Run the hook through the thorax from side to side. It's pretty hard to kill an insect that easily. Heck, during the big cicada hatch a few years ago, the fish would bite off the head or the abdomen and the thing would still kick around. Sometimes we caught three fish on the same cicada (or piece of same). I have trouble keeping crickets on the hook with the way gills can suck your bait right off a hook - Roberta