tritonvt: most of the people that fish our lake have little or no experience fishing. Many of them have very little physical capabilities so fly fishing or even holding a rod are out of the question. This means that improving the ability of the people to fish is not an option.
Yellow perch are the worst hook swallowers but sometimes small bluegill take the hook deep.
We use minnows which I buy by the gallons. I have to make sure that when people fish, they catch fish immediately and lots of them. Our fish swallow worms much worse than minnows but don't recognize them as something to eat as readily. About the smallest minnows (fatheads) we use are 1 1/2" long.
