true Detroit.......I don't worry about grass either.........but treetops, laydowns, and lilly pads you better be weedless.

And FWIW, I'm not a fan of using O rings and rigging the hook parallel to the worm. J Francho suggested in another thread, if I recall correctly, using 2 O rings in an X like pattern and hooking perpendicular through that.

 

I rarely miss fish with wacky, and I don't use O rings... My go-to hooks are the Gamakatsu Wide Gap Finesse in 4, 2, and 1 sizes.

 

I will completely agree here. I use a 6'8 M/XF or 7'0 M/F rod with 20 lb braid and an owner wacky hook with weedguards or the gammy finesse wide gap hook. Buckeye weighted wacky hooks also produce well. I simply take up the slack and pop the rod upward, no monster hookset and no sweep. Pops them right in the roof of the mouth. I honestly can't recall ever losing a fish this way. Toss some 10lb braid on that reel and slam them!

I am visually impaired so dont line watch. I always keep contact with the bait. I can feel a fish breathe on it. IME and I know others disagree, but a sunfish will always feel like a tap tap tap and they usually run with it and let go. A bass usually is a single tap and then just weight or they move away with it.

 

I still think you are getting bit by sunfish.

Since switching to the Wacky Saddle and a Gamakatsu weedless worm hook, I get about 99.9%. With the Wacky Saddle, the hook is perpendicular to the worm. I think that makes a big difference.

With this setup, I don't have a "hook set". When I see my line moving off, I lift the tip of my rod to keep the fish from swimming away.

I am visually impaired so dont line watch. I always keep contact with the bait. I can feel a fish breathe on it. IME and I know others disagree, but a sunfish will always feel like a tap tap tap and they usually run with it and let go. A bass usually is a single tap and then just weight or they move away with it.

 

I still think you are getting bit by sunfish.

 

not by using your own description, which is very accurate.

 

I either get a THUMP and line moves or the line just moves.........sometimes just pressure.

also, bream/sunfish don't strip drag like the big bite I had yesterday.

 

it was also not a 2.5 pound bluegill that rocketed out of the water 3 days ago.

 

I am not dealing with sunfish this time around

yes big$grip.........once the new hooks and saddle arrive I will just do the "drop shot hook set".

When you use the O-ring rigging the hook is inline with the Senko body. The Wacky Saddle rig (Tackle Warehouse- under terminal tacklr search) keeps the hook sideways to the Senko body and that improves hook to strike ratio tremendously.

In cold water the bass may not be all that active, wait longer. If you wait too long the bass will eat and start to sallow or will sallow the Senko more often then they drop it. Circle style wide gap finesse style ( kahle) hooks help to,prevent gut hooking, the opposite problem you now have. Also a good attractant can help in this situation, the bass tend to hold it longer.

The good thing is you are in bass and getting bites, just need to time the hook set better.

Tom

yeap, I am going to get some saddles, and do the crossed o ring until then.

 

I did forget to mention, senko was soaked in JJs.