Loop knot and some crappie

I use the loop knot to attach a hook to my line about 18" above the sinker.

Hopefully this picture will show you how I tie the loop knot and leave a long tag line to attack the BPS Finesse Weight to the end of the line. Then it's easy to slip the loop though the eye of the hook and then run the hook though the loop to secure the hook to the line. You will have a double line holding the hook onto the line. I try to shoot for about a 2" sized loop so that the bait will stand out from the line property. I use a #2 size gold aberdine type thin wired hook and hook the minnow throught the lips. Bottom lip first and then though the top lip. When vertical fishing this rig the minnow appears more lifelike hooked this way. And I can move the boat very slowly < 0.5 mph with the line straight down and the minnow will move naturally. Sometimes I will tear off the head of a plastic grub and add that to the hook after putting the minnow on the hook first. I like using chartruse plastic grubs. The color helps but the plastic grub head (about 1/8" long) helps to keep the minnow on the hook longer.

Use the depth finder to find out what depth the fish are at and fish accordinly.

[IMG]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f263/Moose1am/BloodLoopKnot.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f263/Moose1am/OtterPitCrappiesSundaySept162007.jpg[/IMG]