Hey Shawn, you don't need to do much different at all for live bait fishing. Most of my jig pole fishing is with a slip bobber, so that's usually the way that I minnow fish as well. However, it's not a must that you use a bobber with live bait. If you do decide to use a float, be sure to use the smallest that you can get away with, and match it to the right split-shot. You want the bobber to pull under easily.

Fishing thick cover with a minnow can be tricky. That lil' dude is gonna try his best to wrap around every piece of cover and get you hung. That is where the thin-wire cricket hooks, as discussed by DeepThoughts, comes into play. Don't be scared to use them, as these hooks will hold up to some big fish. If you get hung, you can usually straighten the hook out, bend it back, rebait, and back to fishin'.

The other thing is how to hook the minnow. You can hook them through the lips, by hooking just behind the lips when they are smooched out. Another way is to hook them through the eyes, just through one eye and out the other. Lastly, you can hook 'em through the back so that they hang in the air just as they would swim in the water. Hooking 'em like this is a little trickier cuz you have to find the sweet spot to keep 'em alive.

Now is the time of year to use minnows since they keep so easily. Good luck with 'em.