# Fishing with minnows



## N8ON (Oct 7, 2010)

Last year I was introduced to fishing with minnows using the Mustand Minnow Hooks.
I decided to give it a try at the Berry a couple of weekends ago. I would get a lot of pick ups, set the hook, fight the fish for a minute and it felt like the fish would open its mouth, spit out the minnow, and out would come the hook. Probably had this happen over a dozen times.
So my question is... How do you guys fish with minnows? What am I doing wrong?


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

The minnow hook you're referring to is the big long one with two barbs and a separate hook that fits into a hole on the point, right?

Never had much luck with those, although that would be a lot better for C&R than my usual method.

I use a size 16 treble hook and only hook the mouth (from inside, behind the lip, then out), two out the top and one under the jaw. No weights, but a bubble can be added up the line for distance. Cast smoothly and without much wrist action and it won't fly off, usually.

Just toss it out about 20 feet or so, letting it settle down the water column and after a few minutes, slowly start bringing it in. Quick little jerks of the rod tip, waiting with a hand on the bale, jerk, jerk, pause...crank a couple of times, repeat.

If something grabs the minnow, open the bale and let it free spool until you think the minnow is swallowed (guess work, but usually about 20-30 seconds). Shut the bale, wait for the slack line to pull tight and offer resistance, then jerk back firmly to set the hook. The hook will rip away from the minnow and embed itself into the fish.

If you do it quickly enough, you can hook them in the mouth most of the time, but sometimes they end up gut hooked. Like I said, this really isn't catch and release fishing. For fish you might need to release, use a circle hook and don't set it. Just close the bale and let the fish hook itself. It's not my favorite method though and I've lost a lot of nice fish trying the circle hooks.

You can also just let the minnow sit until something interested picks it up. It's usually something nice.

Good luck if you try this method. It tends to find big fish.


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## Moostickles (Mar 11, 2010)

I used snelled J hooks (they are very simple to tie). The top hook goes through the mouth out the top of the head, and the back hook's shank is slid inside the skin with the hook exposed near the tail. Count to 3 when you feel a hit and set the hook, you will rarely gut hook them this way.

[attachment=0:2rcig8cd]snelling3.jpg[/attachment:2rcig8cd]


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## wshiwsfshn (May 9, 2008)

UtahHuntingDirect said:


> I used snelled J hooks (they are very simple to tie). The top hook goes through the mouth out the top of the head, and the back hook's shank is slid inside the skin with the hook exposed near the tail. Count to 3 when you feel a hit and set the hook, you will rarely gut hook them this way.
> 
> [attachment=0:2vnfo7y3]snelling3.jpg[/attachment:2vnfo7y3]


This is how I do it for cats on UL and for cutts on the berry. Very rarely do they gut it and very rarely do I miss with this setup. It also seems if I hook the tail on the high side, so they take the head first, I usually catch them on the outside of the mouth.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

UtahHuntingDirect said:


> I used snelled J hooks (they are very simple to tie). The top hook goes through the mouth out the top of the head, and the back hook's shank is slid inside the skin with the hook exposed near the tail. Count to 3 when you feel a hit and set the hook, you will rarely gut hook them this way.
> 
> [attachment=00jr1cwk]snelling3.jpg[/attachment0jr1cwk]


That is called the Pilchard Rig and is what I use as well. Its really easy to tie.

-DallanC


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## N8ON (Oct 7, 2010)

Great advice. It was very frustrating missing all of those hits. Those big hooks do make it nice for C&R, but they are pretty pricey. I was under the impression that if the bait is just sitting there the fish would take it head first, which is why I always used the mustads. Thanks for all the help, now I am itching to go try it.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I have always just used a #12 treble hook tied to a piece of line. Then take a crochet hook that has been sharpened and insert it through the minnow from the mouth to the vent and then hook the line with the crochet hook and pull through the minnow. Hook one of the trebles into the minnow leaving 2 free. Then connect the line to a swivel and enjoy. 

One thing about catching and releasing is if you are bait fishing you had better plan on keeping what ever you catch no matter what the size.


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

The mustads work VERY well on rivers for catfish.


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## UtahJax (Feb 18, 2012)

I agree with Loah on this one as I use the same hooks and they seem to do very well


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

+1, if you don't want the minnow or the fish your catching off the line this is very effective. This is the only way to fish a minnow when they go soft, otherwise there's no way of keeping a minnow on a hook. I also like to fish mine weightless if possible. Fish take minnows from the head 99% of the time and that's right where the hook is so w/ this set-up they're usually getting the hook deep in their mouth. I catch a few walleye like this as well and rarely never have problems hooking them even with a quick hook set.



Critter said:


> I have always just used a #12 treble hook tied to a piece of line. Then take a crochet hook that has been sharpened and insert it through the minnow from the mouth to the vent and then hook the line with the crochet hook and pull through the minnow. Hook one of the trebles into the minnow leaving 2 free. Then connect the line to a swivel and enjoy. One thing about catching and releasing is if you are bait fishing you had better plan on keeping what ever you catch no matter what the size.


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

I know minners catch bigger fish for sure. When I used to bait fish with minnows I took a big needle (about 6" long) , ran the tag end of the line through the anal vent and out the mouth. Then I tied on about a size 10 treble and snugged the treble up around its head. Then I took the line going to the rod and wrapped a half hitch around the tail. this helped keep the minnow straight and also helped keep the minnow on the hook when casting.


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