Hooking live bunker in the tail seems to increase hook-ups on stripers when using circle hooks. They swallow the bunker head-first which sometimes mashes the hook of a nose-hooked bunker against its body resulting in a missed hook-up.

Hooking in the tail also gives better control over where the bunker swims. A gentle tug on the line will aim the bunker away from you which is especially important when fishing from shore.

Funny thing re: bluefish, though. More often than not, they seem to bite the bunker in half from whatever end doesn't have the hook. Not to worry, though. Letting the remaining piece drift down under the school can hook stripers, which are sometimes loitering below the melee picking up the scraps left behind by bluefish.