Hookup ratio way down with offset round bend

[HeavyTwenty]

I tried rigging trick worms like this  (image pulled from a youtube video) and it resulted in me only catching 1 out of 6 bites today (missed a 4 lber too...) and 5 out of 8 on Monday while kayaking. I've done fine while bank fishing, about 80-90%, but that's about the same as the EWG for me. The EWG also keeps that 80-90% while kayaking.

 

I'm probably going to quit using them, but am I rigging it correctly? It seems like its tougher to push the plastic out of the way compared to the EWG, in which the plastic slips off the hook point fairly easy. 

[Bluebasser86]

Yes, that's rigged correctly. It takes a harder hookset to push the hook through the plastic with a regular offset bend hook than a skin hooked EWG hook.

[Fishes in trees]

Sorry to hear that the hooks aren't performing as well as you might like for you.  You might want to try skin hooking the round bend just like most guys do with the wide gap - compared to just leaving the point embedded in the plastic.  My experiences last year, making my own jika rigs, was the the narrower profile of the round bend or the sprout style of off set hook produced better than any wide gap I tried.  I always skin hook my tx rigs, so it isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison.

The rig you're fishing might have something to do with it.  I'm fishing these hooks on 15 or 17 lb fluorocarbon and a Fenwick AETOS MH-Extra Fast tip.  The moment I detect a strike, I set the hook pretty firmly - by my standards anyway.  

[A-Jay]

My first question would have to be if the EWG hooks were getting 9 out of 10 fish, why the change to round bend ?  Where 100% hook ups would be nice - it's often not attainable.

As Fishes in trees noted above - the gear you're fishing that trick worm on can & usually does play a role in hook setting authority.

The trick worm is most often thought of as a finesse type presentation and is usually fished that way.  The fact that you're getting bites indicates wherever gear you're using, the fish like it.  If you're using spinning gear and nylon line (mono or fluorocarbon) switching to a light braid usually helps offer a bit more potency to you're hook sets.

A-Jay

 

[iabass8]

It's also a trick worm...could very well have been panfish pulling at the tail. happens more than you think and people blame hooks.

[primetime]

right now in FLorida the Spawn is on in many lakes and ponds...So you will find that many strikes are just fish grabbing the bait to move it off a nest or away from an area....When I am fishing this time of year on a flat, and getting short strikes, I soak my baits with megastrike hoping to get a few extra seconds, and I downsize to a smaller bait since they don't grab it head first when trying to move it which is why you often swing and come up empty...

I find compact baits and smaller offerings are often better on areas I know bass are in spawning mode or moving up etc...If you can fish a trap or bait with a treble hook you will do better usually, but a small 3" creature or Grub could be a better option, 4" trick worm instead o 6 should help...I always do well with offset round bends, but that could be the issue you are encountering. Short Strikers are tough and not always small fish...

I have watched big bass rip the tails of a lizard and if I didn't watch it happen I would of assumed "Pecker Fish" On the shorlines this time of year in Jacksonville, my guess is they are protecting a nest, here in Central Florida the spawn was starting to really take off last week, the cold front we just had pushed the Females back out to to the nearest Drop off or nearest Structure....I noticed you are in Florida and I was getting tons of short strikes on shorelines last weekend...

[HeavyTwenty]

8 hours ago, A-Jay said:

My first question would have to be if the EWG hooks were getting 9 out of 10 fish, why the change to round bend ?  Where 100% hook ups would be nice - it's often not attainable.

I probably should have mentioned that in the last few weeks the EWG has been more like 60-70%. I had about 80-90% hookup ratios in the summer/fall. 

I think primetime is right. This is my first spring/spawn season (I started lure fishing around last summer) so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm guessing I started running into issues a few weeks ago because of early spawners, and now that the main group are spawning, my hookup rates have plummeted. I can't see the fish bedding because that lake has about 6-12 inch visibility depending on the area.

[the reel ess]

That's the right hook for that worm. Could be just a one-day thing. I fish the Trick Worm like a jerkbait a lot of the time and an EWG hook wouldn't be ideal. But I do use EWG for craws and bigger worms.