How to Fish with Minnows

According to fishermen, a minnow is described as a small fish which is normally used for
bait and it may or may not be a minnow family member. Minnows are quite popular
since they are used as baitfish for species of fish such as the brown trout, bass,
crappie, muskellunge, walleye, bluegill, and northern pike. When hooked
correctly, minnows are very effective and the good thing about them is that the
way to hook them up correctly solely depends on your fishing preferences. It
pays for every enthusiastic fisherman to know how to fish with minnows.

Unlike other baits used out there, minnows will provide the best results when used
appropriately. This is mainly because minnows are naturally the most common
source of food for fish, which makes it natural that they will be quick to bite
onto the next available minnow. The only major challenge that comes with using
minnows is the aspect of transporting them, when they are still alive. It is
important for one to keep changing the water in their transportation container
as this will keep them livelier.

We are going to provide an informational guide on how to fish with minnows. We hope that by
the end of this article you will have learned what you needed to know about
fishing in this kind of method.

1. Use the Lips to Hook a Minnow

The first thing you need to do is to hook a minnow onto its lips when you are repeatedly
trolling or casting and retrieving for it to be effective. When you’re hooking
the minnow through the lips you first need to thread the lip onto the lower
followed by the upper lip, as this will make the minnow swim upright due to the
fact that there will be a turn point up. This will ensure that fish are
effectively attracted to your minnow bait and you stand higher chances of
catching fish fast.

2. When You Hook the Minnow through the Back

When you hook a minnow through the back, specifically behind the dorsal fin, it allows
it to swim naturally when it is under a sinker and this helps to keep it under
the water at around 45 cm (18 inches), which eventually prevents it from going
down further. You can use this method when ice fishing, since it is mainly
recommended for using the minnows as a bait. When you hook a minnow through its
lips, it has a lower chance of surviving compared to one that has been hooked
through its back.

You do not want your minnow to die as you are fishing, since this will mean that you are
not able to attract fish to bite your bait. For anyone wondering how to fish
with minnows, it pays when you follow the right procedure to bear you the best
fruits.

3. Hook the Minnow through its Tail

In case you are fishing without any bobber or weight, you can hook a minnow through its
tail as this has also proven to be quite effective, because the minnow is not
pulling any weight, it allows it to swim freely without much strain. Not using
any weight when fishing a minnow has shown to provide excellent results
especially, when you are targeting near a tree or boat dock, or even casting on
a very specific target. There are also anglers that use this method when they
are using a light sinker.

4. Select the Right Hook

Choosing the right hook is very essential although this mainly depends on the size of the
minnows that you are fishing. Here’s how to choose best;

• Select sizes 4 or 6 if the minnows are less than 3 inches.

• Select sizes 2, 1/0 if the minnows are about 4 to 5 inches

5. Tie Directly

Another good way is to also tie directly. Snap swivels are great because they make it easier
for you to change the lures and hooks. However, they upset the minnows when
swimming due to the extra weight that they add. What you can do in this case is
to take a barrel or three-way swivel and rig them at a fair distance ahead of
the hook and use a sliding sinker to fish or even a split shot.

You can also use thinner line in areas where there is clear water. The recommended lines are
about 6 to 8 pounds which you can use for testing. These are quite effective
only on clear lakes or rivers where you are well able to see exactly what
you’re doing. Due to that it poses less of a challenge as you won’t have to
strain much.

6. Keep Tabs on the Temperature

One thing you need to keep in mind is to also make sure that you maintain a very cool
temperature because minnows work well in cool waters with temperatures which
are almost the same as where they are normally fished in. A great advantage of
cool water is that it holds more oxygen compared to warm water.

Keep the minnow bucket in a cool, dry place, and away from sunlight. It may also help
when one adds the fresh stream water as this will ensure that they have as
close to natural temperatures as possible. Remember that minnows will only
provide great results when they are alive and not when they are dead.

Bottom Line

Fishing with minnows is without a doubt an amazing way for anyone to maximize their fishing expedition, as they capture some
fish. Proper transportation and knowing exactly how to use minnows will even
increase the chances further. The above ways are what you need to know when it
comes to how to fish with minnows. There are also plenty of more tips out there
but the ones we’ve discussed above are quite effective, which if properly
followed can help reap you some very good benefits. So, go ahead and try it.