Weedless swimbait hooks

[1simplemann]

I fish swimbaits quite a bit especially in the spring and fall. I usually use a 3.5"-4.5" swimbait w/ a standard jighead 1/8th-1/4oz. Works great but when the river gets really mossy they get to be a PIA. I"ve never texas rigged one but I can see the advantages especially when flipping under branches or bouncing one off a rocky bottom. So, what hooks and what size?  unweighted Swimbait hook w/ a slip sinker? or these weighted swimbait hooks.

[doyle8218]

I use  Eagle Claw Lazer Weighted Swimbait 60-degree 4.0 and 5.0 and also will use a 4.0 or 5.0 hook with a bullet weight. Depending on the conditions and the actual bait.

[WRB]

Owner Ultra sled head jig.

Tom

[A-Jay]

Check out the Freedom Tackle's Hydra Hybrid Jig, the Stealth Hybrid Jig & the Hydra Ultra Light Series Hybrid Jigs

http://www.freedomlures.com/stealth.html

They have completely changed & improved my ability to present a swimbait in, especially in cover.

[Airman4754]

1 hour ago, doyle8218 said:

I use  Eagle Claw Lazer Weighted Swimbait 60-degree 4.0 and 5.0 and also will use a 4.0 or 5.0 hook with a bullet weight. Depending on the conditions and the actual bait.

Same. 

[1simplemann]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Check out the Freedom Tackle's Hydra Hybrid Jig, the Stealth Hybrid Jig & the Hydra Ultra Light Series Hybrid Jigs

http://www.freedomlures.com/stealth.html

They have completely changed & improved my ability to present a swimbait in, especially in cover.

A Jay, I like the design! This is kinda what I was thinking of. I see they're available at TW which figures since i just placed an order with them.

[1simplemann]

A-Jay, thanks for the tip. Placed another order! Hopefully it arrives before we leave. More tacke, more Tackle! My wife says i have enough to start my own buisness.

[Jrob78]

I really like the Owner Beast Swimbait hooks.

[ErikmonBillsfon]

3\0 to 5/0 spring lock keel weighted hook. Love it cuz they are weedless. Love it cuz it won't nose dive but it will fall horizontally and shimmy or body roll as the keitech swimbait falls. Love it cuz the spring lock keeps the nose of the lure locked into the hook and this won't rip the nose. My flimsy delicate keitechs will last longer than my friends senko some days. I haven't really noticed a huge difference in brands if they are Gamakatzu, Owner, Berkeley 219 fusion or whatever new one they have. I did notice that the trokar ones I got had a wider gap than the rest but not as wide as a beast hook. I've also used zman trigger hooks but the weight is farther forward and it will nose dive slightly if that's what you want. 

I've never fished it with an open jig head without wasting 75% of my casts with my lure covered in weeds. Almost always fish with these types of hooks if it's a rage structure bug, super fluke, even a frog. Keeps it running straight and falling horizontal like I want it. 

[WIGuide]

I use Trokar weighted swimbait hooks, usually in 5/0, 7/0, 9/0, and I got some 10/0 to try this year. Obviously it depends on the size of the bait I'm throwing as to which hook I use, but whatever hook you settle on, make sure the top is flat. I bought some a while ago, and didn't realize until after that the hook point rounds down slightly and those had a horrible hookup percentage! Looking on TW almost all of them look like almost all the designs have been changed so they offer the better hookup percentage.

In case anyone was confused by what I meant by flat top, I've included the pick. The hook on the left the hook point will run straight across the bait's back, where the one on the right will dig deeper into the bait. 

[ErikmonBillsfon]

I see what WI Guide is talking about I think the one on the right is eagle claw. Which could be great if used in hydrilla or nasty nasty weeds and slime. In yhat case you want the most weedless hook out there and sacrifice hook up ratio to not pull slime off your lure every other cast. In the other end of the spectrum I've also seen hooks with a slight upwards angle that were impossible to texpose into the plastic. Some I left at that 5° angle for open water situations and half of them I bend down to be horizontal and lay flat on the bait and you wouldn't even need to really tex-pose it sometimes. 

WI GUIDE I never have used any thing over a 5/0 and usually throw 3/0 on a 4 inch keitech. What do you throw with a 7/0? A 6 inch lure? What about 9/0, are you using like 8 inch paddle tails?

[RichF]

Owner beast hooks are by far the best.  Super wide gap and the center pin screw is great. 

[Mike L]

2 hours ago, RichF said:

Owner beast hooks are by far the best.  Super wide gap and the center pin screw is great. 

Ditto 

 

Mike 

[webertime]

The lazers mentioned above OR on a 4/0 EWG with nail weights in the bait...  (just going to leave that there for you)

[WRB]

You all realize the OP's inquiry was weedless hooks for 3 1/2"-4 1/2" swimmers like Keitech, not  5" to 7" swimbaits in general.

Tom

[RichF]

4/0 Beast hook would be perfect for 3 1/2" to 4 1/2" swimmers like the keitech fat impact or kicker fish slapper tail, etc

[1simplemann]

On 5/24/2016 at 2:19 PM, WRB said:

You all realize the OP's inquiry was weedless hooks for 3 1/2"-4 1/2" swimmers like Keitech, not  5" to 7" swimbaits in general.

Tom

WRB, Thank You for pointing that out!

On 5/24/2016 at 10:00 AM, WIGuide said:

I use Trokar weighted swimbait hooks, usually in 5/0, 7/0, 9/0, and I got some 10/0 to try this year. Obviously it depends on the size of the bait I'm throwing as to which hook I use, but whatever hook you settle on, make sure the top is flat. I bought some a while ago, and didn't realize until after that the hook point rounds down slightly and those had a horrible hookup percentage! Looking on TW almost all of them look like almost all the designs have been changed so they offer the better hookup percentage.

In case anyone was confused by what I meant by flat top, I've included the pick. The hook on the left the hook point will run straight across the bait's back, where the one on the right will dig deeper into the bait. 

WI Guide, i see what you mean in your pic. I'm going to have to play around with a few brands. Thanks for the tip.

[WIGuide]

On 5/24/2016 at 11:48 AM, ErikmonBillsfon said:

WI GUIDE I never have used any thing over a 5/0 and usually throw 3/0 on a 4 inch keitech. What do you throw with a 7/0? A 6 inch lure? What about 9/0, are you using like 8 inch paddle tails?

I'm not a swimbait expert by any means, but what I've found as by using the larger size hooks I have a better hookup percentage. I think it's because of two reasons, the first is the hook point sits further back in the bait so the fish doesn't have to take it as deep to get the hookpoint to grab. The second is because when they bite down on the bait, the gap between the hook point and the top of the bait is greater leaving more "biting" area for the hook. I try to use as big of hook as I can as long as it doesn't change the action of the bait. I'll usually use a 7/0 in a 5" hollow belly and the 9/0 in the 6"