whats your opinion on fishing with minnows  

how do you use them

hook up a bobber and hook rig, or if you want train your self to feel for the bite and watch the line just hook up a hook to your line.

Take the Minnow hook it through its top and bottom lip, NOT THE HEAD, or just the bottom lip.

Cast out and wait.

Thats really all there is to it, I usually use a bobber with minnows or shiners, because if i am using live bait, Its just a chill day where i don't want to catch a fish, but its an added bonus.

       Fishing with live minnows can be exciting. I just  rig the minnow with a plane hook.  I hook them right through the tail and let them swim. You can add split shot to make it go deeper.

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      >I was recentley at a gospel music concert where i knew there was a pond. I took a kite thing (fits in pocket)  rapped with 8lb. line and a size 8 hook. After awhile i went down to the pond to see if there was life in it.  Using  a bit of gum for bait it didnt take long to start pulling in bluegills. Then i caught a really small bluegill. i decided to see if i could catch a bass. I through it out and let it swim. A big bass(16 in.) ate it almost right away.  I hand lined it in till it was about  2 feet. from the bank. Then it snapped the line. Next time i will take a fishing pole.

I like to hook them thru the lower lip mainly because they have that great dying sideways movement that no fish can not pass up. If they bleed a little its a plus too so hook them and get them in the water quickly. Hook size matters too I was using a #1 or a 1/0 hook in the larger minnows.

The only problem I have with using livebait is turtles!!  The snappers see fisherman and right away its an easy snack.  I'm a magnet for turtles even though i'm not using livebait.  The turtles can be as bad as a puppy near the table at dinner time.

I'm not sure if this works for bass to but I'm sure it would. When I'm fishing a jig and minnow and we hit a school of walleyes we rip the minnows apart and only use pieces of them. It saves alot of money and it seems to work better than a whole minnow, guess the smell of fresh entrails makes em' bite

another thing that is GREAT with minnows is to hook them up right above the lateral line by the top fin. ( I think thats the lateral line in the middle) If you see the action you will be like

How big are those minnows you all are talking about? Can someone post a pic. We dont use minnows in fl for bass .I dont think they are the same ones as we have down here because there only about 1in . ???

Thats what we use up here in Illinois. Large fathead minnows. aer rouglhy 1-1.5 inch each.

Yea, we have crappie minnows, fatheads, sucker minnows, chubs, and shiners for a short time yearly. The fatheads and crappie minnows are about an inch, shiners 2-3 inches, chubs 2-5, and suckers 4-15 inches. I use minnows primarily for pike and walleyes, or smallmouths if I am fishing a river.

I use a slipknot bobber and hook the minnow through its lip.  For a hook, I prefer aberdeen hooks.  IMHO, slipknot bobbers are the way to go because you can fish the minnows at ANY depth and not have to worry about casting all that line out, which tends to be a problem with the regular bobbers.