Wacky worm rig hooks?

Ok guys I don’t do a lot of bass fishing most walleye and panfish but was on a trip to glacial lakes in south Dakota and had guys tell me they did great on smallies with the wacky rig technique. The next week I was headed to northern WI to a lake with good largemouth fishing so wanted to give it a try and it worked great. My question is what hooks do you guys use that use this technique alot. I just bought some VMC wacky hooks in 2/0 and 3/0 and they worked all right but I lost a lot of fish with them. Finally I found a bigger hook in my box that was like a short trailer hook for a spinner bait and my hook up percentage went way up and I kept a lot more fish on when they jumped. I was not sure if I needed a bigger hook or smaller hook. The fish I was loosing were in the 3 to 5 lb range. Maybe also I wasn’t using the right hook set. I was using 10 lb braid and was setting the hook hard when I felt the fish pick up the bait. Thanks for any advise you can give me for the next time I use the wacky rig!

Gamakatsu WG weedless Finesse hook. I use weedless because I fish a lot of weedbeds and wood. I also tried their dropshot hook that looks similar but that weedguard was useless so those went in the trash. I have some VNC Ike’s weedless wacky hooks to try as I’m near Hayward for the next week of vacation. Oh, I use 2/0 on a 5″ senko for LM bass, 1/0 on 4″ senko for smallies.

John

4/0 & 5/0 Trokar hooks with a 5″ stick bait. The bass tend to inhale the smaller hooks and I’ve found using a larger hook reduces the number of fish that are deep hooked. I’ll go as high as an 8/0 when throwing 6″-12″ worms. Gammy’s are ok, but I use braid and broke the light wire hooks. The Gammy EWG Superline hooks are good too.

I use the VMC weed guard wacky hook. I’ve also fished a fair amount for smallmouth in the Glacial lakes. There is a lot of timber/brush there and the little weed guard wire seems to help.

I have also found the key to setting the hook wacky style for me is the rod straight up. In the past if I set the hook a little sideways or 3/4 angle my hook up percentage went down quite a bit.

Wacky rigs account for the majority of my personal and clients bass…
Probably already 200 this season. I use 2/0 and 3/0 VMC Wackys and Gamakatsu
EWG Wackys. I prefer the Gammys. Unless the weeds are super thick I don’t use the weed guard style.
My success is best with a longer rod, reeling down on the slack and using a sweeping hook set.
Spinning… DX 743 (7’4″ MedXfast), 10# 832 braid, 10′ Fluoro leader
casting…. 7’3″ Med Fast, 8-10# straight fluoro…

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Oops…
That is my Senko rod in the Smallie pic but I caught her on the 3.5″ swim bait…
They are killers too…:)

Thanks Tom. I think I got the hook right maybe was setting the hook to hard. I was using a 6’6″ MH spinning rod with 10 lb. power pro so maybe I was pulling the hook right out! I’ll give the sweeping hook set a try.

i use gamakatsu 4/0 worm hooks i dont use the normal wacky hooks simply due to the fact i like to switch on a whim between wacky rigged and texas weedless style. also the longer shanked hooks prevents gut hooking. have lots of success with this especially when casting in the thick of weeds and slowly slingin it through.

Maybe I dreamt this, but I thought there was a new product out there where you push this peg through the worm and then attach the hook to it on the otherside? Anyone know of or have a link to this?

pug, do you mean one of these?
http://www.ecoprotungsten.com/pro-wacky-weight/

That is it? In trying to find it I did see that on a website, but I didn’t realize that was it. But your link shows how to use it and that is in fact what I was talking about.

Interesting you mentioned this because it was something I had heard about and looked into a little. I’m a big fan of Yamasenko wacky worms in part because they are so soft. But that’s the problem too – they don’t last and get expensive.

This little tungsten rig might work and help the worms last longer… but at $5-7 for 3 and then you add in a couple bags of Senko worms at $7/bag… all of a sudden wacky rigging gets to be $20+ for catching … how many fish?

Its worth trying, I may order some. Meanwhile tackle stores that sell Yamasenkos love me.

I use a 4/0 weedless Mustad. I also use a collar on my Hynee Hula worms. What is does is, 1- Prevents the worm from running up the line when u catch a fish,2-, The Hynee rig also prevents the worm from coming off the hook, and 3- Your worm will last much longer than the traditional method. Hyneejigs.com

I like the Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gaps.

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I can’t stand rigging senkos wacky style. They always fly off after a half dozen casts.

I’ll have to try hooking them another way. Someone on this site sent me some O rings and a tool some time ago, but I keep forgetting to use them.

Might be worth a try with the built in O-ring to keep the worm in tact longer..
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Big_Bite_Baits_Wacky_Stick_7pk/descpage-BBBWKYS.html

That’s a cool idea.

I do like senkos a lot. The softness feels so natural and I still think it has the best sinking action. Of course those things probably matter more to my psyche than to the fish.

Tell u fisherman this. Try wackie riggin with a collar and a 3/0 eagle claw weedless kale, your worms last and they do not fly off or run up the hook….