Following the crowds or hordes of fishermen is a personal choice. Often I will observe the convergence of activity and look for something similar. Let’s say you have a small city of shanties fishing 8 feet of water and having fair success with the perch. I don’t like to jump right into the mix of noisy fishermen. If you’re familiar with the water then most likely you can replicate the same fish-attracting area nearby. In this fashion you remove a large chunk of the competition and have a more focused school of fish that may be skittish of all the nearby activity. If all else fails you can still skirt the edges of the other fishermen and probably do just as well if not better. Quite often I find that the larger fish will hang on the edges of these large groups of fishermen. You may not catch as many but if they’re bigger you’re probably reaping the same benefits.
Minnow hooking methods are, quite surprisingly, an option many novice ice fishermen seldom consider. In fact the technique used by a lot of new ice fishermen is nothing more than spearing the minnow securely on a hook and sending it down the hole. Although this technique can be effective and at times the perfect solution there’s not a single method that will work in all icefishing scenarios. So, for those who are new to the sport and looking to add some influence to their arsenal, try these few live minnow hooking methods for a more natural presentation.
Think of the minnow in three different section. The front, or mouth of the minnow. The middle, or dorsal area of the minnow. And the end, or the tail fin of the minnow. First a decent sharp hook should be paramount in all live hooking techniques as this will allow a cleaner penetration and a much livelier minnow in then end.
Hooking a live minnow through the mouth is quite simple. Simply bring your hook up through the lower jaw of the mouth making sure to create a secure hooking of the top and lower jaw of the minnow. From here the choice is yours. You can hook your minnow with a plain hook that suspends upwards to the surface of the ice or use a small jig-head and that would suspend out in front of the minnows mouth. This second option will require attention to your rig as the hookset will tend to slide around. In either event this will provide a very lively scenario as the minnow moves about.
The mid section or dorsal fin area of the minnow is my favorite live hooking method. It my own opinion this technique allows the minnow to move about quite freely as it would in a natural situation. often, with larger minnows, you will watch your line, or bobber, move around in the water as the minnow swims around below. If you notice erratic action pay particular attention. This could signal and approaching fish which has spooked the minnow in trying to escape.
To hook your minnow through mid section try pushing the hook through the darker band near the top of the minnows back just in front of the dorsal fin. Too high and you’ll paralyze the minnow by puncturing the spine. Obviously no longer a live bait method. Too low in the minnows body and you will run the hook through the minnows organs which again will render a less than desirable outcome. A minnow hooked correctly in this method can stay lively for hours, but, hopefully you won’t have that problem. Let’s hope you drop it down right in front of a hungry fish.
The last method is hooking through the tail end of the minnow. This area is a more precision type of hook especially when using smaller minnows. Try running the hook through the upper portion of the minnow directly in front of the tail fin. If done properly your minnow should dart forward in an attempt to try and free itself from the hook. This is a very high energy hookset that works extremely well on feeding panfish such as perch.
As with all these scenarios you can create a simple test before sending your bait down to the fish below by simply observing your presentation just below the surface of the water. Drop your bait down about a foot in the water and view it’s reaction in a natural swimming scenario. Give it a small jig or twitch the line to also view this reaction. If all looks well send it down and let the minnow do it’s job.
All in all if you put a few of these tips together you should be able to enjoy a little more action next time you’re out on the ice. Good Luck and remember safety when on the ice at all times.
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