Keeping minnows on barbless hooks

[Fin Addict]

I am going to Manitoba for a trip this spring and will need to use barbless hooks. Any tricks for keeping them on the hook. I planned to use a piece of rubber band for the main hook. I frequently fish a Fireball w/ a stinger, any suggestions for keeping the stinger in place?

[ebijack]

a small piece of plastic, either pieces of a gurb/worm body or for a tighter fit, use a paper punch on a margarine container lid and punch a bunch out, they work good also. hope that helps

[Mike1700]

Al Lindner had a segment on one of his previous shows that is the slickest thing I have ever seen. Take your minnow right side up. Take your fireball jig point down. Put the point of the hook down through the tip of the minnows lower lip. Thread the hook through, spin the hook around and now bring the hook point up through the bottom of the minnow out the top of its head like you normally would. This will pin the minnow right behingd the head of that firebal and it wont come off. No need to mess around with rubber bands or snap a piece of plastic on the jig. Slick as heck. Thanks AL, just another one of the many things he has passed on to make walleye fishing alot more productive.

[River_eye]

I live in manitoba and the way we do it is basically the way that mike said, except I put the hook through in different spots. As long as the hook goes through the minnow twice you should be fine. I put my hook down through the minnow right in front of the dorsal fin, then back up through the stomach.

by the way, where in manitoba are you going?

River eye

[Backwater Eddy]

Try jigs and hooks with wire weed guards. The weed guard should be trimed to just touch the tip of the hook point.

The guard acts like a retainer and holds live bait in place. I fish barbless in the US and Canada and use this trick in live bait jigging situations, works very well.

I think the wire helps to hold the fish on the hook as well. It seems to wedge on the lip of the fish and keep from being shook free on head shake's and roll's.

Backwater Eddy