Minnow heads?

So I do this to and got to thinking. I use a lot of spoons with a minnow head on it. I take it as it’s just for the sent and waste the rest of the minnow. Why wouldn’t a chunk of the body work as well?

Tails work just as well as the heads

I prefer the heads, more juices and dangly things to entice fish.

I get more bites using the tails. They stay pinned on the hook better and impart a nice gliding action on the drop with jigging spoons. Also easier to graph on your electronics and know you’ve still got bait on based on the feel. Tough to tell sometimes when a head comes off a spoon. Can tell when a tail is on. I always start with heads but use the tails too.

I use heads.
There are times when I catch eyes and by the time they get to the hole they are coughing up the tails I dropped down minutes before.

Put a whole minnow on a walleye spoon. That’s the way to do it.

I use the heads but keep the tails and end up using those when I run out of heads

im the only one that uses the backstraps off a minnow?

Just curious, how do y’all hook the head, through the lips or through the neck stump?

RynO wrote:

Just curious, how do y’all hook the head, through the lips or through the neck stump?

Through the lips I think it gives it a better swing.

Minnow as cut bait works just fine.

Jensen wrote:

Tails work just as well as the heads

I use tails as much as I use heads. Or I lip hook a minnow and use the full thing.

The part of the minnow you’re using makes no difference to the fish. I do use tails occasionally, and haven’t really noticed a difference in getting bit. For example, if my Engel is on the other side of the shack and I have a pile of tails laying by my whole, or there’s a school below me and I want to get down ASAP, I’ll just grab a tail. I don’t toss them down the hole.

Heads stay on the hook better/longer, there’s more bone and hard stuff for the hook to grab and they don’t disintegrate as fast.

The eye ball is also something fish may notice more than you think. You see bait companies using that image in baits now (I believe I just saw a Northland spoon with an image of like 8 eye balls on it – there’s a jig shaped like one big eye ball as well).

I’m not a fan of a whole minnow unless it’s a dead stick or tip up, hooked through the vent or dorsal. The action of the spoon is more important than the meat that’s underneath it. I’m often using smaller presentations (1/8 oz type spoons and UL rippin raps for walleyes). A while minor is just too big to get the right action in those lures. Also, when you’re getting a reactionary bite, I want that hook in their mouth immediately. Obviously, you don’t let them run with a jigging lure to make sure they get hooked up. I don’t want to run into fish coming away with nothing but a whole minnow and no hook.

At the end of the day, I’m sure it matters very little. Those are just my preferences.

SW Eyes wrote:

I’m not a fan of a whole minnow unless it’s a dead stick or tip up, hooked through the vent or dorsal

Never heard of a minnow vent. Are we talking the poop shoot?

Head, How many of you use snaps on your treble hooks?

I have certainly used both but mostly heads. I think the eye balls are the biggest factor with the heads.