Proper way to hook minnow to jig

[wilson]

Ok guys its obvious Im a rookie at this but I appreciate all the help. What is the proper way to hook a minnow and leach to a jig

[REW]

It depends -
If you are jig fishing and casting a lot -
Then you have about 4 options.
A common way is to hook the minnow through the lips, if you lightly hook the minnow through the lips, and particularly if using smaller jigs, this will enhance the action of the minnow, and allow it to live longer.

Another way - particularly, if you are doing lots of casting - particularly - with shiner minnows - is to run the hoomk right through the soft spot in the center of their skull. It will kill the minnow, but most of a jigs action, is what you give it and not what the fish give it.

A third way - that a lot of folks use - is to run the hook crosss wise right through both eyes of the minnow - the minnow will be injured, but will stay alive. Often the fresh scent from the pierced eyes, tend to attract fish - gruesome but true.

A 4th way - particularly, if you want the minnow to stay alive for a long time, and you are tending to drag the minnow, and jig, rather than cast it - is to use a long shank hook, run the hook through the mouth, out the gill plate, back up through the vent and over its back. This keeps the minnow on - and it also puts the hook near the tip of the tail - to help those times when the minnow is striking short.

A 5th way - particularly, if slip bobber fishing with a small jig - like a 1/32 or 1/16oz jig, want to maximize the action - is to lightly hook the minnow through the tail. This will keep the minnow struggling longer and make a more active bait. Also, by doing a lift drop every few minutes, it will keep the minnow active.

Conversely, if you do this on a minnow, that you are either casting or dragging - you will quickly drown the minnow. This happens because you are dragging it backward, and its gills won't function properly.

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On the same vein - often times, when I am fishing with shiner minnows, I prefer to fish with "fresh dead" shiner minnows - rather than live shiners. I will take a 1/2 dozen minnows out of the bait well at a time, and allow to lie in the bottom of the boat, or an empty plastic bucket, until they die, and riger mortis sets in -- typically 1/2 hour or so. When they die, and the rigor sets in - they will typically assume a "bent" shape. Now, when you hook these on your jig - best through the spot in their head - or some other way, to totally capture the minnow -- and start jigging - the bent shape remains - as you do your jigging. The net result is that as you jig - the minnow will jump sideways as well as up and down -- drives the fish wild. I discovered this one day, when fishing with my wife - and she preferred to put on dead minnows, that were floating, simply because they were easier to put on her jig. After outfishing me about 5 to one - I decided to put on a dead minnow, and quickly caught up.

I do say "fresh kill" because if the minnows have been dead for more than a couple of hours, they basically come apart, and you can't keep them on your hook.

Take care and catch a bunch.

REW

[Melonbob_ON]

Minnow - Through the lips, facing up, or, through the back, towards the tail, they will stay alive longer this way.....

Leech, I prefer once, right behind the sucker, but many go through the other end, or at the mid point...