Hooking a Minnow: Eyes, lips, back, or tail?

How do you hook a minnow, through the eyes, lips, under dorsal fin, or through the tail? If I'm fishing under a bobber, most of the time I will hook them through the eyes. If I'm trolling, through the lips. I have hooked them through the back, especially if there's a bunch of baitstealers around, such as bream, yellow bass, or yellow perch. I have hooked larger minnows, such as creek chubs or shiners through the tail. Anyone care to share which method is best for the certain situation? BTW, about the only minnows in my neck of the woods are shiners and tuffies (fatheads). Shiners aren't as hardy, but I can catch them in a creek when I need them. Once I found a baby hogsucker in some tuffie minnows, and caught a nice crappie on it, too. Baltimore minnows used to be fairly common, but I don't see them anymore. Crappie will hit those, too. On hot days, Baltimores are handy because they don't seem heat sensitive and also they don't need a lot of oxygen. Of course, they're just dull colored goldfish, but occasionally you'd find a brightly colored goldfish, or a black bugeyed goldfish, or multicolored goldifish, I always just turned them into the lake (though I shouldn't).

I always hook them in the back because thats how my granny made me lol. She was a crappie fishin machine when she was alive.She loved to fish the heated docks in the wintertime. Always glad to take me along but you better do exactly what she told you or you would get a swat with a zebco 33 and it would be a long time before you fished with her again.

Granny knows best, I lost my paternal grandmother when I was 8 years old from a heart attack. My maternal granny lived to be 93. I don't know why she liked them, but she always liked to eat drum. She said when she was growing up at home, the fish peddlers would bring drum to buy, her father bought them. I wonder if they were a saltwater drum, but I doubt it because they lived WAY back in the woods. She liked most any fish, and every now and then, I'd keep a drum a foot long or so and she'd cook them. I tried them myself a time or two, but wasn't impressed.

Minnows seem to stay hooked longer for me if hooked through the eyes. One day I kept getting my minnows knocked off the hook. nibbled at, and stolen, and I finally hooked them in the back as you said, and immediately started catching fish, but it wasn't what I wanted--yellow bass. I switched to redworms and crawlers and caught about 50. They'd hit about any lure sized to them, tube jigs, spoons, twister tails, etc.

This has been rehashed countless times on here. The answer is...Granny is wrong! Through the lips, or more correctly, underside of mouth up through the head. They live longer on the hook this way and have a more natural movement.

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Originally Posted by Filletfrier

Through the lips, or more correctly, underside of mouth up through the head. They live longer on the hook this way and have a more natural movement.

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What size hook is best for this method? It probably depends upon the size of the minnow. I hardly ever go bigger than a #4 hook, but I like the #6's better. Some people say that's a little small, but I've caught catfish 35 lbs. or better on a #6 Aberdeen hook.

How far up the head do you need to go? between the nostrils, or above?

Under the back fin on minnows. If I was fishing chubs for Pike it would be through the tail

Fatman

i always hook them through the lips. that way when i send them down they can keep their dang mouth shut about whats going on topside!

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Filletfrier
This has been rehashed countless times on here. The answer is...Granny is wrong! Through the lips, or more correctly, underside of mouth up through the head. They live longer on the hook this way and have a more natural movement.

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Thanks but.....I don't understand :confused:
through the lips do U stck hook in mouth then out top of head??????? It takes some of us old folks awhile????Thanks

under the jaw and out thru the nostrimities............

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Originally Posted by minnowsoaker

under the jaw and out thru the nostrimities............

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That sounds good-that's the way I do when trolling or fishing a minnow on the bottom.

always trough the lip always heard fish eat there pray head first

Through the lips tipping jigs and thru the eyes without puncturing eyeballs with Kentucky or Reelfoot rigs. Can hook em thru the lips with these rigs but in my experience once the water warms up they live quite a bit longer when hooked thru the eye socket.

I don't troll in south louisiana, but I always fish shinners.
Always fish with a cork or verticle jigging.

Hook thru the lips.

from the bottom up thru the top.
there's a V on the bottom lip, go right in the middle then bring the hook thru the top lip.

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Originally Posted by minnowsoaker

under the jaw and out thru the nostrimities............

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Pretty much this way all the time. I'll ocassionally stick one thru the tail section but rarely. On nightstalks when the fish are really hitting the baits hard then however they get picked up out of the minnow net is the way they go on the hook.;)

i like ...through the lips for tight lining and through the back under a bobber but i very seldom fish with a bobber

Thru the lips because ........................

I like to use a jig head and hook them up through the chin into the hard part of the nose. Has a more natural presentation plus better visiblity in deep water.

If I am using a gold crappie hook it goes through the back behind the top fin.

Quit a few years back I was at BPS Spring Classic and Walley Marshall was talking, after his talk I caught up with him in the tackle section. I asked this exact question.

His reply;"In one eye and out the other, don't draw blood and don't tell PETA."
I have done it that way since.

Under the jaw and out the top of the head which is basicly through the lips. Don't come out too high up on the head, though, or you will kill them.

For trolling I like hooking them through the lips. For vertical fishing I like to hook them right behind their dorsal fin.

I'm like fishinaholic. I get more bites when tightliening a dorsal hooked minnow.

I get more action when I hook it in the tail. I am usually doing a slip bobber setup too. It also seems to live a lot longer on the hook.

Up here in Missouri I usually hook them thru the lips with a #6 hook. And when it gets hot and the fish are not moving much I go to a #8 gold hook. Most of the time I try to get the smallest minnows I can find.

Last year I was out crappie fishing and kept having fish steal my bait when I had it hooked to through the tail. These fish turned out to be White Perch, but they couldn't steal it when I hooked em through the eyes and I caught a boat load of em!

As far as crappie fishing if I tip a jig it goes through their lips. If I'm spider rigging I always try half hooked through the eyes and half through the tail to see what does better. Usually end up sticking with through the eyes cause they seem to live longer that way.

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Originally Posted by Crappie Buster

As far as crappie fishing if I tip a jig it goes through their lips. If I'm spider rigging I always try half hooked through the eyes and half through the tail to see what does better. Usually end up sticking with through the eyes cause they seem to live longer that way.

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... minnows hooked thru the tail, and dragged thru the water, are gonna drown :p
You'd probably do better hooking them thru the eye socket, or lip hooking them, if you're going to be moving at any speed. Tail hooked minnows and back hooked minnows are generally for tightline presentations (stationary).
Moving slow/drifting, & tipping a jig with a minnow ... I'd vote for lip hooking.
Moving fast/trolling, & tipping a jig with a minnow ... it doesn't always matter if the minnow is alive, so you can put the jighook INTO the mouth of the minnow and bring it out thru the top of its head. The jig will make the minnow ride upright, and the forward motion will impart enough action to make the minnow appear alive.

... cp :cool:

Under the chin and out the nose.

I usually tip jigs with minnows so I hook mine through the bottom jaw out the top of the head... this works well for me...
Blake

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Originally Posted by crappiepappy

... minnows hooked thru the tail, and dragged thru the water, are gonna drown :p
... cp :cool:

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Yes, they drown when they're in any kinda water that has current, or you're reeling them back toward yoreself don,t mater what kinda water. When the fish are biting, it don,t matter, as long as when they're hooked in the tail , amd thee fish bit im the lasst 20 mighnutes ; somebody else paid for them or youe'd caughed them yuorself and ain't worrried about it. :eek: