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    best wacky rig hooks?
from Corey_H #11623 #11623  
4/3/2012 5:12:25 PM

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 I don't wacky rig very often, but plan to use it more this year. When it comes to selecting a hook to wacky rig a 5" Senko, I have a few questions...

1. What's the best size to use?
2. Light wire or heavy wire hook?
3. Octopus style or something different?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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   I like these in 5/0 but I nearly always use the 6" or bigger Senkos from Wackoman  4/3/2012 6:06:03 PM
 

Gamakatsu Wicked Wacky Hook

   Gammy Octopus hook #02414 from Wayne P.  4/3/2012 6:55:58 PM
 

Add a weed guard if needed. Wackoman, no way would I use a Kahle style hook for bass fishing unless I was using live bait. That is a missed hookset waiting to happen.

   Weird from Wackoman  4/3/2012 9:38:13 PM
 

I never miss a wacky fish with that hook. Made my own when Reaction Innov. quit selling the WW hook. Now Gammy has it so I use the store bought ones.

Years ago when I first started wacky rigging senkos I only used straight shank hooks with no guard at all. That is still the best fish catcher but getting hung in the brush make it a bad system.

   Wayne's suggestion is fine, from Ralph Manns  4/4/2012 12:41:11 AM
 but Gammy actually sells as good or better wacky hook weedless. See the BPS 2012 catalog, page 305, item "Y" (Weedless finesse wide gap).

A friends started using these to fish Senkos wacky several years ago. It works fine for me, using either rubber rings or simple steel split rings as the mid-worm attachment device.

What's more, I started using them as a nose hook to drop and slide weightless Senkos over rocks and open bottom. I find it gives a slower sink, an even better Senko presentation, and more reliable hook-ups than the heavier texposed extra-wide gaps I had been using for Senkos in and over heavy vegetation. Just tighten up and reel the bass in after he takes the bait and moves away. I actually deep hook and injure fewer bass with this hook.

If you lock your drag and use 40+ braid and don't let a fish even move an inch away, this isn't the hook for you. It hooks skin, not bone.

It works very well over rocks and clean bottoms to a depth of about 10 feet. And it works over vegetation like milfoil and coontail as long as I don't let it sink deep inside the grass.

You may need a heavier hook or small sinker to fish small Senko or lighter finesse worms much deeper. It takes time to get these plastics deep enough, but the bass love that hovering/sliding bait.

I use size 1s, but if you "know" that's too small, try 1/0s.

   +1 on Weedless finesse wide gap. thanks Ralph from Harumph #11038 #11038  4/4/2012 7:57:34 AM
 I read a post from you about a year ago on these hooks. I tried them last year and they work great.

I was a bit nervous about hook-up % given the fact that the weed guard on those hooks actually set behind the barb but I didn't see any drop in hook-up %.

Great hooks. Thanks again.

   question for Wack and Ralph from MikeF  4/4/2012 9:20:43 AM
 Have either of you used the hook you recommend in the grass and reeds we have here in Florida? What's weedless in timber and brush doesn't always seem to work in grass.

   Weedless Finesse Wide Gap Hook from Wayne P.  4/4/2012 12:34:56 PM
 I have tried those to. The plastic "weedguard" is very weak and will release at the slightest touch. Basically worthless around anything more sturdy than algae. Also the hook point and hook eye are so close together that it will too cause missed hooksets.
I fish in timber and heavy vegetation most of the time (similar to Lake Fork and including Lake Fork), and the hook I use is the only one that performs totally and can handle the biggest bass in the "pond".
Ralph is correct in using that hook like a Circle Hook and letting the bass run off with it. Same for the Kahle style.

   This is true Mike. from Wackoman  4/4/2012 1:56:13 PM
 
The gammy I pictured is pretty good on Guntersville this time of the year when the grass is young, short, sparse and tender. In about a month you will have to rig texposed as you would in thick Kissimmee grass. For that I use the regular gammy round bend offset in 5/0 or sometimes a straight shank flipping hook which is the best fish catching hook in my box. In brush or blowdowns the big wicked wacky gammy is great.

Still there is nothing finesse about wacky riggin IMHO and I do not like the weedless finesse wide gappers. That's a bream hook to me. But to each his own.

Something else about wacky rigging or a weightless senko in general. After the post spawn when they move or begin to move their summer pattern or locations a senko sux unless it is just a follow-up for a top water strike or something. It's like you can't wear white after Labor Day well I can't throw a Senko in the south after Memorial Day!

   I use the Gamakatsu "finesse" weedless hooks from StevieP  4/4/2012 2:11:09 PM
  like these:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Terminal-Tackle/Fishing-Hooks|/pc/104793480/c/104779980/sc/104391180/Gamakatsu-Finesse-Weedless-Hooks-150-Per-5/739418.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-terminal-tackle-fishing-hooks%2Fgamakatsu%2F_%2FN-1100369%2B1000003487%2FNe-1000003487%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BBRprd1167626%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BBRprd1167626%3Bcat104391180

I the "Wacky tool" from Northern Bass Supply to put O-Rings on the senkos. If you're not using O-Rings, you're using ten times as many baits, because they just tear up if you don't. Seriously - Senkos last a LOT longer with the O-Rings.

http://www.nbswebstore.com/cgi-bin/web_store/web_store.cgi?view=products&cart_id=7824096_956&product=TackleAccessories&manufact=WACKY%20TOOL

   Mike F from Ralph Manns  4/5/2012 12:06:59 AM
 I failed to communicate. The hook is not for use IN grass, Florida style or elsewhere. But I have used it in my pond which is full of milfoil and coontial by fishing slowly over the vegetation with the nose-mounted Senko. For vegetation, like at Fork, I still like a Texposed Z-widegap.

   agree with tex-posed but from MikeF  4/5/2012 8:17:41 AM
 IMHO putting a tex-posed hook in a senko effectively kills half the action. That defeats the reason to use a senko.

   It does kill the action. But with a big senko the tail will still shimmy some and that is better than none at all. from Wackoman  4/5/2012 11:26:41 AM
 

Lots of guys in FL t-rig them with an 1/8 oz weight and have success. But you are right. The Senko is most deadly rigged wacky.

   I do too from MikeF  4/5/2012 1:17:51 PM
 I use them t-rigged and c-rigged with and without weight but nothing duplicates the action wacky rigged on an o-ring.

   1/0 Gammy Straight hook from Dave Ervin #12427 #12427  4/6/2012 7:50:37 AM
 I like a Gammy 1/0 straight light wire hook, no weedguard. Hook it in middle of a zoom trick worm or senko with O ring and just watch the action when you drop it.
Dave

   Thanks... from Corey_H #11623 #11623  4/6/2012 10:54:48 AM
 I appreciate all of the feedback. I was hoping everyone would agree on a single hook, but as with fishing in general, everyone's got their own idea of what works for them. I guess I'll try a couple of the ones mentioned and go from there on which one works best for me.

   That is the nature of the beast Corey from Harumph #11038 #11038  4/6/2012 11:07:44 AM
 Just to add some more fun to the topic.

A lot of times when I am fishing grass I will wacky rig a trick work on an exposed hook on purpose.

So I can snag and rip the bait free triggering strikes when nothing else works.

I guess that is why they call it fishing and not catching:)