I’ve been trying out the wacky rig fishing for spawning bass, and I like this technique for when the bass are skittish. Very easy to make a quiet entry into the water, and easy to control when trying to place it in a bed. The slow fall really aggravates the males and females.  My problem is I’m fishing around tons of grass, and the usual hooks I use for a wacky rig are pretty light wire. Not good for trying to stop a 4 or 5 pounder from darting into a grass mat. Any suggestions for a stouter hook that is good for a wacky rig? Thanks in advance everyone!!!

Check out the Gamakatsu Straight Eye Shiner/Wacky Hook 

And

If you're interested in adding a weed guard the Gamakatsu Wicked Wacky Hook is a quality option as well.

 

A-Jay

12 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Check out the Gamakatsu Straight Eye Shiner/Wacky Hook 

And

If you're interested in adding a weed guard the Gamakatsu Wicked Wacky Hook is a quality option as well.

 

A-Jay

Thanks A-Jay. Saw the shiner hooks online just a minute ago. Definitely gonna give those a shot. I’ve been using a  7’ MF casting rod with a 6.3:1 reel with 20# PowerPro... just to add that info to the mix lol

I actually would prefer a Gamakatsu Wide Gap Finesse

hook in 1/0 or 2/0. I've made a bunch of my 2/0 weedless

and they are fantastic for bedding bass.

 

Stout hooks, these are.

 

If you need weedless but not tie them yourself:

 

5 minutes ago, Darren. said:

I actually would prefer a Gamakatsu Wide Gap Finesse

hook in 1/0 or 2/0. I've made a bunch of my 2/0 weedless

and they are fantastic for bedding bass.

 

Stout hooks, these are.

 

If you need weedless but not tie them yourself:

 

X2. Only one i use for wacky rigs. 

I've lost more fish than I care to count with many of these weedless hooks. For a whole year I fished the Gamakatsu that Darren shared with us. I did ok with it. One thing I learned (very painfully) was to set the weed guard on the hook point and NOT beyond the barb, like in the photo!!!  

 

My lake is so grassy and full of green snot that I've given up on wacky rigging and went to texas rigging. The action is just the same on the fall, which is when 95% of the strikes occur. I like a light wire offset worm hook.

I have been fishing with the Berkley Fusion wacky weedless. They work pretty good and they don’t break the bank

3 hours ago, IgotWood said:

I've lost more fish than I care to count with many of these weedless hooks. For a whole year I fished the Gamakatsu that Darren shared with us. I did ok with it. One thing I learned (very painfully) was to set the weed guard on the hook point and NOT beyond the barb, like in the photo!!!  

 

My lake is so grassy and full of green snot that I've given up on wacky rigging and went to texas rigging. The action is just the same on the fall, which is when 95% of the strikes occur. I like a light wire offset worm hook.

That weed guard is part of the reason I make my own now.

I feel mine come through cover much better than the very

thin stuff Gammy puts on, with no less hookups.

 

And yeah, our reservoirs do get the green snot so bad during

certain times of the year. There's also the black crud of death

that knots up on your lures in certain areas...TX, jigs, etc.

I just crush the barb down on mine. Started doing that when i began fishing wacky senkos when i had trouble detecting bites early on and too many were hooked deep. I much better at line watching and detecting bites bow, but the habit remains on crushing barb down. 

The vmc weedless wacky rig hooks work well. I like to use a size 2

Gamakatsu octopus circle hook is a good way to rig a wacky worm. They never get away and it’s some what weedless because of the inward bend on the hook.

On 2/17/2018 at 5:46 PM, NYWayfarer said:

I have been fishing with the Berkley Fusion wacky weedless. They work pretty good and they don’t break the bank

These are the wacky hooks I've been using and they are great.

2 hours ago, Burro said:

Gamakatsu octopus circle hook is a good way to rig a wacky worm. They never get away and it’s some what weedless because of the inward bend on the hook.

Picked up a pack of these yesterday. Worked out very well. Girlfriend actually caught her first bass with it yesterday evening. Then turned around and caught two more lol

Owner #5172 weedless wacky hook is designed with a very stronge light wire hook and gap for wacky rigs. 

Keep in mind the bass are not eating the worm and placing a hook in the middle may not be a good location. Nail weight/Neko rigged with the hook placed about 1" back of the nose end may be a better choice.

Tom

PS, I dought you are catching bed fish with a circle hook.

9 minutes ago, WRB said:

Owner #5172 weedless wacky hook is designed with a very stronge light wire hook and gap for wacky rigs. 

Keep in mind the bass are not eating the worm and placing a hook in the middle may not be a good location. Nail weight/Neko rigged with the hook placed about 1" back of the nose end may be a better choice.

Tom

PS, I dought you are catching bed fish with a circle hook.

Not one of the 3 fish my girlfriend caught were hooked. She pretty much horsed them in and flipped them on the bank and they came off. She caught one about 3.5# and couldn’t flip it. As soon as I grabbed it and slack fell on the line the hook came out. It was resting right inside her lip

5 hours ago, WRB said:

 

PS, I dought you are catching bed fish with a circle hook.

Ps I Doubt you know what you’re talking about I catch bed fish on circle hooks every year wacky rigged Mr WRB

It's the lowest % hook when bass are not eating, just removing your lure from the nest. You will not find a tournament bass angler using circle hooks bed fishing, unless pre fishing so they don't hook the fish. 

Tom

Personally, I have found circle hooks decreased my catch

rate for bass. I haven't used them for bass in years. I'd not

attempt them on a bedding bass given their propensity to 

suck a bait in and spit it back out. (Observation)...

 

But if they work for some, by all means, use what works!!

 

I did use #4 gammy circle hooks for bluegill, etc., when

I was fishing specifically for them, but even then, I had a 

lot of gut-hooked fish.

Don't confuse using wacky rigged circle hooks for bass fishing in general, they prevent gut hook fish, with spawning bed bass that are difficult to hook using standard hooks.

Some bed fisherman use treble hooks to improve hook up ratio's and still miss fish.

Tom

OMGawash! We just opened up a can of worms didn’t we! When setting the hook on a circle hook it’s a different type of hook set it’s more of a sweep and reel or just lift up the rod and the fish hooks itself on wacky rigging I find a circle hook is more productive for me in my personal opinion I know there is a lot of ppl that may disagree but this is my favorite way to wacky rig. Everyone has got there rig this ones mine and it works that’s why I recommend it. 

21 minutes ago, WRB said:

Don't confuse using wacky rigged circle hooks for bass fishing in general, they prevent gut hook fish, with spawning bed bass that are difficult to hook using standard hooks.

Some bed fisherman use treble hooks to improve hook up ratio's and still miss fish.

Tom

Maybe I’ll post a few pics this year of some bedded bass with a 2/0 circle hook stuck on the side of its mouth?

I am not an advocate for bed fishing but you may have a good method for conservation to reduce the number a bass caught during the spawn.

Tom

I don’t keep bedding bass I release them back to there beds. 

3 hours ago, WRB said:

It's the lowest % hook when bass are not eating, just removing your lure from the nest. You will not find a tournament bass angler using circle hooks bed fishing, unless pre fishing so they don't hook the fish. 

Tom

I very much Doubt that there is not one tournament angler that doesn’t use circle hooks for wacky rigging, have you gone and done a poll asking every single tournament bass fisherman if they like using circle hooks for wacky Rigging?

7 minutes ago, Burro said:

I very much Doubt that there is not one tournament angler that doesn’t use circle hooks for wacky rigging, have you gone and done a poll asking every single tournament bass fisherman if they like using circle hooks for wacky Rigging?

Circle hooks for spawning bed bass, they are good for any other seasonal period.

Tom

 

Ps, search "circle hooks"