How do you hook Bream for Bait?

How are you hooking them. I hook the head though the eyes and whole live bream right behind the dorcel fin on top. Sounds like the fish aren't big enough to take the whole bait. Maybe since that might be the case cut the bait smaller and catch them...Good Luck to you.

i hook the live ones through the back just below the backside of the dorsal fin. the cut heads you can hook right through the eyes. the key to hooking up with a catfish is to make sure your using a large enough hook. if you like to set the hook, try the eagle claw 7/0 kahle hook..... if you want to try circle hooks, the gamakatsu 8/0 octopus circle works great for me! i've caught large flatheads with both of these hooks in the ohio river. if you use smaller hooks the chances of hookup are a lot slimmer imo. hope this helps

Catfish1, I hook mine through the back below the dorsal fin like muskie hunter. One thing you may want to look for when you miss a fish is to see what kind of wounds are on the bait. If there are two or three slim stripes on the bait with scales removed it is probably being hit by a Gar and hookups are almost impossible. If the bait was grabbed just below the hook and scaled in a wide band or completely to the tail it is usually a small fish that couldn't get the hook deep enough or you set the hook early. Try using a smaller bait and wait longer before setting the hook. If the bait is gutted or has chunks missing it is more than likely a turtle trying to eat your bait. Hope this helps, oh... I use 9/0 eagle claw hooks not circles because I like the hook set. I rarely miss a good solid run. Small fish tend to run with the bait and stop periodically and are much harder to hook.

Ive heard some old timers say that they hook their live perch through the eyes. it seems like they would die, but they say that they stay alive good that way, and it also blinds the perch so they cant dodge when they are attacked. makes sense, but I still like hookin mine between the tail and dorsal fins.

Slimegig--It seems to do less damage for me than thruough the back. I learned while fishing for crappie. If I was careful I could just put the minnow in the bucket with the hook still in and it would still live. If you have some die, just practice a little. Not through the eyeball, but just above it and a little forward, there seems to be a little hole where you dont hit bone. The bait is still very active and trys to get deeper. This points the head down which puts it in the best position for a good hookup. ---Rod---