‘It’s real food for real fish’: The future of live bait in Manitoba

There are only a few more live bait seasons left in Manitoba. Michelle Gerwing explains.

Live minnows and leeches are tasty bait for fish in many Manitoba lakes and rivers, but this season live bait for anglers is becoming harder to find.

The Manitoba Fisheries Branch will allow live bait for another two years on several lakes and rivers, like Lake Winnipeg, but it is on schedule to ban the practice entirely in a little more than two years.

“We have publicly committed for April 1st, 2027,” said Derek Kroeker, manager of the sustainable fisheries section for Manitoba’s Fisheries Branch. “But the actual mechanics of changing the regulation and the act takes up to two years, and so that will begin this year for that act to be changed in 2027.”

Lee Nolden, owner of Smoke N Fish in Selkirk, Man., said he expects the upcoming change to be a big crimp in his style because those little fish are a big part of his business.

“It’s real food for real fish,” Nolden explained. “It offers a fresh scent and a realistic presentation.”

He said at his shop about 20,000 to 25,000 dozen minnows are sold for live bait in the wintertime, and many customers end up picking up a few other things while they’re there.

“We estimate that that’s going to cost us between $300,000 and $400,000 in sales,” he said about the upcoming ban.

The ban is a part of the province’s strategy to prevent aquatic invasive species and diseases from entering Manitoba waterways.

“We’re trying to prohibit the movement of both the individual fish, but also those bags of water, which really could have a lot of negative impact on our fisheries,” Kroeker said.

He explained to CTV News that invasive fish species used as live bait can quickly spread and significantly change the ecosystem if introduced as live bait. He cited the rapid spread of rusty crayfish, used to lure bass, in Falcon Lake as an example.

“They actually clip off or destroy a lot of the aquatic vegetation, which is really important habitat for juvenile fish,” he said.

Kroeker also said the water live minnows and leeches are sold in can also carry invasive diseases, which could spread if dumped into a body of water when the fishing day is done.

Kroeker added there is already a ban on live bait in Manitoba Provincial Parks and a total ban in several other provinces, including Saskatchewan, Alberta, Northern BC, and sections of Quebec.

It’s meant to protect the valuable fisheries Manitoba has for everyone, he said.

“This is people’s food sources, it’s their livelihoods, and it’s the basis of a large segment of our economy,” Kroeker said. “So we feel it’s important to do everything we can to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species and diseases into our waters.”

But if you ask Nolden, there are bigger fish to fry when it comes to preventing the spread of invasive species, and at his shop, the live minnows are in City of Selkirk tap water.

“I don’t think that the minnows are what’s responsible for the invasive species in Manitoba,” he said.

Since 2021, the province has bought out more than 70% of the live bait harvesters, and many have shifted to preserved bait operations, Kroeker said.

Nolden said he is resigned to the live bait ban but feels that retailers like him should have been compensated by the province.

“We were trying to talk to the government, but they’ve pretty well made up their mind that’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “They’ve bought out most of the guys that produce the minnows. There’s only a few left in Manitoba now, and when it ends [in] April, that’s it; we’re done.”

Nolden said he needs to wait and see how the loss of the live bait industry will impact the viability of his business. He already sells other options like salted and frozen dead bait.