wacky rig hook

[Mbirdsley]

This may have been beat to death but, I am new.  When selecting a hook for the wacky rig.  what is the difference in using a hook designed for the wacky rig IE a Lazor Trokar wacky worm hook and a octopus style hook IE a Gamakatsu octopus hook?  could a circle hook or similar also work?  I mean I guess in reality any hook would work as I have seen people use offset worm hooks while fishing them wacky style.  

 

 

[Darren.]

We have folks here who use circle hooks, octopus hooks,

Texas Rig-style hooks, all for wacky rigging.

 

I like to use hooks designed for the presentation, namely

Gamakatsu Wide Gap Finesse and Split Shot/Drop shot.

Offset hooks, at least in my experience, do hook up very

well, but gut hooking seems to go up, especially when the

take is virtually unnoticed. I.e., no tap tap tap or obvious

hit to the bait. You lift the rod or start to reel in and "DOH

there's a fish on my line!" type of reaction.

[Mbirdsley]

1 minute ago, Darren. said:

 

Offset hooks, at least in my experience, do hook up very

well, but gut hooking seems to go up, especially when the

take is virtually unnoticed. I.e., no tap tap tap or obvious

hit to the bait.

That is a good point. I could see the chances of gut hooking a bass while using the offset hooks would be substantially higher than using either a wacky or octopus hook.

[Bluebasser86]

Some guys love the circle hooks for wacky rigs. I can't do it, and I've seen lots of missed fish due to using a circle hook on a wacky rig. Personally use a wide gap wacky hook and have an excellent hookup ratio with very few deep hooked fish. 

[burrows]

I used to use gamagatsu 2/0 octopus circle hooks for wacky rigging it’s less likely to get hung up, but you don’t set the hook you just reel into them you set the hook you’ll probably loose the fish. I just recently switched to a 2/0 owner wack hook light hook set seems to the the job fine and the hook doesn’t pop out there mouth.

[the reel ess]

I've used the Gamakatsu Octopus hook and I bought some "wacky jig hooks" from Cadman's Jigs. But I've also had good success with the same hook I would use for T rigging a standard worm. You can give them the same hookset you would the T rig.

[papajoe222]

Bluebasser is right on about circle hooks and wacky rigging. I use circle hooks when I'm introducing newbies, mainly kids, to fishing.  They work great for nose hooking, but because of their design, the bulk of the worm and the hook are exiting the fish's mouth at the same time and normally that's as the fish is spitting it out.  Octopus and wacky hooks are the most often used around here. The only difference I've observed is their diameter.

[Glaucus]

1/0 Gammy Octopus Circle Hook

 

Never miss a fish with these 

[mattkenzer]

I am in this group.

[jr231]

I take the same 3/0 ewg hook I use for weightless Texas rigging. Works great. No need for changing hooks. Been doing this for awhile now and have been successful. 

 

Ive caught lots of bass from 1-4 lbs this way and one that was just shy of 24". 

 

So the extra bit of exposed hook doesnt deter the fish. 

 

Anyone serious about bass fishing should know how to remove a gut hooked bass anyway. Whether through the Gill plate or by exposing the Barb and cutting it off with a pair of side cutting pliers. 

 

[Graham]

This style hook is my go to.

 

[LxVE Bassin]

On 4/27/2018 at 9:09 AM, mattkenzer said:

I am in this group.

I’m there with you, I just use 3/0

[Catt]

Depends on what I'm Wacky Rigging 

 

These days Senkos have became synonymous with Wacky Rigging which I seldom Wacky Rig 

 

I'm still Wacky Rigging Trick Worms!

 

 

[TOXIC]

Little different......

 

 

[NHBull]

I use many of the listed above, but I usually give circle hooks to young kids and part time anglers.  I am sick of dealing with gut hooked fish

[Crestliner2008]

I'm a fan of the Gammy 1/0 INLINE circle hook. Have caught a lot of bass and lake trout with wacky rigged Senkos using this hook. Rarely have I lost fish - as long as you refrain from "setting" the hook per say and just start reeling.  Been doing this for over a couple of decades now with this same hook.

[Big Swimbait]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

Depends on what I'm Wacky Rigging 

 

These days Senkos have became synonymous with Wacky Rigging which I seldom Wacky Rig 

 

I'm still Wacky Rigging Trick Worms!

 

 

I'm with you Catt. Bill Fox introduced me to the wacky rigged Trick Worm in the late 80's on Toledo Bend. Still works today!

[Mbirdsley]

On 5/3/2018 at 4:26 AM, LxVE Bassin said:

I’m there with you, I just use 3/0

I just bought two packs but, in 2/0.  Where are you guys getting the value packs online? 

[Russ E]

I am revisiting this post because, after trying nearly every hook available, my hookup and land ratio for wacky rig and neko rigs is terrible. to the point I did not use these 2 rigs very often.

today I bought some 1/0  VMC neko hooks and decided to try them out on my home lake.

they do not look like anything special, but have a high rating from nearly all websites.

My home lake has a lot of small bass that are nearly always eager to bite.

I spent 3 hours today using only these new hooks with the neko and wacky rig.

had 13 bites and landed 13 fish.  the largest was 2.5 lbs. 

that is by far the best hookup ratio I have ever had with these 2 rigs.

 

 

[bhoff]

I usually use the 2/0 Gamakatsu Octopus Hook but the last time I headed out to buy some tackle I couldn't find any. Went with the 1/0 because that was all they had and managed to land a 4.5lb off the bank without any bending of the hook. Also to whoever mentioned gut hooking fish with circle hooks - I thought that was exactly the reason they made circle hooks, to avoid this. Aren't they designed like that to do a reel set and hook the fish in the corner of the mouth more often?

[Brad in Texas]

I agree with Graham and his preferred hook style regarding what has been the best for me: hook ups and the action, coming through weeds, etc.

 

The Zappu Inchi Wacky Heads are "to die for" as the kids used to say. I like them with the lightest weights offered, with and without the weed guards. You can always snap the guard off.

 

But, what it is about the hook is the position of the weighting where it sort of pulls the worm down from below, hook pointed up. The worm is positioned like a parachute. Since so many wacky worms are actually bitten on the drop or when they thud down, this is a great orientation.

 

Also, the weight itself is something that likely assists the hook getting caught in the fish's mouth tissue over just an unweighted hook.

 

The only downside? Expensive. But, I rarely lose these for some reason, find them very easy to work around weeds/cover. Again, I think this is likely due to how the hook is positioned as it falls or as it is dragged.

 

Brad

 

 

 

 

 

[Team9nine]

One more to throw in the mix, similar to the Zappu but a bit more basic (lead, fiber guard) and half the price. Still accomplishes the same thing and the one I usually throw.

 

RedShad Little Pek Shake Wacky

 

[bassin is addicting]

GAMAKATSU G-FINESSE

WEIGHTED AND UN-WEIGHTED

1/0

[punch]

22 hours ago, Weedwhacker said:

I am revisiting this post because, after trying nearly every hook available, my hookup and land ratio for wacky rig and neko rigs is terrible. to the point I did not use these 2 rigs very often.

today I bought some 1/0  VMC neko hooks and decided to try them out on my home lake.

they do not look like anything special, but have a high rating from nearly all websites.

My home lake has a lot of small bass that are nearly always eager to bite.

I spent 3 hours today using only these new hooks with the neko and wacky rig.

had 13 bites and landed 13 fish.  the largest was 2.5 lbs. 

that is by far the best hookup ratio I have ever had with these 2 rigs.

 

 

Dude, I converted to the 1/0 VMC Neko hook for wacky and Neko rigs. The hookup ratio is legit.  

 

I was fishing with a few non-fishing buddies last weekend and gave them a 1/0 Neko with a pack of zoom fluke sticks and they hammered bass all weekend.just wacky fishing. 

 

A lot of pro's use the VMC Neko hooks for all sorts of stuff. I know why now.