I had got there by train, and spent a good couple of hours patrolling up and down the river looking for Dace and Chub. There were loads to be found, 8oz+ Dace, massive Chub and even a river Carp could all be seen in the crystal clear, shallow water. It was summer and kids were splashing around in the water, but the fish were seemingly undisturbed, but try as I might I could not catch any of those Chub, or that Carp. I did have a few Roach and nice Dace, but I digress. Everywhere I put my float, for I only had maggots on me, I caught Minnows. No sooner had the bait touched the water, a Minnow would shoot up and grab it.
Now most anglers hate Minnows. They want to catch other much bigger fish species, as I was trying to admittedly do that day. Those anglers who hate them call them ‘pests’ and ‘nuisance fish’ and ‘so small they are not worth bothering with’, but I am different. I love Minnows.
Rather than get annoyed with them on that day on the River Wey, I fined down all my fishing gear and spent the best part of 2 or 3 hours specifically catching Minnows. Hundreds of them! After counting 200 fish, I lost count of how many I had, and I loved every second of it.
Much like a plant in a garden seen as a ‘weed’, if you grow it on purpose it becomes a beautiful wildflower, you can make nuisance fish into a fine quarry for a day of fishing by aiming for them.
To me, to be a TRUE angler and fisherman you should have a love and respect of all fish, and I love catching them all, not ‘even’ the humble Minnow...ESPECIALLY the humble Minnow.
I’ve had Minnow sessions many times in my angling history, and really end up getting into it, even to a point where I have taken some home and put in a fish tank to study them and their breeding behaviour, which is absolutely fascinating. Those who have not seen the stunning red bellied male Minnow during breeding season are truly missing out.
Trust me, anyone who tells you a Minnow is a boring, bland nothing of a fish, really isn’t worth listening to.
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| A Marvel in Miniature |
The Brave, Colourful Schooler
Minnow
(Phoxinus phoxinus)
European or Common Minnows are tiny fish, only around 2-3 inches long at their biggest. They are found across Europe and Eurasia, as far afield as Siberia. A member of the carp family Cyprinidae of the genus Phoxinus, they are abundant in clean, clear, cool fast waters.
They have dark olive green backs with a brown stripe down the sides of the body and pale white/cream bellies. In the right light you are also able to see gold edging to their tiny scales. These fish also have striped banding, similar to that of a Perch, which becomes more pronounced on the male fish during breeding season. During breeding season all the colours on the male become more pronounced, and their bellies turn to a bright red colour.
Females are larger and broader than the males.
They have a short, rounded dorsal fin and a forked caudal fin. Minnows have a blunt nose and large eyes for their size to keep a good look out for predators.
Minnows can live for around 2-5 years, though many don't make it to breeding age at around a year old.
Minnows are forever alert and quick to dart away from danger, and towards food.
The current British Record Minnow (as of 2021) stands at 13.5 drams and was caught by James Sawyer in 1998 in, oddly enough, a lake. Whitworth Lake in County Durham.
A Minnow of 6+ drams is considered to be a specimen.
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| Some Chunky looking Specimens |
Habitat
Minnows are most commonly found in large numbers in clean, well oxygenated water, making rivers and streams their usual habitat. Schools are often found in shallow, low flow areas such as slack water and back eddies where swimming is easier and food more easily found. Also they prefer to be under cover of trees or marginal plants to avoid the eyes of hungry predators from above. They like quite cool waters between 12-20 degrees celsius. Minnow can sometimes rarely be found in lakes and ponds, but usually these areas don't provide the clear well oxygenated environment they require.
Diet
Minnows, being a very small fish, eat very small things. Freshwater shrimps, tiny crustaceans, insect larvae, insects and molluscs are all quickly snapped up when located, as are aquatic plants and algae.
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| Minnow Schooled for Safety |
Breeding
During breeding season Minnows are known to make short migrations upstream to spawn in the shallows. These areas tend to have less predators and the water is more oxygenated leading to better egg development. Breeding season is usually between April and August, which is a very long breeding season compared to other UK freshwater fish. By having a long breeding season it means the fish can spawn multiple times and boost their numbers enough to account for all the loss due to predation.
The male of the species undergoes amazing changes during the breeding season. While the female tends to get a bit broader, the male changes colours dramatically. The usual dark markings and stripes on its flanks become much deeper and darker and more pronounced, and the gill cover changes to show white markings. On their heads, white bumpy spots called tubercles appear, but most noticeable of all, the males develop bright red bellies.
Males chase females through the water, rubbing their colourful sides against females. The males temperament also becomes more aggressive towards other males, as they try to ensure that the strongest fish get to fertilise the eggs when they are laid.
Breeding occurs over stony, gravelly or sandy substrate and occurs in large schools, with all fish breeding simultaneously.
Each female Minnow lays between 500-1000 eggs that drop through the water as the brightly coloured males fight and rush in to fertilise them before they stick to a surface on the river bed. Minnow eggs only take 5-10 days to hatch, depending on the temperature of the water, and the young fish sexually mature in a year, if they make it past the predators to get that far.
Predators
The poor little Minnow is right near the bottom of the food chain and is therefore eaten by pretty much every water based predator you can think of. From above, birds such as Kingfishers and Grebes put Minnows high on their menu alongside many other fish eating species, Whereas underwater, Minnows are readily hunted by Perch, Pike, and Trout and all other predatory fishes and invertebrates. For a Minnow, the threat of being eaten is never ending.
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| The Breeding Colours of a Male Minnow |
Survival
As mentioned before, a key survival strategy of the Minnow is to breed. Having a long breeding season means they can breed multiple times throughout the year and make their numbers soar.
Minnows are always found in large schools which helps them against predation. The more individuals there are in a school, the more eyes there are to keep watch on anything trying to eat them. Being in a large group also helps with finding and foraging for food in a similar way. More eyes find food quicker and easier.
However, there are some downsides to the schooling mentality. As a group Minnows are more noticeable, and competition for food is increased the more individuals there are. There is also an increased chance of diseases and parasites spreading through the fish, so it's not all easy being in a large crowd.
An odd thing a Minnow does do though is create a chemical when a predator is detected, though sadly the word ‘detected’ in this case often means ‘eating the individual’.
On death or damage the Minnow emits the chemical signal and the other Minnows react accordingly to avoid the predator, usually by balling up tighter together, as each individual Minnow tries to be at the centre of the school and furthest away from the danger. They will noticeably also go a lot paler in colour to baffle the predator more, which is why if you catch one when angling, it is often quite pale compared to its usual colouration. The chemical releasing behavior is odd because the chemical does not benefit the individual Minnow itself. By then it's too late for that one. But perhaps it helps siblings or, particularly, offspring of the individual in the school.
As a general rule, the more predator pressure there is in water, the bigger the Minnow schools are.
Another odd, and extremely brave behavior Minnows show is called Predator Inspection. When a predator such as a Pike arrives in the swim, some Minnows from a school, rather than flee from it, will actually swim towards and around it to assess its danger. This vastly increases the chance the Minnow will be attacked, but interestingly it does help the Minnow to survive. It has been noted that these brave fish that inspect the predators in this way often escape them as they are more aware of the danger than others, and can therefore react quicker.
It is also true that in waters where predator numbers are high, this brave inspection behavior is seen to increase.
Conservation
Minnows are a very abundant fish in UK rivers, particularly in the South. So long as their river systems remain clean, clear, oxygenated and unpolluted, the species will no doubt continue to thrive. Improved water management throughout the years, particularly better management of farm runoff, has seen rivers and streams become a lot cleaner and more oxygenated and benefit this fish greatly.
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| The Golden Scales in the Glowing Sun |
Fishing
Under no circumstances are Minnow hard to catch on the hook. Float fish on a fine line with a size 20 or 22 hook baited with a maggot, pinkie or squat and they will attack your bait with no remorse at all. In fact free-lining is also a good method, just keeping an eye on the bait drifting through the clear water until it disappears into a Minnows mouth.
No reel is usually required for Minnows, so whips and poles, or even willow branches can be used to get the fish in quickly. And of course there is always the option of rolling up your trousers and getting in the water with them and netting them, though I have found this technique to be considerably more difficult due to the fish's speed.
In fact, Minnows are such bait robbers that many anglers find it harder NOT to catch them, when trying to aim for other species. In this case harder and bigger baits tend to last longer against the relentless feeding of a large Minnow school.
To catch a bigger Minnow requires two things, locating a venue where big Minnows are present, and engaging them in a war of attrition to eventually catch a bigger specimen through the crowds.
Being such a readily eaten prey, it is also worth keeping a couple of Minnows in a bait tub during Minnow fishing sessions, with a spare rod set up for Perch fishing to hand so that if the Minnow school you are catching from shows any signs of startled fish with a predator arriving, you can pop on a live Minnow to catch them.
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| Only with a set of Miniature Scales and the specimens be found |
I think, regarding fishing for Minnows, what makes them so special is the fact that no anglers target them. I guarantee most anglers who catch Minnows throw them back unheeded, and actually throw back specimen fish or even British record fish. I always carry around a set of miniature scales with me when I go fishing, so I am able to weigh the biggest ones I catch.
When I’m fishing for a Minnow I know that there is probably hardly anyone else out there at the same time doing the same thing on purpose, and that makes it all the more special, compared to that of a Carp, say, who will be being targeted by thousands.
As you can tell from what I've written above, Minnows are surprisingly colourful fish, and despite being the bottom of the food chain, surprisingly brave and bold fish, especially in their large schools.
They are vastly important creatures in a healthy ecosystem, not only indicating the good water quality where they thrive, but providing so many other animals with food by becoming food themselves.
A Minnow is a marvel in miniature.
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