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Cool and Collected

  • Updated: September 21, 2007
Cool and Collected

Cool and Collected

Cool and Collected
Make a better killie keeper and vary their color, too. Whether you call them killies, mud minnows or mummichogs, these baitfish are deadly on many salt water species. While most anglers use live wells or over-the-side keepers tethered to the boat to keep killies kicking, there is an easier way. Killies can survive with very little oxygen, and as long as they’re kept cool and their gills are moist, you’ll have lively baits all day. Here’s how to make the perfect killie carrier. “” Darren Dorris Ed Luterio
Cool and Collected

Cool and Collected

Fill the bottom of a small flip-top cooler with three inches of ice. Ed Luterio
Cool and Collected

Cool and Collected

Take a section from the newspaper””at least six pages””and wet it with salt water. Make sure it is thoroughly saturated, not just moist. The whole paper should darken from the water. Ed Luterio
Cool and Collected

Cool and Collected

Fit the paper in the cooler on top of the ice, being sure to allow the edges to flip up along the inner walls and create a “pan.”¿ This prevents the baits from slipping past the paper and into the fresh water from the melting ice below. Ed Luterio
Cool and Collected

Cool and Collected

Place the killies on the newspaper and close the lid. Periodically check the baits to make sure they’re not sitting in the fresh water, which will kill them. Keeping killies this way also makes them darken in color, turning them almost black. This color change causes them to stand out in contrast to sun-drenched sand flats or in clear water. Ed Luterio
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