How do you hook your minnows

[CrappiePappy]

I worm mine on starting at the tail and come out the mouth. Fish swallow minnows head first and I don't like them hitting the line before they get the minnow in their mouth. Lots of people call this a short strike, but the truth is they are hitting the line first. You feel the bump from the lips hitting the line but no hookup. When you get a bunch of this, worm them on tail first.

IMHO -
You are mostly correct that fish "swallow their food head first" ... but, mostly when the food is large in size or is a hard finned species. Small or soft finned species may be swallowed however they end up in the mouth/throat ... position-wise. But that has little to do with how they actually "bite" ... because they don't actually "bite" the minnow, but in fact they "inhale" the minnow (and a lot of surrounding water) and force the excess water out through their gills. This inhaling motion overrides any "line biting" or "hitting the line first" aspects, as the force of the inhaling act is strong enough to pull the minnow/hook/line into their mouth, or even a jig/plastic or jig/minnow, without getting close to the main line to touch it before the bait enters their mouth.

Short strikes/shy bites are when the fish are not too sure about the edibility of your offering, and nip at it or use their lips to "test" the bait. Even then they aren't likely to "hit the line first", seeing as how the bait would be at the end of the line (and possibly below a sinker). It's just not in the mechanics of the strike, for that to happen.

That's one reason I prefer to use jigs, over minnows on a hook/sinker rig. When I get a hit on a jig, I set the hook and usually hook the fish in the roof of the mouth ... due to the fact that the hook on a jig is facing upwards. When using a hooked minnow under a sinker, the first bend or bounce of the rod tip is not always the time to set the hook. And when you are sure the fish has the bait in their mouth, you're not sure how far in it is or in what position the hook is laying. That sometimes results in fish hooked deep in their throat, or hooked only at the outer lip. You will lose a lot more fish, if the fish is hooked in the lip, because the thin membrane between the lip and head of the fish is easily torn (by the hooking process, or thrashing of the fish) and leaves a gaping hole for the hook to come out of (if they get any slack in the line).

I've even experienced hooking fish in the lip, with a weedless jig, and having the hook tear a large hole in the membrane, jump & thrash in the water and even on the floor of the boat ... and not have the hook (jig) thrown from the fish's mouth. Why ..... because the weedguard covers the gap between the hook point & body of the jig. A regular hook has to be stuck into something more substantial than just being around the lip & into the mouth membrane, or it's likely to come loose.

... cp