My personal experience in hooking a minnow is from the head, as shown in the first step. Minnows have soft skin and by hooking them from the middle or the back you are risking loosing your bait faster.
However, if you want to hook something bigger than a minnow or a bait with thicker skin, like a mullet for example, hooking the bait fish from the middle is best. This way you wont get half a bite, where a fish with sharp teeth might bite off half of the fish without touching your hook.
