Are spoons with live bait legal?

[toughguy]

I have seen in magazines and tv shows people using spoons with treble hooks tipped with minnow heads. Is this legal in MN? According to the regs treble hooks can only be used with artificial lures. Does this count as an artificial lure with live bait added or does adding the minnow head count as a live bait set up?

[DaveyG]

That's a great question. I want to know the answer to that too. I was wondering the same thing awhile back, but I never asked the question.

Also, I've seen people talking about quickstrike rigs, which is two treble hooks, one attached to head of the minnow, one attached to the tail, and there is some question about what's legal in Minnesota versus other states. I've heard something about whether or not the rig has a blade can affect its legality, but I'm just not clear.

Would love to know the answer to the quickstrike rig issue as well.

[hanson]

The only thing illegal about using a treble hook is if you tie a treble hook onto the end of your line and fish with it. ILLEGAL.

If the treble hook is a part of a spoon, jigging rap, etc. it is considered a lure and is legal. This is no different than any other crankbait on the market, some have 2 trebles, some have 3.

QS Rigs are legal as well if they have a small spinner blade on them. The trebles are now considered a lure with the addition of the little spinner.

(This QS argument has been argued to death in the past about whether it is legal with a bead or a spinner. It is probably 50/50 what people believe. I think the spinner blade is required to make it a lure. I don't think the spinner blade hurts the presentation at all. In fact, I've been using larger and larger blades on my live bait rigs to help get that extra flash below the ice.)

[toughguy]

Thanks Hanson. I'll go with trebles as long as there is something else on with it.