Hooking Minnows (Ice Fishing)

[EricCO]

Whats the best way you have found for hooking minnows when ice fishing?

Do you hook them through the mouth, tail, or dorsal. How about using jigs versus a hook and split shot?

[Adam]

I hook em' just behind the dorsal fin when using tip-ups and if using jigs I'll hook em' through the mouth and out the top of the head. I use small trebel hooks with the tip ups, just my thing.... like a #10 or #12, you have to dig them out a lot, but I feel I get more hook ups.

Adam.

[mwk]

I can speak for hooking fat head minnows on bobbers or tip-ups. Thats what I have on most of the time. I hook right in front of the back fin real lightly. The fathead must swim as naturally as he can or I get a new one. If the hook is too far back the minnow after getting tired hangs straight up and down "not good." I prefer little weighted ice jigs. The ice jigs prevent the minnow from swimming up away from the fish to some extent. I tend to stay away from plain hooks. With plain hooks the fatheads can swim up to and past the split shot. The walleye following closely runs into this and might shy off. We spend a lot of time watching the underwater camera on mille lacs and this is what I have noticed.

[Walleye Express]

Eric.
Rather I pinch the minnow in half or hook the whole she-bang on one of the trebeles of my ice fishing jigging choice. I always hook the minnow through the top of the head, directly between the eyes, down and out the between the gills. This is the best way to keep the bait on for long periods of time without jigging him off. Believe me, (No pun intended)

I hook them the same way when 1/4 casting jigs. They'll stay on for 50 casts or more, versus the dozen or so you get when going from the bottom up. Plus, this keeps the white belly side up when jigging. Looking more like a struggeling, wounded baitfish as you jig.

[Gate Keeper]

I hook them thru the eyes, so they have side action. The only problem is sometimes they will actually slide off the hook when jigging, but any other method I still frequently check my bait or I can usually feel when I have loss the minnow anyways by lack of weight at the end of line.

Predator on the Prowl!