Johnston89 Loc: Eastern Oregon

Thougts on best weedless wacky rig hook? I usually fish smallmouth but occasionally hit up lakes with largemouth so would like some with size options
I usually fish a size 4 or size 2 for smallies and the biggest I have are 3/0 wide gap for largemouth, which seems to be more than large enough for my applications
I dont have with a weed gaurd and would like to invest in some soon
Thanks for the input!
Tight Lines!

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

Gamakatsu makes some fine hooks and they have a line of wide gap weedless wacky rigs in various sizes. Amazon, BPS, and of those guys carry em.

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

VMC and Moto as well. Their weed guard looks to be a thinner gauge wire than Gamakatsu, but you may be able to compare them side by side at Bass Pro or Cabela’s?

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

BPS has several brand name wacky hooks to choose from

Ben Bragg Loc: Dayton Ohio

Instead of a traditional finesse wacky style hook, try the VMC weedless Neko hook

I switched a couple years ago and my hook to land ratio shot up

Every fish was hooked solidly in the roof of the mouth. No skin hooks

The weed guards do a good job of being weedless but are flexible enough to allow for positive hook up.

Size 1 tends to be my favorite for both smallmouth and largemouth.

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

Hi Ben. When this subject came up i loook at bass pro book. I noticed those hooks n tought they looked good. Now i know they work I'll get some. I also use sz1 most of the time. I use 1/0 on some bigger baits. Good line n good hooks make a big difference. Thanks brother 🎣🎣

Johnston89 Loc: Eastern Oregon

Thanks Ben, I appreciate the insight, will be ordering some to try out for sure!

I realize I probably go down to smaller hooks than most, but I always like really light tackle and gear
I usually bass fish with a 7'6" ultra light rated for 2-6 pound test, I have 20lb power pro on it right now with 8lb floro leader from recent largemouth trip and thats extremely heavy line for me. Usually 6 or 8lb mono with a 4 or 6lb leader
I use 8lb mono to 6lb leader for steelhead and have never broken one off
Also I can honestly say I have never had a hook straighten out on me, I've used Eagle Claw brand size 2 made for trout and landed Largies up to 7lbs on them without issue

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

I may as well throw this in here. I don't usually bass fish, I fish for trout. Honest to god, I have never caught a fish on a "plastic". I've been thinking that a trout might go for a plastic crawdad if it were presented in the proper manner. I've caught my share of em on the Rebel craws. I'm looking into Ned rigging. Does a YUM ned craw actually float? How big of a ned hook can I use and still have it float off the bottom?

Johnston89 Loc: Eastern Oregon

Well spirit I think you might be on to something, I use the Zman Ned rig craws, 2.5 inches and absolutely buoyant as hell, I pair them with the Zman Finesse Shroom Head
I think for trout you'd just need a little trout attractant
I use the Trout Magnets paired with a casting bubbles for lake and pond trout fishing, the Trout Slayers are mini crawdads and they absolutely kill it on the fall with the tiny jig heads that come with!

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

Thank you for the Slayers tip. Never heard of em, but I will check them out. I know that trout love to eat crawdads. And vice versa - you find a dead trout washed up in one of these clear mountain lakes and it will be crawling with em. Kind of a rare occurrence because usually the ospreys get to em before the bugs can. Do you fish those under a bobber or how?

Johnston89 Loc: Eastern Oregon

The Trout slayers come with the same jig heads as the trout magnets just with a longer shank and black head

I use a clear casting bubble
Bubble goes on main line, usually 4lb mono, then a bead, then tie a very small swivel
For leader I use mono because it floats and allows for slower sinking but floro would probably work as well, usually 2lb test but you could go 6lb main to 4lb leader just as well, I like a 6 foot leader if you can cast that effectively
Then tie on the 1/64oz shad jig head and thread on the Slayer

The casting bubbles allows you to add water for weight so you can cast a mile, but allows string to slide through freely, so it'll sink real slow, and also doubles as a fulcrum to allow more vertical lifting from the bank

If I fish these in a stream, I use the EZ Trout float or EZ Crappie float (difference is only size of float) they allow for eazy changing of depths as fixed float or can be fished as sliding bobber with a bobber stop added to the setup

Sorry for being so long winded, just love to give people tips to increase they're catch rates!

If anything didn't make sense just let me know and I'll clarify!

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

Perfect sense - I use casting bubbles a lot to fish with flies (think woolybuggers) - I'm a pretty lousy caster with a fly rod. I need a LOT of room. I'm talkin middle of the lake in my float tube, and then I'm probably gonna catch the tube. Fun though. Thanks for the info.

Johnston89 Loc: Eastern Oregon

I've never fished a fly rod but will definitely get one, one of these days

I catch at least 65% of my trout on trout magnets or slayers

The rest on power eggs on a slip sinker rig.

If you ever find your way up here, let me know and we'll go catch something!

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

Jeremy and now you, making me think I should take a week or so and head north, fish my way back. Certainly not beyond the realm of possibilities. Thanks for the offer.

Johnston89 Loc: Eastern Oregon

You bet man!
I'd look forward to it