How and where to hook live baits

[DrownedDesertRat]

Since I'm learning about hook styles... might as well learn about where to hook your live bait.

What's the best way to put a worm on your hook?

Frogs?

Crawdads?

Minnows?

Sucker minnows?
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[southernman]

frogs - i like em thru the lips, some people hook em thru a back leg . .

crawdads - thru the tail

minnows and shiners - thru the lips prefereably, some people stick it in their back, just gotta miss the spinal , or they're dead in 15 seconds . .

sm
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[fishfather]

[size 2]When you talk hooks your talking about OWNER Hooks.[/size]

[size 2][url "http://www.owner.com"]www.owner.com[/url][/size]

[size 2] Avaliable at most fish and tackle stores or order online. Alittle exspensive but worth the money[][/size]

[size 2] And yes on minnows I hook through the lips into the frontal lobe of the head, same with smelt or anchovies.[/size]

[size 2] Hooking through the back is a science and most of the time you will kill them[unsure] [/size]
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[davetclown]

here is the best way to hook a live bee, use a wire snell hook and start at the back of his neck and run it all the way down the abdimon, you cant go wrong on the pannies. they go bizerk over a live bee, even more if it is a fuzzy bee, yellow jackest wasp and hornets are no slouches eather.
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[DrownedDesertRat]

Okay, so how in the world do I catch these things and put them on a hook without getting stung? Do they have to bee alive or can they be dead?
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[davetclown]

get your self one of these clippers, clipping the heads off is a big time saver. cost around $5 they come with the neck band, the flasher comes seperatly, that too is a big help even when it is attached to the same ring.



there is only one safe time to gather bees, and that is in the middle of winter, keeping them cold till the time you use them is important. if they get worm they come back to life. gather them and use gloves when handling them this way the heat from your hands wont wake them up.

dont go in the woods looking for them, leave them alone. Go after the ones in your garage shed hanging above your door on the eves. you can open up the nest and use the larvea. be sure to do this in a cold area like garage or shed with out heat. You can use simple tools like tweesers hemostats and a probing hook. (a probing hook can be made out of a coat hanger).

I use a large pill bottle to keep them in.
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[byrumjr]

[font "Arial"][size 2][font "Arial"][size 2]I hook minnows and shiners thru the eyes. In one eye and out the other. That way they don't know they are going to be eaten by a bigger fish. (lol)[/size][/font][/size][/font]
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[DrownedDesertRat]

Okay, I think I understand what you're talking about. Just one problem... I need to find me a garage and/or storage unit. I only wish I had one or both. Everybody else I know gets rid of them things as soon as they notice them.

You'll hafta send me some. Hehe.

When's the best time to use them?
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[davetclown]

the best time to use them is when ever you've got them.

I have to go out and scoop up my mousies, mine are the size of rats!!! mine are from yellow faced hornets.

mousies are be larve, you buy them at the bait shop. the larve have not yet turned in to the pupae stage yet. you cant buy them in the summer. no one will carry them cause they can turn and hatch before you know it.

wax worms are good and you can usualy find them year round from a bait shop or pet shop. a wax worm is a corn boar, if you have a corn farmer near by you can go to his place and get them from his vegie stand or he may even let you go out in to his feild now the season is over, look for the corn with worms.

to hook theim I stick about half the worm over the barb of the hook and do not cover the back side of the hook. the fish will grab the worm part with the barb and you have hooked them. again with these worms I use a number #8 or #6 arberdeen wire hook. or them little jigs as I mantioned earlier.
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[daymere]

[]you put mrs. wiggle in front of him and he will wiggle up the hook. lol he is easier to train the she is though...or you could talk to it and see if he will do it him self,but the coaching thing takes a lot if time and serious traing time.
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[hharada]

And I thought I was an avid fisherman!! I've been hit by a couple yellow jackets and don't think I can bring myself to voluntarily get close enough to one to put one on a hook!! Have you tried any of the imitations, particularly Rebel's? Do they work? I've picked a few up but haven't tried them yet.

Going back the DrownedDeserRat's original question, with nightcrawlers, I start the hook (a baitholder that has barbs on the shank) just above the collar and run the hook through the body to load, but not pack the entire hook. The hook's main barb is then just passed back out of the body to better ensure the crawler stays on the hook. A small part of the head end and a lot of tail remains free.

When the fish are small, I pinch the crawler in half and only use a half at a time. I use the tail half first because the head end will survive -- even grow a new tail if left long enough! I start the hook right into the cutoff portion of the tail half. The head half is put on as if it were a whole crawler.

A friend of my Dad's put garden worms on his hook by starting right at the head end. He'd run the hook in a little ways, bring the hook back out and start the hook back in a little ways down the body creating a loop in the worm's body. He'd repeat this several time until the entire worm was loaded on a #8 hook. He'd end up with what could best be described as a "worm ball". He was a successful fisherman.

On the other hand, a friend of mine, who's the best stream bait fisher for trout I've seen often tells of times he was out of new bait and kept catching fish reusing the remaining parts of his last worm until there was nothing left!! I know this works because I've been in the same situation a couple times and got hits when I had less than a 1/4 inch piece of crawler hanging on a #7 hook!!

Everything I've been talking about is from stream fishing for trout. I don't know if it's the same when the fish have time to swim around and examine the bait as they would in a lake.
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