I went out yesterday with my son for about 4 hours.  I found a pretty good spot near the wall of a dam and the sonar was showing a lot of fish.  I rigged wacky worm, 4" senko/salty stick on a #4 hook.  I lost every fish!!  I must have reeled in 4-5 and never got any in the boat.  I guess I'm just venting since no one can tell me why.  I obviously don't know how to set a hook very well.

Maybe better next time.

Ok know the hook is a number 4, but need more info. What type, so on and so on...

use a smaller hook,  I beliieve i use #1 for wacky rigs.   one day 2 weeks ago I had none left and was forced to use a larger hook and found myself loosing fish!  so there ya go.....

I went out yesterday with my son for about 4 hours. I found a pretty good spot near the wall of a dam and the sonar was showing a lot of fish. I rigged wacky worm, 4" senko/salty stick on a #4 hook. I lost every fish!! I must have reeled in 4-5 and never got any in the boat. I guess I'm just venting since no one can tell me why. I obviously don't know how to set a hook very well.

Maybe better next time.

I use a Gammy #4 circle when I fish wacky style and haven't missed too many. But like others have said.....maybe try moving up to a #1 or a #2. If it is indeed a circle hook make sure your not setting the hook like you would on a T-rig. Just start reeling in and let the fish hook themselves. Once you feel the fish on, maybe give a small snap of the wrist to make sure that hook is in there good. Usually I don't do that though. Those Gammy #4 Yamamoto circle hooks are pretty sharp.

use a smaller hook, I beliieve i use #1 for wacky rigs. one day 2 weeks ago I had none left and was forced to use a larger hook and found myself loosing fish! so there ya go.....

I don't think you want to go any smaller than a #4 unless your fishing a *** of some sort. Than I move down to a #5.

...dont ya just hate that!

Wife and I had a day like this not too long ago...we had alot of fish on...and alot of fish off...

we never did figure out what caused it that day. We tried different hooks, different colors, different line...still lost about 1/2 of all we had on that day.

I only use 2/0 and 3/0 EWG hooks (usually Eagle Claw), and don't lose too many fish with them, whether I'm using a senko or a tube or any soft plastic.  My suggestion is to let the bass "eat" a little longer before setting the hook.  This time of year, at least up in the Nor' east, the fish are a little soft on the bite.  If I know a fish is playing with my bait, I'll wait a good 2-3 seconds before setting the hook to make sure it's actually got the hook in its mouth and not just hanging onto the tail.

Being basically lazy I wacky rig a 4 & 5 inch Stickbait on a 1/0 EWG hook and almost never miss a fish.  This gives me the option of tx posing the stickbait if needed without having to cut off and retie.

If you dropped all the fish, then is always the possibility that the fish were panfish or even Perch. Many times I get that tap, tap, tap, with no hookup or a weak hookup that results in a missed fish. They're always panfish when we see them.

Next time bend the barb down on your hook and let the fish have the worm for a few seconds.  Wait until you see the line moving off and let the fish take up the slack and then set the hook.  You will more than likely get a hook in his gullet that can be easily removed since you don't have the barb on the hook.  Make sure you have a set of long needle nose pliers so you can very carefully go in either through the mouth or through the gills to turn the hook or just pull the eye of the hook through and clip the line while holding the hook.  After you catch one fish then you will have an idea of what size you have been missing and you can adjust your hookset/reaction time.  

Make sure your hooks are razor sharp, your drag is not too sloppy, all the slack is reeled up before you strike etc.

Thanks for all of the input. I use a #4 Gamakatsu Drop Shot Hook/red. As I mentioned, I tried a few different color 4" senko style sticks.

The comment about being hit by Perch or some other pan fish does make sense. A few were probably bass because of the way my line was traveling but that typical tap-tap may have been those pesky little buggers.

I guess the only way to get better is to keep fishing and learning!

Thanks again guys.

I have had a very good hookset rate using the bigger hooks like 1/0 or 2/0. The fish dont seem to mind. I avoid the small hooks because the smallies tend to swallow it quickly. The circle hook is another good choice because you really dont need to set the hook, I use them on lite line to avoid the breakoffs on the hookset.

Usually the small hooks will go throw the skin/jar easier so you hook them better.  That is your best choice, I have had better luck with smaller hooks.  I also think it is maybe because they don't see the hook as well as a bigger hook.  Either way I do better with the small hooks.