Anyone pulling out the Neko Rig yet? I haven’t been out for almost two weeks but next time out you can bet I’ll be throwing the neko now that there are some solid weedlines.
Figured I’d drop these videos here in case someone comes across these and don’t know the technique.
“Anyone pulling out the Neko Rig yet?”
Not yet, usually a post-spawn thing for me… but with all the hot weather coming in, we may be close – –
Same here Frydog. But not much has been working for me so far this year. The bites I’ve seen have been a little off. So why not? 
I’m thinking inside weed edges should be good with it even now.
I have been using it now 2 different times.
Wacky and jerk baits were doing nothing in the shallow, couldn’t get anything on the chatter bait. So 8 ft weed lines seemed like a good spot to turn that wacky in to a neko and it worked like a charm both times.
I didn’t have faith but it worked out
I have been using it now 2 different times.
Wacky and jerk baits were doing nothing in the shallow, couldn’t get anything on the chatter bait. So 8 ft weed lines seemed like a good spot to turn that wacky in to a neko and it worked like a charm both times.
I didn’t have faith but it worked out
Nice! I’ve had so many people say the wacky is better. It’s not even a contest. It’s all about how it falls and how it sits on the bottom. You can also fish deeper with it because it falls fairly quickly.
You can also fish deeper with it because it falls fairly quickly.
There are times when I don’t want it to sink faster though. I prefer a slow sink rate when I’m skipping a stick bait under a dock. Plus the weighted portion would inhibit the stick bait from skipping normally.
In anything over about 5-6 feet of water, I like the faster fall rate of a neko.
Yeah you definitely don’t skip a neko. That being said I do flip it on the outside of docks and even against weightless wacky rigs I feel it out performs it. Like I said, the way it sits on the bottom and falls is one of the most bite enticing actions for bass fishing.
Actually Neko worms are my #1 skipping lure!
Skips every bit as far and easily as a wacky worm and slides way back under a dock when needed. I throw worms with floating tails, so once it comes to rest the tail sticks up above any weeds/cover and is easily seen by the fish. If the bite is subtle, the buoyancy of the floating tail undulates well on its own without working it hard.
The other reason why I prefer skipping a Neko vs. wacky is that the lead weight is buried in plastic. If you hit a pontoon or dock post it’s just a light thud vs. ringing the gong with a 1/8 oz wacky jig.
Three years ago I was 90% skipping wacky and 10% Neko – it’s the complete opposite now for me. And on retrieve, you can work it slow like a wacky or a little bit faster when you need to..
Maybe I need to start skipping worms again. I’m stuck on rage bugs and they keep paying off. Planning on using some bigger worms again this season.
Wasn’t planning on skipping any docks today, but went by a couple juicy looking ones… Neko strikes again. 21 inch, 5.62 lb spawned out female with bloody tail. Wonder what she would have weighed a couple weeks ago?!?
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Wonder what she would have weighed a couple weeks ago?!?
Jeez Fryer, that might be your best one all season…and its spawned out.
I think I definitely got lucky, there was only one other smaller fish on the stretch of 5-6 docks that I fished. Bite was really tough today overall – bass weren’t on the flats like last week and once the sun got to about 9:00 am it really shut down. Next few days of heat I think its bite early and go home..
Next few days of heat I think its bite early and go home..
I’m thinking of going an hour before dark and then staying out there until midnight or so.
Really hate the o rings, switch over to the plastic bands that work so much better.
I don’t mind the o-rings at all. I have the little tube that you slide the worms into and slide the o ring over the worm. Super easy.
I was out this morning, caught one right away on a frog, then dried up. Then caught a few in pencil reed beds with a texas rigged rage bug, and got a few more with a chatterbait on a weedline. Nothing nice but caught some fish. Sure haven’t figured out the bite this year. Been a struggle for me.
I have not tried the Neko rig yer this season but will have one tied on the next outing for sure. Got out some yesterday and we decided to start checking some of the normal summertime deeper weed edge spots since it seems like for the most part the spawn is mostly over in this area. Wasn’t expecting much, but was totally surprised. Lots of fish have already started to set up on the normal summer spots. The fish seem to be rather scattered out and not schooling up much yet. As normal, it’s mostly the smaller fish that have showed up first but I think the bigger fish will not be far behind. Two other things I noticed that surprised me a little was how clear the water is and how good the weed growth is coming along. I’m guessing it’s the lack of spring rains that is the primary cause of both. Some landings are getting a little tough. We really need a good rain or two soon. Looking at the forecast it doesn’t seem to be anytime soon. Most fish came on a jigworm. Time to get both a Neko rig and dropshot tied onto rods for future outings.
Two other things I noticed that surprised me a little was how clear the water is and how good the weed growth is coming along. I’m guessing it’s the lack of spring rains that is the primary cause of both. Some landings are getting a little tough. We really need a good rain or two soon. Looking at the forecast it doesn’t seem to be anytime soon.
We really do need another good rain. The second half of May helped with a couple weeks of wet, cooler weather but a couple inches isn’t enough. We need like 6 or 7 inches, especially in the central portion of the state. All this crap floating around in the air needs to go too. A hard rain will get rid of it. I noticed the access situation way back on opener, its probably not much better now.
I fish a multi-species league in Wright County. We had a make-up night Tuesday and also our regular outing last night. Primary target is bass, followed by pike and walleye. Shorelines have been pretty unproductive this week. We’ve found all of our fish on offshore structure in the thickest weeds, which makes the Neko a tough one to fish. Most have come on a dropshot senko pitched into the pockets in depths from 6-13′. The lakes we fished this week have had pretty well established weedlines.
Joe Jarl exactly what I found this weekend also off the lake by 10 am way to hot everything on weeds. For me ned rigs and wacky worms
I purchased some Zman bang sticks to use for Neko rigging. I thought because they float that they would work great and the tail section would stand up more and have better movement. I went to try one yesterday and could not get a nail to insert into it. Has anyone here fished them with a nail weight? If so, how did you get a nail into the end of one. I’m thinking of trying to heat a nail real hot and see if that may work.
I had the same problem, and the work arounds didn’t seem worth the hassle. I also found once I got the nail weight in there it was the first thing to come flying out while fighting a fish. That’s when I switched over to another brand that makes tails that float, and the head of the worm easy to insert the nail.
What brand Fry?
What brand Fry?
GrandeBass makes 3 with the floating tails: Airtail Rattler, Airtail Neko, Airtail Wiggler.
That Elaztec plastic is very resistant to piercing or ripping. Great for just about every other technique but definitely makes getting a nail in there really tough.
Thanks Fry.
Do any of you who fish the Neko rig seem to hook a lot of fish in the tongue? I have hooked 3-4 fish in the tongue with it the last two outing. Fish hooked in the tongue bleed like CRAZY and often don’t survive it. I hate killing fish, even worse when they are bigger fish. I also found when the fish are really eating it, you need to keep your cast much shorter to set the hook as soon as possible after pickup to avoid deep hooking fish. For some reason they really inhale those baits. I think that happens often when fishing baits that bass pickup off the bottom (it also seems to happen often when I’m fishing roller jigs ) . I think they mostly tend to inhale baits off the bottom.
I switched over to a #1 or #2 weedless VMC Neko hook and I think with the slightly longer shank, almost always hook them in the roof of the mouth. I also rig hook point up if that makes a difference. Can’t remember the last time I deep hooked a fish or caused a lot of bleeding…
I switched over to a #1 or #2 weedless VMC Neko hook and I think with the slightly longer shank, almost always hook them in the roof of the mouth. I also rig hook point up if that makes a difference. Can’t remember the last time I deep hooked a fish or caused a lot of bleeding…
I’m using the 1/0 VMC Neko hook in the non weedless version. May just be a fluke. Funny thing is I’ve hooked bass in the tongue with 5/0 hooks and they never seemed to bleed this Bad from it. Then again maybe the fight in this HOT water is a factor. I’ve been trying to land them as soon as possible and get them back in the water as quickly as possible.
Hmmm, wonder if a slightly smaller hook would help like a size 1 or 2? Maybe a 1/0 is larger and just long enough to get further down the throat when hooking??
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