I have never figured this out. A Sassy Shad will almost always come out with a kink and the hook off to the side. Twister tails ,grubs, half a plastic worm... Is there a trick to rigging them nice and straight?

For me it just took practice. I used an entire pack of paca craws cause they're cheap. I hold the weedguard next to the hook shank with my left thumb and thread it with my right hand.

Hold it next to the hook flush with the head of the jig and see where the hook is going to come through plastic. Once you have that measured just thread it on slowly and be sure to keep the plastic straight.

Try YouTube of you learn better visually like I do. Once you get it its second nature. Good luck!

Hold the jig head next to plastic see where the hook is going to come out. Then thread it on nice and straight, bring hook out at pre measured spot.

Hold the jig head next to plastic see where the hook is going to come out. Then thread it on nice and straight, bring hook out at pre measured spot.

BAM! Nailed that #@$%!

Nice and straight is the hard part.

If it's a little crooked, really the fish don't care. You are not entering your shad or trailer in a beauty contest.

Nice and straight is the hard part.

Flukes need to be straight as possible, you know where the center of the bait is. I grab the hook in the bend to insert, the plastic is held between forefinger and thumb. At that point as long as you don't twist your fingers or hook it will go on straight. The easiest plastic to practice with are grubs. You can get a cheap pack of ten for a dollar. The body is solid and aids in making sure the bait is straight. There are no appendages too get in the way, its just a matter of practice.

Hold the jig head next to plastic see where the hook is going to come out. Then thread it on nice and straight, bring hook out at pre measured spot.

Perfect answer, nothing to add.

:respect-040:

Bass fishermen have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. I thought someone may have come up with a clever technique other than thread it on the best you can. LOL. Sassy Shads are the hardest. Often times I have to throw the things away because I tear them up trying to get them straight. They do not work near as well coming in crooked.

Rigging baits correctly and straight on hooks/jigs is bass fishing 101, my 7 year old can do it. Not to poke fun, but it is pretty simple, if you can't do it correctly fishing might not be your thing.

Rigging baits correctly and straight on hooks/jigs is bass fishing 101, my 7 year old can do it. Not to poke fun, but it is pretty simple, if you can't do it correctly fishing might not be your thing.

You see, Im not really a fisherman, Its just on Sundays I like to dress up like Virgil Ward and recreate some of his classic fishing shows. I pretend Im catching fish from the lakes of northern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. If I could just get those beetle spins rigged perfectly.

Rigging baits correctly and straight on hooks/jigs is bass fishing 101, my 7 year old can do it. Not to poke fun, but it is pretty simple, if you can't do it correctly fishing might not be your thing.

Very helpful post.