How Do You Hook Minnows For Ice Fishing?
The top ice fishing baits include wax worms, minnows, nightcrawlers, mealworms, and leeches. While there are some other exotic live baits, these are the most popular ones that are the easiest to obtain and have proven to be productive. However, one common and very productive technique is to combine both live bait and artificial lures when ice fishing. Anglers can use a bare jig head to use with live bait. They can also “tip” a jig, spoon, or plug with live bait to increase its effectiveness. You can hook a minnow just about anywhere and catch fish.
It’s best to slip it just under the top layer of skin, and this may take some practice. He tail-hooks two minnows on opposite ends of a #16 treble. Each minnow swims against the other creating a disturbance that’s potent at attracting fish and triggering hits. He adds a small glow bead, like the Lindy Beads, above the hook for extra eye-appeal. Try rigging your panfish jigging rods with heavier line.
Special bait bucket with aerators will keep them frisky all day. Dead minnows will produce, at times even better than live bait. However, generally speaking, healthy and active live baits are the best choice. Big fish eat little fish, it is a basic fishing fact. This is true for anglers ice fishing with live bait as well. A helpless minnow that is struggling on the hook will attract a variety of game fish.
Ounce that is set up you thread it onto the bait fish using a bait needle so the prongs of the hooks are facing away from the head of the bait fish . Then attach the rig to your tip-up line, I have a swivel tied on to the nylon line so the swivel can open up and attach to the loop on the mono. This makes the hook nearly invisable and works great. I wouldn’t waste my time rigging this up for perch though they’ll take anything but it is well worth the effort for trout salmon and pike.
I like hooking shiners just in front of the dorsal fin.pike eat it head first,so you have a better chance of getting a good hook set.just dont hook it to deep. When I fish with tip-ups I run my hook just above the eyes. You will find a void in the bait’s head where you can slide your hook right thru and not hurt the bait one bit.
When tip-up fishing I hook my minnows just in front of the dorsal fin… Because 95% of the time a fish will eat a minnow head first. For added minnow action try hooking it in the tail area or try to just barely hook in the side of the minnow. For jigging I mostly lip hook because the minnow seems to stay alive longer.
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