When I was young, my grandfather and I had great luck with this set up. I have tried alot of other methods. It still seems to work the best for me.

I take a small "GLOW BRITE" or geen&yellow combo. I tie it to the line, then tie a small weight about 6" to 12" below it. This lets me get it back down there FAST, and I find it keeps the line nice and tight. I also think that the weight is a bit of an attractor.

I have seen days where the big ones just were not bitting, but MAN what I would have given to have had a hook rigged to that weight (some big ones will go for only the weight at times, suck it in and spit it right out...)

As for the bait, I have never caught on minnows, but have seen guys catch JUMBOS on them.

I usually use a couple of maggots and tip it off with a small piece of a fake maggot. This seems to keep the real ones on the lure, and I find I usually can catch perch with the fake maggots and no real ones at all...though the combo seems to do the best.