Yup

you all misunderstood the question--- The
correct answer is right over the minnow bucket
so if you drop it, you dont have to chase it
all over the boat.
MO
( thru the lips)

I hook mine through the lips also. I go through the nostril and out the bottom of the jaw to make them swim on the back of the hook. Many times I catch a crappie and still have the minnow. I also do this over the bucket!!

Hooking them is no problem. It's trying to turn those little slippery-slimy suckers around so you can get to their lips! Seems I always pick them up backwards and have to (fiddle) with them till I drop them 2 or 3 times.

tear the tail for injured(it is) action...works!

In the tail

I usally hook them through the back just under the dorsal fin.

depends on the type of fishing,,, when trolling using a jig minnow combo hook the minnow through the eyes or the lips this is a deadly combo for trolling,, seems to work when the crappie are suspended in open water,, it may take you a while to find them but trolling or drifting through deep channels with this rig is by far the most successful bait. If fishing the shallows or tight lining in the deep cover then I use the dorsal fin method. Make sure you dont hit the spinal chord and paralyze your bait,, like I have done a time or two.

Under a cork thru the tail,the minnow will swin down against the line. Under the dorsal on a tight line,it will swim in circles around the weight on its side looking hurt. Thru the lips if I'm doddlesocking in weeds or cast and retrive to let the minnow "swim".

the only way to hook a "minner" is through the eyes! they will live 10X longer than being hooked any other way! I've even caught several fish on the same, unharmed minnow! see, many times, the fish will knock the minnow up the hook and line leaving the minnow in good shape and ready for the next fish.

to hook a minnow any other way, is well.....queer.

Tude's method gets my vote! If you are casting from the bank, with a bobber and weight, this style seems to put less stress on them, and they stay livelier, longer. If i am tightlining over the side of the boat, it don't much matter, because for all intents and purposes, the minnow is not gonna get moved around a lot, so he will stay fresh for an extended period of time no matter how ya hook em.

Rudy