So I’ve been fishing the Neko rig the last few times out. A couple hours or so each outing. This rig catches fish! And good sized fish!!!!!

 

you gotta be a line watcher. You don’t always feel the thump. I’d say 75 percent of the time I did. I started out with a 1/0 octopus hook. I was missing some

hook sets I felt I should have made. The local fleet farm has a good selection of vmc hooks. So I got some size 2 neko hooks. Much much better for my hook set style. 
 

baits. I have been fishing the zoom trick worm in black and watermelon red. Or the missle baits quiver worm 6.5” in a watermelon candy type color.  They all catch fish. Color didn’t seem to matter. I’m literally using a pack of nails I found in the garage. I threw them on the scale but they don’t even weight a 1/16. But they nose the bait down well. 
 

had zero issues catching fish and caught a couple today over 2 pounds. I wish I hadn’t slept on this technique for so long honestly. And it’s night and day better than stick bait wacky worm to me. 

1 hour ago, Joedodge said:

. I’m literally using a pack of nails I found in the garage. I threw them on the scale but they don’t even weight a 1/16. But they nose the bait down well. 
 

 

very cool!!  tiny nails?  

I just picked up some crossover rings in my last order and have one tied on for the next trip out.  The bluegills should be on the beds right now and I can see a neko sliding off the last bluegill bed as a largemouth killer this time of year.  

2 hours ago, Joedodge said:

So I got some size 2 neko hooks.

 

That's all I use for this application.  Whether it's a straight up wacky/unweighted or a neko/weighted version.  The hook ends up in the roof of the mouth almost every single time.

 

Just make sure is the size 2, not the 2/0.

 

I get a lot of bites on the initial fall too.  I think the fast fall rate elicits some reactive strikes.

 

32 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

very cool!!  tiny nails?  

These are decent sized nails lol. Maybe I’m using 2 much but it’s working. I’d say they are 1.5 inch long 1/8 diameter. They came in a picture hanging kit lol 

that is huge!!  wow.    you need a new scale.  that has to be more than 1/16th. 

 

my weights look like toe nail clippings.  tiny...(gross!  dont know why i used that for a size reference)

17 minutes ago, gim said:

 

That's all I use for this application.  Whether it's a straight up wacky/unweighted or a neko/weighted version.  The hook ends up in the roof of the mouth almost every single time.

 

Just make sure is the size 2, not the 2/0.

 

I get a lot of bites on the initial fall too.  I think the fast fall rate elicits some reactive strikes.

 

I could not agree more with all of that. 

Just now, Darth-Baiter said:

that is huge!!  wow.    you need a new scale.  that has to be more than 1/16th. 

 

my weights look like toe nail clippings.  tiny...(gross!  dont know why i used that for a size reference)

Hahah! Thats funny. Yeah they seem big but they are really light cheap nails. They work well. I probably Do need another one. I’ll send ya a pic of the nails a lil later next to a trick worm. And post it in here. 

That’s the nail I’m using compared to the worms 

Cool. Fyi a #8x3/4" zinc panhead sheet metal screw weighs precisely 1.8gm (1/16oz=1.77gm).

Just now, Bass Rutten said:

Cool. Fyi a #8x3/4" sheet metal screw weighs precisely 1.8gm (1/16oz=1.77gm).

Thank you! 

It’s simply a wacky rig for deep water. DEADLY with Livescope in shallow to moderate water depth (See Drew Gill).. I use a #1 finesse neko hook with the Geecrack Neko Hack and a 1/16oz tungsten weight. I used to use the crossover rings but was losing my worm on almost every catch…

10 minutes ago, RHuff said:

It’s simply a wacky rig for deep water. DEADLY with Livescope in shallow to moderate water depth (See Drew Gill).. I use a #1 finesse neko hook with the Geecrack Neko Hack and a 1/16oz tungsten weight. I used to use the crossover rings but was loosing my worm on almost every catch…

Bank fisherman here no live scope,sonar, business. I like the Nemo better than the wacky I think it performs a ton better in even shallow water. Since the bait wants to stand up some instead of a horizontal fall. 

I use a neko if I’m in 5+ feet of water or deeper to get it to fall faster.

 

I skip a lot of docks in the middle of summer with a stick bait and the majority of them sit in less than 5 feet so I don’t need to weight the stick bait. A natural sink is fine under a dock.

18 minutes ago, gim said:

I use a neko if I’m in 5+ feet of water or deeper to get it to fall faster.

 

I skip a lot of docks in the middle of summer with a stick bait and the majority of them sit in less than 5 feet so I don’t need to weight the stick bait. A natural sink is fine under a dock.

I can see that. If I knew my depth for sure I’d try weightless. So far weighted has been easier. I’m not adding a ton of weight tho. 

On 6/2/2025 at 11:53 AM, Joedodge said:

So I’ve been fishing the Neko rig the last few times out. A couple hours or so each outing. This rig catches fish! And good sized fish!!!!!

 

you gotta be a line watcher. You don’t always feel the thump. I’d say 75 percent of the time I did. I started out with a 1/0 octopus hook. I was missing some

hook sets I felt I should have made. The local fleet farm has a good selection of vmc hooks. So I got some size 2 neko hooks. Much much better for my hook set style. 
 

baits. I have been fishing the zoom trick worm in black and watermelon red. Or the missle baits quiver worm 6.5” in a watermelon candy type color.  They all catch fish. Color didn’t seem to matter. I’m literally using a pack of nails I found in the garage. I threw them on the scale but they don’t even weight a 1/16. But they nose the bait down well. 
 

had zero issues catching fish and caught a couple today over 2 pounds. I wish I hadn’t slept on this technique for so long honestly. And it’s night and day better than stick bait wacky worm to me. 

 

2 hours ago, Joedodge said:

I like the Nemo [rig]

I see what you did there...ima start calling it that lol

24 minutes ago, Bass Rutten said:

I see what you did there...ima start calling it that lol

Lol wondered if anyone would catch it 

I really wanted to love the Neko but it didn't produce for me. And I fished it plenty. But that was some years ago. I have some new and interesting tackle and baits perfectly suited to a Neko Rig.

 

So I'm going to give it a thorough try this week. I've been catching them on a Jika Wacky Rig with a Flick Shake worm, so I know they'll eat a worm.

 

 

6 hours ago, RRocket said:

I really wanted to love the Neko but it didn't produce for me. And I fished it plenty. But that was some years ago. I have some new and interesting tackle and baits perfectly suited to a Neko Rig.

 

So I'm going to give it a thorough try this week. I've been catching them on a Jika Wacky Rig with a Flick Shake worm, so I know they'll eat a worm.

 

 

Nice! Give it a shot!! I recently found success on a Bait I  struggled  with for years. It’s a great feeling 

I fished a neko rig last week for a hot minute.  Didn't catch anything on it.  Then again, I didn't catch anything on anything else that evening either so there's that.  I can see the appeal.  You can fish it fairly fast if you want to cover a little water, but it is still a finesse presentation.  I think I need some slightly heavier weights.  I have 1/16 oz and that was fine for 6-8' or less and no wind.  When the wind kicked up or if I wanted to come out to 12-15' I started to lose bottom contact.  Easy solution there though.

 

I will say though that it came through grass like no one's business.  I was throwing to the back side of the grass, bringing it through and out the front and I can't think of an instance where I had to clean it off back at the boat.  Between that and how quickly you can scoot it across the bottom, I can see why it's won a bunch of tournament money.

18 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

I fished a neko rig last week for a hot minute.  Didn't catch anything on it.  Then again, I didn't catch anything on anything else that evening either so there's that.  I can see the appeal.  You can fish it fairly fast if you want to cover a little water, but it is still a finesse presentation.  I think I need some slightly heavier weights.  I have 1/16 oz and that was fine for 6-8' or less and no wind.  When the wind kicked up or if I wanted to come out to 12-15' I started to lose bottom contact.  Easy solution there though.

 

I will say though that it came through grass like no one's business.  I was throwing to the back side of the grass, bringing it through and out the front and I can't think of an instance where I had to clean it off back at the boat.  Between that and how quickly you can scoot it across the bottom, I can see why it's won a bunch of tournament money.

Hmmm I’m using vmc  size 2 Neko hooks. Are you using the weedless hooks? I don’t mind but I still catch a decent amount of pond weed and grass the way I’m doing it. 

41 minutes ago, Joedodge said:

Hmmm I’m using vmc  size 2 Neko hooks. Are you using the weedless hooks? I don’t mind but I still catch a decent amount of pond weed and grass the way I’m doing it. 

yes, the weedless in a 1/0 I think.  On a crossover ring and a janitor.  

3 hours ago, Joedodge said:

Nice! Give it a shot!! I recently found success on a Bait I  struggled  with for years. It’s a great feeling 

So I got out this morning. Set up was the following:

 

-XZone Deception Worm in "309" marinated in Bait Fuel.

-5mm VMC Crossover.

-1/16 Tungsten Nail Weight

-Ryugi Heavy Guard Talisman #1 hook

-7ft Expride Light rod.

 

I put a dab of crazy glue gel on the crossover and nail weight to ensure they stay put. I have had the Crossover come off a Flick Shake worm.

 

It was quite windy (15 mph) for a 1/16th. But I threw it. There's a weed bed I was throwing directly into and around. Comes through cover beautifully. I don't think I had to clean the hook.

 

It was hit on the first cast or so but didn't result in a hookup. On one of the next few casts i caught a fish. Next series of cast I had a firm tug but when I set the hook there was give immediately. Bait came back with no tail. So the fish grabbed the tail aggressively and swam away and I set the hook and ripped the bulbous tail off. Disappointing.

 

I packed it in after that. It was getting too windy.

 

I'll give it another go, perhaps tonight. I have some other interesting tackle and baits..I have some Decoy DS-15 Screw weights and some G-nius Project screw nails. I have some Owner Sniper Finesse Weedless Neko hooks. I have some Missile Baits Magic Worms I'm keen to try. XZone definitely gets another chance, too.

 

So I'm going to run through variations of tackle and baits and see what I like and/or what works better.

 

 

On 6/2/2025 at 6:58 PM, Joedodge said:

That’s the nail I’m using compared to the worms 

 

Before I bought some "official" weights, I was cutting my nails with a Dremel tool.

 

Works pretty good if you have one.

Here's an in-depth video about the Neko rig.  Hope it helps!