I know finger mullet are great but in an attempt to save time chasing bait, how well do mud minnows work in comparison? If I can save an hour scouting for bait and go straight to fishing it may be worth buying a couple dozen mud minnows from the bait store. Amy thoughts?
Get a minnow trap and a can of cheap cat food, put it in the right place and you can catch 200 in 10 minutes! Don’t get a plastic trap - they wont go near it.
Do you prefer minnows over mullet?
yes! they are easier to keep alive and they are a lively bait
Depends on what I am fishing and where I am fishing and also what time of year.
Early in the year when finger mullet are not “finger” size yet, I like mud minnows for trout and spottail. Hard to beat the peanut menhaden though that time of year though. If I am fishing for flounder where there are not alot of rocks, but mainly sandy or mud bottom, then I prefer mudminnows. When the finger mullet are here from now until late fall, I prefer using about a 5" finger mullet. Just remember to not hook the mouth closed so it can breath! Don’t have to worry about that with a mudminnow as I think it is almost impossible to kill them! I like the FM around rocks becasue they will not swim into the holes or try to hide under the rocks like the mudminnows will, thus not as many hang ups. I also like the FM in the fall as it tends to weed out the smaller spottails. Want to catch BIG trout, use a 6"FM or bigger!
Early in the year, mudminnows or peanut menhaden.
Later in the year, finger mullet and shrimp.
If you have a good MM hole and can get a crab, take the back off and step on it and use it for bait! 
Yeah, I know they are easier to keep alive. They would probably stay alive half of the day on the floor of the boat. Do you set the trap in a muddy area? Oyster bed?
I like to set the trap in a creek mouth that almost goes dry on a falling tide. The minnows have to come out with the fall! That’s also a good spot to fish. The predator fish will hang out there waiting for the food to come running out
Thanks for the tips
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mud minnows seem to out last finger mullet for me…
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went.”
Will Rogers
Hands down mud minnows. I fish areas that are loaded with finger mullet and mud minnows not so much. I think the fish like to see bait that isnt readily available. I went fishing today and caught a bunch of finger mullet and just a few minnows. When I finally threw a minnow after awhile of using mullet, I caught a trout.
Usually it’s shrimp,mud minnows then mullet
But sometimes you’ll catch the big trout on a mullet
Welcome aboard and let us know what you see out there