to be well equipped.
They make their own traps and floats out of wood and wire mesh. You'll need at least 200 traps. They spend lots of time in the late winter and early spring building their traps.
Getting the permits is pretty cheap but the best ones are already gone so your looking at buying an existing license which could cost quite a bit. The best ones are good producing lakes and they are a short flying time from the minnow trappers base of operations.

A dozen jumbo minnows can go for $12 American. Most people use at least 2 dozen a day on average. The trappers I know won't tell me how much they earn. A lot of the business is cash and you know what that means... Steven Harper doesn't get his mits on it.
The trappers I know make very good livings. Some of the older guys spend their winters in Florida or Texas living the good life. It is hard work,They have to get up and out on their traps very early taking off with the sun up and try to be done buy noon taking advantage of cooler temps and lighter winds.

The best way I know of getting the lowdown on a minnow operation is go and buy some minnows from one and sit down and ask him your questions. The ones I know would be happy to answer your questions.

Thanks Driving Rain... very informative. This is something that I really might be interested in in the future.

There are three operations using airplanes (roughly) in ear falls alone. I'm pretty sure any of them would sell if the price were right. You see, it's all about the "Lots/minnow blocks" and a lot less about the airplanes. However, there's a good chance that an owner would rather sell the airplane and blocks together...and of course the minor infrastructure required to keep minnows alive.

Some guys have really exploited their blocks and others haven't. By that, I basically mean "over-fished" their blocks. There's more to just flying the airplanes in a minnow business. Its basically a farming job. You have to know things about minnows in order to be successful. For instance, you may be trapping a minnow lake (which by the way, are usually the small knee deep ponds you wonder about whether you can get in out of) and catching "8 Gallons/600 dozen" medium grade minnows every day for a week. Then you notice the numbers going down slightly and you move your traps around the lake and get back to 8 gallons. Then you move the traps around and get only 4 gallons...then 2 gallons...then 1/2 gallon. You may have been in this lake for well over a month doing this. This is an example of bad farming. What you should have done is move the traps to another lake as soon as the numbers declined.

At 3$/dozen wholesale, for one week, you made 12 600$. But greed gets the better of you and demand never goes down, so you figure why not make 20 000$ off the lake this year. The thing is of course, the next year it may or may not trap as well. But the next year or year after that, the lake could be dead. Had you not been greedy you could have sustained 12000$ off of just one good lake every year. Instead, after a few years your making squat out of that lake.

So now imagine you have 10 blocks, each with maybe 3 or 4 good lakes in them (and maybe even some you haven't even discovered yet) and you farm properly, you could be making a good 100 000$ a year after expenses. I have no idea on the numbers...but you could probably make that under those conditions and very smart/intelligent farming practices.

Sounds like a winner doesn't it? The problem is...the owners know its a winner too. I'm just hazarding a guess...and this is really just a guess, but If I were an owner with say 10 decent blocks. I wouldn't let them go for anything less than a quarter million. But maybe I'm crazy...but if you think about it, that's really a steal if you consider how fast you can pay that back. So...if you have the purchasing power to buy a house for instance right now, then you could probably buy a minnow business. Of course, you'll need an airplane and a place to keep the minnows and most importantly the knowledge of farming them sustainably (which is basically acquired through experience). But after that, your all set. There is of course one other minor thing...and this is probably the least of your worries...but flying in and out of minnow lakes is not exactly like flying a beaver with Americans into large fishing lakes with tire-covered, 16 foot wide docks.

If I did it, I figure anyone can do it! But hell, I can honestly say I'm pretty much lucky to be alive right now in at least a half/dozen occasions strictly from flying minnows. It had a lot to do with job stress in a way. Getting those minnows means getting money. And when your chasing dollars, you might forget about...you know....safety. The lakes are usually really small and shallow. They are almost always glassy in the morning (when you trap), so if you don't know how to land on small puddles in glassy water, that can be a problem....not to mention taking off. I can't remember which scared me more...take off or landing. If I did it all again today...I wouldn't have the balls to do what I did back then probably...because now...I know better. None-the-less, the guys that minnow trap for a living have some crazy stick and rudder skills. I never did try step-taxi turns with a float raised...just never felt comfortable with it. I've heard of old timers that would go around in circles on the lakes on one float with the outside wing a few inches off the water...just to get speed to get out of a raunchy minnow hole.

Anyhoo...enough about all that shit...

boozy wrote: I never did try step-taxi turns with a float raised...just never felt comfortable with it. I've heard of old timers that would go around in circles on the lakes on one float with the outside wing a few inches off the water...just to get speed to get out of a raunchy minnow hole.

Faaaack!!! Interesting stuff nonetheless. Thanks boozy.

What are licensed shop rates now days 100 to 150 bucks an hour?

They'd better be doing some good work for that! Yikes!

Is live Bait only legal in Ontario?

Wow Boozy! That has to be in the top 10 concise, useful, honest posts on avcanada,IMHO. Way to go!

There are three operations using airplanes (roughly) in ear falls alone.

How are the Waginstalls doing? I've been to Oshkosh twice with Wally. Man for an old guy he can go with the best of em. His sons are minnowing out of their lodge at Camp Robinson last I heard. They let me fly their 180hp Scout once, what a ball that thing is. I helped re-build his Super Cub a number of years ago after a minnowing misadventure.

Heh heh, I've never met the Waginstalls. I worked for "the other guys". One more thing I should have mentioned about minnow trappers is that they are all super secretive. There's a general floating fear that the "other guys" are out poaching the "other guy's" lakes all the time. I'm not kidding about this. There doesn't seem to be a large bundle of trust between various trappers...and this sort of makes for the most interesting stories.

I remember coming into a minnow lake one day while watching another airplane take off out of it. What the hell would another small airplane be doing in our minnow lakes? Of course its not illegal to land there, but hell its 90 miles north of Ear falls, what's he doing there? Anyhoo, as he took off, I sort of had the advantage in that he couldn't see me. So I figured I'd chase him down in the air and see if I cold identify him. It was a white cub of some sort with red trim. I couldn't catch him and he couldn't get away. He wouldn't respond to radio calls either. Had to let him go. When I went back the lake, the traps were full of minnows. The next day I came into the lake and there were eagles and other birds all over the south shore. Taxied up to them and sure enough, there was a dead moose gutted on the shore.. Was never too sure if it was shot or killed by animals...but, it was quite a coincidence to have that airplane in that obscure minnow lake. His track was definitely Ear Falls bound.....at least he didn't take the minnows though....I easily pulled a 1000 bucks out of that lake that day!

I easily pulled a 1000 bucks out of that lake that day!

I trust you keep an exact record of these days for tax purposes?

Boozy and Driving Rain have pretty much hit the nail on the head. Around 20k per block (if they are good ones) and anywhere from 75 to 120 for a good plane. If you get into the racket be sure you find someone in the business to help you along. Its not hard to keep a couple dozen alive in July but 40 to 60 gallons is another thing. Don't step on the wrong toes and don't over sell. Customers buying minnows are not very loyal! If you promise minnows and don't have them when they call you probably will not here from them again.
Anyway good luck and it is nice to see some interest in minnow fishing.

I was looking at the Avid Magnum with an IO 360 does anyone know about these aircraft ?

heY boozy !! I got my first job doing minnow farming out of ear falls too ,my boss was tom hannaway of ear fall air services I was flying the super cub with that big garbage plastic container in the back lots of souvenirs are coming back to the surface..wow.. thanks for the flashback

Heh, yeah the guy I flew minnows for bought the business off of Tom Hannaway.

Boozy ........ did you fly the c-180 registered cf-vtu it was one of the two 180s floatplanes we operated from the base , I flew CF-VTU all that summer 1971 as well and when not flying we built the motel and the cabins!!! by the docks..

Did a float endorsement for the nephew of a well estabishied minnow man in our area a few years ago. Told me they sell on average 2000 to 2500 dozen a day. You can do the math on that. Of course as boozy stated it is a lot more than counting the cash. Huge committment to keep the resorts serviced especially in periods of bad weather. As a minnow man you pretty much operate to the crede of the post office, rain, sleet or hail!!!

Americans paying to catch a walleye get pretty cranky when the bait doesn't arrive and of course with all the economic turmoil coupled with the bullshit of crossing the border these days, tourism based industries are not the most viable.

Check your private message 302sc

If you haven't already found something you might try posting an ad on the NOTO website. Good luck.