Which grade fits the job?
Golden shiners are sold by grade, and the grade is a width cut, so the count in a box is a close estimate and not a promise to the fish. The farm says so itself: all fish are graded by width, so length and counts are approximate. Read the numbers below as what a box usually holds.
A #4 shiner is the smallest bait grade, about 1 1/2 inches and 250 to the pound. A 4 lb box of #4 holds roughly 1,000 fish. A #6 runs about 166 to the pound at 2 1/4 inches, so a 4 lb box holds roughly 664. Those two are the grades people reach for when the target is crappie or when a pond needs small forage.
A #12 shiner is about 3 inches and 83 to the pound, and a 5 lb box holds roughly 415. A #20 is about 3 1/2 inches at 50 to the pound, and a box holds roughly 250. The brooder grade is the big one: about 4 inches, 26 to the pound, around 130 to a box. Brooders are what you stock when you want fish that will spawn, and they are also the grade for the larger game fish that ignore a small bait.
Golden shiner fry are listed too, at 250,000, for growers who raise their own fish to size. On the store, golden shiner minnows run from $85 to $165 depending on grade and box weight, with 1 lb, 2 lb, 4 lb and 5 lb boxes offered.
Why does the farm call it the benchmark species?
In the farm's own words, Golden Shiner is I.F. Anderson's benchmark species, and the volume explains why. The farm hatches one billion golden shiners a year, on 3,400 surface acres of ponds at the home place just west of Lonoke, Arkansas.
That scale is what makes a twelve-month inventory possible. Shiners are on hand in every grade through the year, and orders ship twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Orders must be in by 10:00 a.m. Central on the shipping day. The 1-800-20-MINNO line, 1-800-206-4666, covers overnight delivery details, and each box travels FedEx overnight direct to the door.
Fish leave the farm after loading with custom buckets and forklifts fitted with digital scales on the forks, a setup the farm built to cut handling stress. A shiner that was not rattled at the loading dock has a better start when the box is opened the next morning.
How do you keep them alive after the box opens?
Have the holding tank running before the box arrives. The farm's care guidelines are short: use a well-aerated tank, fill it with fresh water, and treat municipal water with a chlorine and chloramine remover first, since tap water that is safe to drink can kill a tank of shiners.
Keep the tank in shade around the clock, or inside an air-conditioned building. Shiners that sit in a warm, sunlit tank use up their oxygen quickly. How much water you need depends on the water temperature, because warm water holds less oxygen and carries fewer fish per gallon than cold.
Follow the instructions packed in the box. The farm guarantees fish to arrive alive and healthy, and the guarantee asks that those box instructions were followed. If there is a problem, report it within 24 hours with photos by text, phone or email. The remedy is a refund or account credit, with no exchanges.
