The Minnow is in season from March to Michaelmas, except immediately after spawning time. It is not inferior to any fish for the excellence of its taste. It begins to bite about an hour after sun-rise, and is taken at mid-water, or close to the bottom. The best bait is the smallest red-worm. Use a float, and the same small-sized hooks as are used for Bleak. After Michaelmas the Minnow betakes itself to the mud, or weedy places in rivers, as a preservative against floods, and a security against its becoming a prey to other fish. The Minnow is more sought after as a bait than an article of food, although Walton recommends the Minnow tansies as " a dainty dish of meat." To the young sportsman the Minnow yields plenty of amusement. In hot weather they will bite eagerly all day, and are frequently drawn out of the water from their adhering to the end of the worm. The best and easiest method of catching them is, to have three or four hooks baited with the least red-worm, or the piece of one, and a crow-quill float; fish deeper than mid-water, or near the ground, in shallow places, in eddies, and at the sides of small streams.

Minnows are excellent baits for many fish; when caught they should be kept in bran, which dries up the moisture, and although stiff at first, and, consequently, will not spin so well, from the bran sticking fast to them, yet after a short time it will wash off, and they will be sufficiently pliable.