hooking minnows

[oil painter]

Just out of curiosity how do you guys like to hook your minnows under a jig? my preference is behind the head lightly under the back skin. keeps the minnow level and crapps hit from the head. I know guys who hook from the tail or threw the lips thought I would see if there is a predominant winner!!

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I usually hook my crappie minnows in the gut area, just above the vent. They tend to hang head down that way and they struggle more to remain level. And as you said most fish hit the head first, this way it makes it easier for them to do so.

I also hook my smaller walleye minnows this way a lot of the time.

Cliff

[booshy]

I have always liked hooking them thru the back (middle of the minnow) but I also like the behind the head if the fish are just sucking on the minnow head.

I know guys that hook thru the mouth, but I've never done that since it seems that it would be harder for the fish to inhale or approach the bait.

[mark n]

Other than the methods already mentioned, I will typicaly hook em right through the eyes. That sometimes works to trigger a tough bite.

Alot of times when the crappies are biting real light or finniky, I'll put a small hook way back in the middle of the tail. When it appears on the graff it might have it in It's mouth, or I feel a slight tug on the line, I'll let them take it for a few feet and then I set the hook.

[Dan Thiem]

When ever I used to go after crappies with crappie minnow I used to hook the through the top of the back. Way behind the dorsal. My way of figuring was not to damage any vitals. They would stay alive and wiggle pretty good.

Then after cameras came around I saw that it was a very un-natural apperence.

So I started hooking them through the skin just in front of the dorsal fin. In the "shoulders" area and that seemed to work pretty good too.

Then I met Fiskyknut and his bud Jimbo. We were walleye fishing on LOTW. They would hook a shinner through the "bung hole" area. Man did that make them wiggle. Whoa! I guess I'd wiggle too. LOL.

So now, even if I'm using a crappie minnow and not a shinner, I will put that hook where the sun don't shine. And it's been working excellent! They really do struggle more to correct themselve to swim up-right. Hooking them that way can make the Ice Buster dance like Mike Jackson!

[lunker651]

All of the above.

[fiskyknut]

As lunker 651 says, all of the above. Jig types, minnow types, species of fish sought, mood of fish, and current/depth all come into play with this question.

fiskyknut

[oil painter]

Interesting! there is no clear winner yet. I would have thought that the would have been a clear cut majority on hooking but it seems that we are a diverse bunch!!would like to hear more replys if possible thanks

[fishing tech]

I hook them through the mouth, lips, back, and the tail. It depends on the jig and how active the fish are. Keep trying until they bite. That is the differance between catching and fishing.

[BLACKJACK]

On crappie minnows, right up thru the bung hole gets my vote. Buddy Hillman up on Red showed it to me a couple years ago and I've been doing it ever since. Good minnow action and it allows the crappies to take them 'head on'.

[metrojoe]

It really depends on what kind of jig I'm using, but I've hooked them all the ways mentioned above except for the "bung hole" method. That just seems weird , but if it works, what the heck.

[marine_man]

I usually hook them through the back, toward the front part of the dorsal fin and hook them from the rear forward, so the point of the hook is facing the head of the minnow...

And this past weekend I tried hooking them where the sun don't shine and got a lot of motion that way... I didn't catch any fish with it, but I only caught one fish on my set line for the three days I was fishing, so I wouldn't consider that a real good field test...

marine_man

[dougger222]

According to Doug Stange editor in chief for In-Fisherman in the first ice fishing video in 1989 he hooks the minnows two ways. One being through the back inserting the hook behind the dorsal fin going from back to front like the previous poster made mention to. The hook is just under the skin parallel to the dorsal fin. The second way is through the snout from top to bottom.

[reddogadventures]

I learned the same trick while up on Red. Running the hook up through the bung seems to keep them alive much longer with good action.

Is it wrong of me to feel just a bit sorry for the minnow when I do that? They don't have feelings...right guys? I try not to think about it too much, but sometimes I think the minnows are staring at me when I hook them up. Maybe I should open the vents on my house more often.

All of that passes when I land a keeper so I guess I'm still OK.

[Bigfife]

For you guys hooking your minnows in the rear end, does the hook come out somewhere? I am having a hard time picturing this.

[CrappieJohn]

How a minnow is hooked for ice fishing really depends on the bait and what you are fishing for.

If you are doing the crappie thing and those fish are post cold front and have tight lips, the last thing you will want is a bait that is going bonkers. Hooking a minnow that allows just a slight wiggle will get you more fish in this situation. The very small minnows are in order too for th crappies just mentioned. The moee stable and consistant the weather, the more aggressive the bait should be.

If you are doing the northerns, just about the opposite is true. Dead and cut baits will get as many fish a live baits when the fish are on a good bite during the stable weather, but you need to have that motion in the bait when fronts are out and about.

[oil painter]

Interesting comments1 I agree with crappie tom, the reason that I hook right behind the head is this, the minnow stays horizontil,and unless the crappies are agressive,they seem to always hit from the front on a stationary bait,walleyes do too as far as I know. Now Im talkin neutral fish here which is most of the time when I fish... so if they hit from the front and you hook behind the head =less missed fish better, quicker hook set!this applys to using a demon or simular bait.Im not saying other methods wont work this just seems to work well for me, however Im intrigued by the vent hole slide so I will give that A shot!!It seems like there are options out there if we all had the time to try them...

[kdawg]

OK, now that I'm done reading your thread 3 times, and laughing my butt off every time I get to the "bung-hole" reference and subsequent comments, I need to ask: How exactly are you hooking them? Is the hook coming from the bottom of the fish and up into the, ahem, bung-hole, and going through and out the back?

[Dan Thiem]

Well Dawg, When I'm hooking a little 'ol crappie minnow first I tell the little thing "Sorry dude but this is gonna hurt you more than it hurts me." Then I get my little size 12 Mamooska and poke it in the bottom. The hook never comes out the other side. Small hook just buries in the rear of the body.

If I hook a jig into a shiner minnow the larger hook will come out the top. Really I don't use any presicion hooking. Just hook the thing and send it down the hole screamin.

[oil painter]

I have just erased 3 posts which would probably get me banned but it is so hard to resist!!! I will try tommorrow and see how it goes

[metrojoe]

I just tried the "bung hole" and upside down method last weekend. Both seem to work well, but I definitely got more action from the minnow when it was upside down. It got a lot of attention from the perch also.

[mitch]

I'm having a hard time picturing this. Could some one please post pics or describe it better.