05-10-2011, 03:32 PM
TD-
I am always silently appreciative of your well written reports and info in your regular fishing posts, but in the last week I've read your PDF write ups on catfish and white bass in Utah Lake and now this one on Willard today, and it prompted me to log in and gush for a minute about how great all the info you are willing to share with all of us is, and how lucky we are to have you..
Thanks !!!
I grew up like many around here as mainly a trout fisherman and mostly catch and release on flies, but in this era of $4 and climbing gas I'm more and more prone to keep some trips closer to home, and to places where I can bring home a few meals worth of fillets to offset the expense. Over the winter I beefed up my collection deep frying equipment and cant wait to put it to use!!
This seems like the perfect post to hijack and ask a question that has kind of been a lifelong debate between me and a few guys I know..
How do you hook your minnows and/or cut bait?
I have always been inclined to thread the hook behind the head, pull it all the way through, then insert the hook again thru the tail.. My thought being that any motion then makes the minnow move forward, problem is it often forces the minnow to bend almost in a circle..
Another friend SWEARS that fish prefer to eat dead minnows head first and therefore goes first thru the tail and then inserts the hook just behind the gills..
And yet another friend (grew up fishing live minnows in Minnesota) says the best way is a single hook thru the middle just below the dorsal fin keeps the minnow more upright and more natural looking, this really is only feasible on really fresh minnows. Once they have been frozen the flesh is too soft and the hook often just pulls thru the spine (My experience)
I always double hook strips of cutbait also..
So I'm curious as to how you guys feel is the best.
Thanks again
[signature]
I am always silently appreciative of your well written reports and info in your regular fishing posts, but in the last week I've read your PDF write ups on catfish and white bass in Utah Lake and now this one on Willard today, and it prompted me to log in and gush for a minute about how great all the info you are willing to share with all of us is, and how lucky we are to have you..
Thanks !!!
I grew up like many around here as mainly a trout fisherman and mostly catch and release on flies, but in this era of $4 and climbing gas I'm more and more prone to keep some trips closer to home, and to places where I can bring home a few meals worth of fillets to offset the expense. Over the winter I beefed up my collection deep frying equipment and cant wait to put it to use!!
This seems like the perfect post to hijack and ask a question that has kind of been a lifelong debate between me and a few guys I know..
How do you hook your minnows and/or cut bait?
I have always been inclined to thread the hook behind the head, pull it all the way through, then insert the hook again thru the tail.. My thought being that any motion then makes the minnow move forward, problem is it often forces the minnow to bend almost in a circle..
Another friend SWEARS that fish prefer to eat dead minnows head first and therefore goes first thru the tail and then inserts the hook just behind the gills..
And yet another friend (grew up fishing live minnows in Minnesota) says the best way is a single hook thru the middle just below the dorsal fin keeps the minnow more upright and more natural looking, this really is only feasible on really fresh minnows. Once they have been frozen the flesh is too soft and the hook often just pulls thru the spine (My experience)
I always double hook strips of cutbait also..
So I'm curious as to how you guys feel is the best.
Thanks again
[signature]