Wacky Rigging

[Craigums]

Can anybody give me some suggestions on the best way to wacky rig a senko (including hook type/size), And also the best conditions to fish it wacky with presentation tips. Ive been fishing it slow while rigged Texas and had some luck but I'd like to try some new techniques.

Thanks Much,

Craigums

[Ray Esboldt]

Craigums,

First, welcome to FishingMinnesota.com.

I personally am not big on wacky rigging. But, what I do is take a 1/0 (you could use a size smaller), short-shank hook and go straight through the bait halfway down. That's it. Kind of like impaling a nightcrawler. Then I just fish it moderately slow in a series of rod tip sweeps...pull the bait 3 or 4 feet with the rod, pick up the slack, let the bait sink a little.

Someone else will give you a better low down on fishing them.

[polarsusd81]

I tried it for the first time last weekend and had good success. For me, I used the same hook from texas rigging 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG. I know its a bit big, but it worked great. No weight either, I think this kind of presentation would suffer from it, the senko or any of the imitators will be heavy enough to sink on their own at a moderate rate. Hook it right through the center of the worm and you are ready to go, if you hook it off center, it won't pull in the water right. It would try to kinda walk off to one side because of the imbalance. I fished it in moderately weedy areas and I think because of the 5/0 hook, most of the weeds would just fall off. There were occasions when I would bring a few weeds in, but not very often. I just cast the senko out and used a combo of twitches and pulls to bring it back to the boat. A lot of fun and deffinitely something I will do a lot more often.

Tom

[Deitz Dittrich]

I use the 2/0 finess wide gap hook with the wed guard on it by gamakatsu. Great hook.

I use if for shallow water stuff, and just cast it out and let it sink. Then just pop the rod a few times and let it sink again.

Its great for fishing around docks.. skips very well..

I also rig it that way on a carolina rigs at times as well.

[bucketmouth64]

I'll second what Dietz says about the gamagatsu hook. He recommended that last year and it has made a huge difference in my catches. Wacky rigging is a fun technique.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I like the Gamakatsu 2/0 Finesse Wide Gap without the weed guard. They really don't hang up much at all.

[RickyBobby]

Falcon makes a wide gap hook that has lead on the shank for getting a quicker drop. Their heaviest weight that I've found in stores is 1/16 oz. I've also taken a rubber core sinker, removed the rubber core, and then crimped the lead to the shank of a wide gap hook if I want more weight. I've fished worms wacky style on jig heads. The new tube jig heads work pretty well (the ones that have the eyelet closer to the end of the jighead.

[river rat316]

I use the Owner Mosquito hook, nothing pentrates better than a light wire Owner and the cutting point, alot of the time in current its hard to get good hooksets with these cause there running towards ya, and between the fish and the current its almost imppossible to catch up with the slack

[JP Z]

I've got the Northland Weedless Hooks for Wacky Rigging. And I also went to Fleet and ran into the plumbing section and bought a bunch of O-rings. Just slide these down the bait midway then slide your hook UNDER the O-ring so that you don't impale the bait actually. This saves on the wear and tear on fragile Senkos.

[Bushwacker]

I use Decoy - Hunter Hook Worm 16 (#1) from Japan. It is basically a size 1 circle hook with a few unique bends in it. I have had outstanding hook up percentage with them and I haven't worn one single one out yet after 50+ fish still looks brand new. Also, nearly every fish is hooked in the side of the lip with easy hook removal and little harm to the fish.

[Mike #1]

Go to Yamamoto Custom Baits HSOforum, then, on the right side click on forum, and at the top click on videos. They show you how to rig all of the worms.

Hope this helps

Mike

[Craigums]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll be heading up the the cabin this weekend to give it a try

[fellowx]

Wacky Rigging has become my favorite way to throw the stickbait.