Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Surely I’m not the only one who’s fishing career started on the bank of a pond with a can of worms, some string, a bamboo pole, a bobber, a hook, and just enough patience to wait for a bite from a bluegill. Fishing doesn’t get much simpler than that, and now, whether we spend our time in the blue water, the bay, a big river, a tropical flat, or a long stretch of ocean beach, so many of the simple lessons we learned at the edges of those farm ponds will still come to play no matter how glorious our fishing pursuits become throughout a lifetime of angling. Of those early lessons, knowing “how to bait a hook” is a skill that might appear to be so simplistic that it’s not even worthy of much concern, but in reality not doing it right can absolutely sabotage a fishing trip.
I can still remember, as kid, sticking a worm on a hook, flipping it out in the pond, nibble-nibble-nibble - and then no bait! Re-bait and repeat, re-bait and repeat until I finally figured out that if I didn't find a way to hook a fish without losing my worm I'd have to leave the pond and go dig some more! And so began what has turned out to be a never ending quest to figure out the best ways to put a bait on a hook. Of course it's not as simple as that because there's all kinds of bait, all kinds of hooks and so very many different techniques for fishing those baits and hooks that it’s close to impossible to know how to properly stick a hook in every kind of bait for every situation. Fortunately, there are some basic hook-baiting techniques that are a step up from farm pond fishing but not so advanced that the average angler shouldn’t have trouble learning and remembering them.
Don't clump it up
One of the biggest mistakes many anglers make is to clump so much bait up inside the bend of the hook that when it's time to impale the fish there's not enough open space between the point and the shank of the hook to get a good sturdy bite in the jaw. This is not as much of a problem with a very soft bait like worms or clams, but sturdy baits like squid, live bait or cut baits can definitely make it difficult to properly hook a fish if it's blocking too much of the gap.
Baits should flutter, not spin
A lot of folks don't realize how much a fish will be turned off by a spinning bait. Whether it's a strip of squid, fillet of fish, a crab, a live bait, or even a big chunk of something to catch a shark on - it's crucial that it be put on the hook in such a way that it doesn't spin. Spinning can usually be prevented by trimming baits so they are streamlined and by impaling them close enough to one end that a big flap of bait doesn't fold over and create a lip as it's moving through the water. When in doubt, anglers can check for spinning by casting and retrieving bait a short distance or observing as it hangs in the current or is lowered a few feet below the surface.
Leave the hook exposed
There are good and bad points to having a very exposed hook protruding from a bait: The good news is that, for some reason, fish will often get so focused on eating a bait (or lure) that they ignore the fact that there’s a big shiny hook protruding from it, and that’s a good thing, because the more the hook is exposed, the better chances it has of impaling the fish. So when you can get away with it, it’s always an advantage to leave as much of the hook exposed as possible.
Of course, we never know what’s going on beneath the waves. We might be having what we “think” is great success and yet be missing opportunities at the same time to hook more, bigger, or even different types of fish that are reluctant to eat something that has a chunk of metal protruding from it. In some cases we might be getting bites by only the still young and foolish or half-blind fish who just don’t know better! Hide the hook - or expose the hook? There’s nothing wrong with experimenting with both techniques to see what’s going to work best on any given trip.
Hooking live bait
When hooking a live bait such as a spot, pinfish, or mullet, anglers must decide whether to hook it the front, the back, or in the tail. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Take a spot for instance; hooked through the bottom lip and out the top it will be streamlined and make for a nice bait to cast and retrieve or to fish in a strong current. However, when it's needed for such a bait to swim down in relatively calm water or be suspended under a float, it's sometimes better to hook it in the back which allows it to swim more naturally and for the fish that eats it to take it headfirst which is often the preferred direction.
Unfortunately, live baits like mackerel or bunker can sometimes be too soft to effectively be fished with a hook in their back - they just won’t stay on the hook. Also, because of their size or unique body shape, certain baits like eels, live minnows and shiners are almost always hooked in the front of the head, but there are so many variable situations that anglers will have to make a judgment call each time they fish with almost any kind of live bait.
What I’ve put forth here is just a slight taste of things anglers should consider when they have a bait in one hand, a hook in the other and are trying to figure out the best way to put the two together. There’s so much more that can be said about how to hook a bait; like using a bite sized bait so that fish won't grab just the back end and pull it off the hook, using rubber bands to help hold a soft bait in place, and impaling a cut bait through the meat and out the skin so the meat doesn't get all squished up. Oh yeah, and if the bluegills keep stealing your worms, try threading them on the hook like the way you pull on a sock. It's far better that going off to dig more worms in the middle of a hot bite! §
