Weedless Hooks? Confidence

[Skeet22]

Am I the only one that has zero confidence on hook sets with a weedless hook? I was using a reg finesse hook for wacky rigging and adding a nail weight for a little faster fall. While this was very successful for me I began my search for a wacky hook that was weighted and setled on Falcon lures weighted wacky hooks. While i've had several bumps since making the switch I have yet to land a fish and it is really messing with my head. I was hoping to gain some confidence in this hook before my next tourney which is this weekend so it does not look like that will happen. I will be using this hook but removing the weedgaurd. Is this all mental?

[Raul]

I think that it has a lot to do with the material of the weedguard and the shape of the hook than with the mental aspects. For ex, the hook up ratio for me of a Gamakatsu Wide Gap Weedless Finesse hook is exactly the same as the non weedles version.

[NateFollmer]

Personally, I hate weed guards (on jigs OR hooks). Call me crazy, but if I'm going to get my hook caught on weeds, it's coming up with the jig or hook weed guard or not. The only time I leave 'weed' guards on is when I'm in some wood.

Try giving your hookset a little more quickness if your using a stiff weedguard. That way, you know you have enough force in it to get the guard off the hook.

[bassin is addicting]

for wacky i use Mustad weedless wacky hook.  i get them from Cabelas... i use the 1/0 size.  never had a hookset problem.  with wacky i rarely have to "set" the hook.  it sets itself...usually in the corner of the mouth.  at first i was concerned about that being too small of a hook...but it isn't.  and the wire weed guard works for many fish.  very durable.

[ww2farmer]

I use the Falcon hooks alot, they are not ment to be used on limber rods and light line. I have an excellant hook up rate with them but I am usually using them on MH or H powered, fast action rods with 14 -17 lb fluorocarbon, or 30-50 lb braid.

[5bass]

Try the Owner weedless wacky hook. The weedguard is very thin, the hook is very small and mostly hidden when you wacky rig a senko. I used the Gamakatsu finesse weedless until I found these Owners....

http://www.***.com/Owner_Weedless_Wacky_Hook_4pk/descpage-OWWH.html

[curls00]

I use Northland weedless wacky hooks a lot -- they are Kahle-style hooks (extra wide gap, point towards the eye, looks like a really exaggerated "J"). They have a wire weedguard, and I rarely, if ever, miss a fish. The key is not the hook, it's the hookset. With this style of hook (The Falcon is the same exact hook as the one I use if this is your hook: http://www.***.com/Falcon_Weighted_Weedless_K_Wacky_Hooks_5pk/descpage-FWKWH.html)...

The key is a pressure-then-sweepset hookset. IE: feel the weight of the fish GENTLY, then sweepset over your shoulder at about a 45* angle to the side. Nothing bone-jarring at all. I hook almost every fish in the corner of the mouth and they're locked in there securely, and are simple to pop out once in the boat as well.

[Skeet22]

I use Northland weedless wacky hooks a lot -- they are Kahle-style hooks (extra wide gap, point towards the eye, looks like a really exaggerated "J"). They have a wire weedguard, and I rarely, if ever, miss a fish. The key is not the hook, it's the hookset. With this style of hook (The Falcon is the same exact hook as the one I use if this is your hook: http://www.***.com/Falcon_Weighted_Weedless_K_Wacky_Hooks_5pk/descpage-FWKWH.html)...

The key is a pressure-then-sweepset hookset. IE: feel the weight of the fish GENTLY, then sweepset over your shoulder at about a 45* angle to the side. Nothing bone-jarring at all. I hook almost every fish in the corner of the mouth and they're locked in there securely, and are simple to pop out once in the boat as well.

That is the exact hook I have switched to. Maybe I will give it more time. All it will take is one fish for me to gain confidence I just cant beleive I've made two trips and have not landed a fish on it yet. It could be that the fish have been pecking the worm and not stiking the hook. My trickworm was chewed up pretty good at the very end of the worm. May try a finesse worm on the next trip.

[bigbill]

Your in my zone with weed guards i use only weed guard hooks in the weeds now. On my carolina wacky rigged senko's and worms or just a worm by itself.

When fishing the weeds its hard to tell sometimes if we get a strike or not if we miss it. Having a weed guard on the hook(spring) is like a traffic light. If i get a strike and a miss it will always come up open on the hook, the spring tells me it was a strike. If i bump the weeds and it felt like a strike and a miss if it comes up still closed it was the weeds. This is how i seperate the weeds from the strikes the spring lets us know. Plus the weed guards keep the weeds out of the hooks too.

The only time i ever lost a fish because of the weed guard hooks is when the hook wasn't big enough for the larger plastics i was using, thats not the weed guards fault its mine not thinking about the hook size with the larger plastics.

Funny i just had this happen the other day while tossing a floating worm with a snap swivel and a weedless hook.  I let the snap swivel sink it and hopp'd it along the bottom then something wacked it.  I missed it and the weed guard was opened up.  I had a strike and i was sleeping at the controls and the weed guard let me know it.  Now what do you do next?  One shot of a scent and throw it back in the same spot and beready.  I do this alot with senko's by not using scent on the first cast, then if i miss it on the first cast then its one shot of scent and its a definite hook up on the next cast.

Its not luck in fishing its skill.....!!!!!!!! 8-)

[Wayne P.]

Weedless Wacky-- no weedguard and no weak hook

[NebraskaBasser]

Weedless Wacky-- no weedguard and no weak hook

Wayne, could you elaborate (a lot) more on this set-up?  Tubing material, how to get tubing onto the worm, hook/line through the tube before embedding in the worm, etc.

THANKS in advance!!! 

[Wayne P.]

NebraskaBasser, PM sent.

[NebraskaBasser]

Got it Wayne... THANKS!!!   

[SJB1226]

Try the Owner weedless wacky hook. The weedguard is very thin, the hook is very small and mostly hidden when you wacky rig a senko. I used the Gamakatsu finesse weedless until I found these Owners....

http://www.***.com/Owner_Weedless_Wacky_Hook_4pk/descpage-OWWH.html

I ONLY fish Owner hooks they are the best hooks made hands down! and there weedless Wacky hooks are awesome and I miss very very few fish on them. sticky sharp (I wish they came with the cutting point but the Super needle points are sticky sharp to) and grab fast and hold well. Like I said I miss very few fish and cant remember the last fish that came unbuttoned

I dont wacky rig a whole lot but I do fish it fairly often.. I dont know about the hook you are fishing but I assure you if you grab you a pack of the owners you will buy more.

[Skeet22]

Update - First fish landed with the Falcon lures wacky hook was a nice 3 lber. I'm starting to believe now. If the owner hooks came in a weighted version I would definitely give them a shot. The fish on the left was the one I stuck on this hook with a wacky trickworm.

[River Rat316]

I am a fan of the Owners also, I have never had a problem landing fish with them.

On a side note, (I know they are not weedless but) when my son was first learning how to fish I set him up with circle hooks wacky rigging and his hookup ratio is probably better than mine, so if you don't need weedless try a circle hook, they take getting used to but they work!

[curls00]

See, told ya!

This weekend (during a tournament no less!), I landed a beasty 4.36lb smallmouth (on a 1/0 Kahle-style wacky hook with a 7" *** trick stick).  No problem bringing that horse to the boat even with two aerial performances (one of which was nearly 3' out of the water!).

The key was wait for the weight of the fish, THEN set smooth and strong.  As always, hooked in the corner of the mouth and it wasn't getting off even with the massive jumps and shakes.