These are illegal in Minnesota. The only way to fish with a treble is if it is part of a lure. The great state of Minnesota in their infinite wisdom chooses to keep the law as it is.
This was the DNR's official stance on catch and release- Read it carefully. It is from an older reg book. I'm not sure of the year.
Live-bait rigs hook fish more deeply than artificial lures and thus kill more fish - whether badly hooked fish are put on a stringer or thrown back into the lake.
So, the conventional wisdom holds that live bait must be banned if regulations require anglers to release many of their fish.A recent DNR study confirms that live bait kills more walleye. But it also suggests that hooking mortality with leeches is low enough to make catch-and-release angling worthwhile.
The 1985-86 study compared the hooking mortality caused by crankbaits and leeches, two popular walleye rigs. None of the walleye caught on crankbaits later died. The hooking mortality for leeches was about 10 percent - significant, but still low enough that anglers could release fish with fair confidence that they would survive. (Interestingly, the study also showed that crankbaits caught larger fish.)
Also important to the survival of fish is how they are landed and handled. If you intend to release a fish, don't play it to exhaustion, do not hold it by the eyes, cut the line if the fish is deeply hooked, and return the fish to the water immediately. In fact, it is often possible to unhook a fish without ever lifting it from the water.
By keeping less than their limit and releasing some fish - especially large fish - anglers perpetuate the quality of their own fishing and that of other anglers. Catch-and-release fishing - whether voluntary or required by special regulations - will probably pay an ever-larger role in fish management.
Then comes-
Angling Methods
• Anglers may use only one hook. An artificial lure is considered one hook.
A treble hook, when not part of an artificial lure, is considered three hooks
and is not legal. The exception is that three artificial flies may be used
when angling for trout, crappie, sunfish, and rock bass
What about a quick strike jig or crawler harness? This is the best answer I could find. DNR - Reply as follows:
As you have pointed out this is a very confusing topic, especially since
there is no clear legal definition of "artificial lure". We looked into
doing a statutory definition for the current legislative session, but as
you point out we have a number of issues to address. We hope to have
this issue cleared up and proposed legislation passed next session.
Your recommendation for the regulation booklet will also be considered
for next year. Otherwise, DNR Enforcement has been using the following
definition:
1. Angling with a multiple hook, either bare or baited, is unlawful
unless it is attached to an artificial bait or trolling spoon.
2. Artificial baits are jigs, plugs, spoons, artificial flies, and
spinner-hook arrangements.
3. When a spinner is used with a baited multiple hook, it must be
placed so as to become a part of the hook, and in no instance shall it
be placed more than three (3) inches from a multiple hook.
In answer to your specific questions
A jig with a stinger hook is an artificial lure as long as the stinger
is made part of the jig and no more than 3 inches from the jig.
The single bare hook in front of the worm harness does not make it an
artificial lure. Instead, you would need to put a spinner in front of
it as mentioned above in #3.
Be careful with quick strikes and stingers.