13 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Shrink tubing works, also.  3/8" for Senkos and 1/4" for trick worms.  I got mine online, but I believe you can get it at the hardware store.

I use a stick worm that's slightly fatter than a senko.... so maybe I need a 1/2" tube? Once you slide it on... do you use a heat gun to shrink it? That's a lot of work on 100 worms LOL

On 1/7/2017 at 3:43 PM, Bassguytom said:

I know they will make the bait last longer but have you seen a lower hook up rate then without them?

 

Not at all.

 

5 minutes ago, flippindocks said:

I use a stick worm that's slightly fatter than a senko.... so maybe I need a 1/2" tube? Once you slide it on... do you use a heat gun to shrink it? That's a lot of work on 100 worms LOL

I use a lighter, but then again, I smoke cigars and always have a torch lighter on me....I'd argue that it is a LOT faster than using two orings....getting them on, even with a tool can be a bit of a challenge....getting a hook in while keeping them crossed can be a lot harder than it sounds...at least while in a kayak with my old fumble-fingers....a short slice of heat shrink slid on and toasted for about 3 seconds isn't much work at all

Another vote for shrink tubing.

Always with shrink tube here as well. I cut about 3/8" wide piece. They fit 5" senko with just little gap but with 4" senko I alway shrink them a little bit with lighter.

When I think of agonizing over what direction the hook on any rig is, I have to wonder why it makes any difference.  You have no idea how that bait gets sucked in their mouth, and no idea what direction the hook will be oriented when set the hook.  I'll hypothesize that many times the hook is in a weird spot, the hook set was late.  So, for me the one ring with the hook side ways doesn't bother me a bit.  I mean, I don't Texas rig a craw or curly tail worm side ways...

 

I've always used two o-rings crossed so the hook is perpendicular to the senko.  Not sure if this helps with hookups, but I've always done it. 

18 minutes ago, J Francho said:

When I think of agonizing over what direction the hook on any rig is, I have to wonder why it makes any difference.  You have no idea how that bait gets sucked in their mouth, and no idea what direction the hook will be oriented when set the hook.  I'll hypothesize that many times the hook is in a weird spot, the hook set was late.  So, for me the one ring with the hook side ways doesn't bother me a bit.  I mean, I don't Texas rig a craw or curly tail worm side ways...

 

 

I'd say in my experience, and purely observational, that

the vast majority of my hookups with wacky rigs are in 

the top of the mouth. If the worm is still on the hook, it

is usually still perpendicular to the hook. There are those

times when it's clear the fish inhaled and took off sideways

by where the hook is...

 

Drop shotting, the positioning of the hook is fairly important,

at least, again, by my experience. 99% of hookups are top

lip. Granted, the presentation is weighted, and vertical...

 

You're probably right in terms of late hook sets, etc. But it 

feels right to me to have it perpendicular. So maybe it's just

a confidence thing, eh?  

2 hours ago, Darren. said:

So maybe it's just a confidence thing, eh?

^^ this... I fish 80% of my senkos with one o-ring. I fish with one buddy that always uses one, and another that refuses to use one. I don't see a difference either way personally, but little buddy hates the o-rings for some reason. 

I've tried a single ring and the double ring method. Didn't care for either.I am going to be giving these EAgle claw wacky rig harnesses a try this year. 

10 hours ago, GreenGhostMan said:

I've always used two o-rings crossed so the hook is perpendicular to the senko.  Not sure if this helps with hookups, but I've always done it. 

I have noticed that with one O ring, the wacky rig seems to be more weedless.  So there's that

On 2/21/2017 at 1:12 PM, Choporoz said:

 

I use a lighter, but then again, I smoke cigars and always have a torch lighter on me....I'd argue that it is a LOT faster than using two orings....getting them on, even with a tool can be a bit of a challenge....getting a hook in while keeping them crossed can be a lot harder than it sounds...at least while in a kayak with my old fumble-fingers....a short slice of heat shrink slid on and toasted for about 3 seconds isn't much work at all

 

So if I want to try the shrink tubing route ... how thin a slice of the tubing do you use?  And could I sit down with a bunch of bags of worms some night and put the shrink tubes on ahead of time so they're ready to go? 

8 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

 

So if I want to try the shrink tubing route ... how thin a slice of the tubing do you use?  And could I sit down with a bunch of bags of worms some night and put the shrink tubes on ahead of time so they're ready to go? 

 

I got mine in a kit that were pre-cut and yes, I rigged a bunch of mine ahead of time and threw them in the worm box.

9 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

 

So if I want to try the shrink tubing route ... how thin a slice of the tubing do you use?  And could I sit down with a bunch of bags of worms some night and put the shrink tubes on ahead of time so they're ready to go? 

I do about third of a bag of Senkos in advance.   I rig wacky less than half the time.

 1/4" thin slices of shrink wrap.  I also keep a short length of each tubing in my tackle bag to do more in the boat, if necessary. 

Kind of a different angle on the use of O rings ..  I read just this week a recent study on the effects of lost or discarded plastics on the environment, and O rings were mentioned as a means of reducing the chance of losing them.  Stick baits are by far the biggest polluter.  They broke the baits into 6 categories, the study found 12 total plastic lures in a fish' gut and 9 of them were stick baits. Snorkeling an area they found 26 plastic baits on the bottom - 20 were stick baits.   They said:

 

Quote

Anglers need to be further educated on alternative SPL-rigging methods, such as using an oring on stick baits for better hook retention

 

It maybe a consideration for some that there maybe a small positive environmental impact using O rings.  Food for thought I guess.

 

Entire paper here:

http://fishlab.nres.illinois.edu/Reprints/Raison_et_al_Soft_Plastic_Lures_Water_Soil_Pollution_2014.pdf

A cheap and simple method is to get a big hollow pen and buy a bunch of tiny black hair ties for about $1.  Get a saw and cut off part of the pen down the middle so only the long hollow part remains.  Next slide your senko as far as you can into the hollow empty portion of the pen you just opened up.  Now slide one of the hair ties onto the pen and slide it from the pen onto the middle of the senko.  Then just get a finesse hook and slide it underneath the hair tie so that it faces outwards.  It's as easy as that.

Bass Pro sells a rigger with 25 o rings for $7.  Any place that has a cheaper/more o ring option?  Thanks.

I don't use Senkos or O-rings,

but I'm never without stickworms   

 

Roger

Fished on Monday with 1 O ring and 5" senkos, for the first time.  Bait lasted much longer and I don't think it impacted my hookup ratio.  I didn't hook the bait itself so I had to keep an eye on the hook alignment.  I need to do some more fishing with it to determine how it will best work for me.  My buddy wasn't using the O ring and went through a full bag of senkos. 

40 minutes ago, JustinCT said:

Fished on Monday with 1 O ring and 5" senkos, for the first time.  Bait lasted much longer and I don't think it impacted my hookup ratio.  I didn't hook the bait itself so I had to keep an eye on the hook alignment.  I need to do some more fishing with it to determine how it will best work for me.  My buddy wasn't using the O ring and went through a full bag of senkos. 

 

Where's this cheapest place to get a tool and a bunch of o rings?  TY.

25 o-rings will probably last you a long time

2 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

25 o-rings will probably last you a long time

 

Sorry its only 10 o-rings.  Does BPS have the best option or is there something better?

I've switched to shrink tubing.  But, there always used to be tons of options on ebay from China.  Just gotta watch for shipping costs and time.  If you're willing to wait a few weeks, I'd bet you can get hundreds of rings and a tool for less than $10 shipped.  Oh yeah...also check the ring sizes...IIRC, some just came as 'assorted' sizes.

7 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I've switched to shrink tubing.  But, there always used to be tons of options on ebay from China.  Just gotta watch for shipping costs and time.  If you're willing to wait a few weeks, I'd bet you can get hundreds of rings and a tool for less than $10 shipped.  Oh yeah...also check the ring sizes...IIRC, some just came as 'assorted' sizes.

 

This is not bad.  $5.89 with 10 o rings.  You can preload them and it has a carabiner. 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wacky-Rig-O-Ring-Tool-for-Senkos-Stick-Baits-w-10-orings-/282019703610?hash=item41a9af2b3a:g:-ocAAOSwCfdXovAH

1 hour ago, bitsandbass said:

Any place that has a cheaper/more o ring option?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MT04AH5/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I9XNBRGEZJIQN&colid=ZDZ15269F6YU&th=1

Amazon has 125 o-rings for $8 (Prime) or the tool included for $15