Neko rig, success rates?

[Mkline83]

Never tried a Neko rig and thinking about giving it a go on my next outing. Pro's Con's?

[BigBass94]

The only downside to the Neko rig, at least if you ask me, is the hook point tends to pop out of the plastic after a few plastics. Unless you're fishing around thick cover, it's no big deal. I find it really excels around docks, rocks, and sparse vegetation.

[Real Pudd legend]

Great technique that you can expose to texpose the hook depending on cover etc.. zoom trick worm works well for me.

[Jb357]

I've tried it a few times. Got several bites but kept losing the worm and never hooked up. Don't know if I wasn't letting them eat it long enough or what

[Jmcarriere]

The Neko is what i use to skip docks i also neko a lake fork ring fry have never had an issue with hook ups or losing the bait

[johnnybass]

Only con for me is that I have only caught smaller fish on it.

[DrewFlu33]

After dabbling with it in the past, I had quite a bit of success with it this year. Three things I did that drove my success way up over previous attempts.

1. Use super glue to lock the Neko weight in place. I have some 1/4 oz tungsten nail weights I bought off of a guy on a Facebook group (technically they're 7/64) that fit all the way inside the worm so it looks almost completely normal with the weight inserted. I insert the weight then glue the end of the worm closed so it won't come out on a hard cast, fish, or when it's skipped. If you use the type that hangs out, just put a dab of glue on the sharp end before inserting it. Saves an IMMENSE amount of frustration, not to mention money. Tungsten weights or those that can otherwise be fully inserted seem to help with keeping the worm more weedless. Other times I'll use a weight that sticks out, especially in dirtier water. It seems like you get some bites from the tapping of the weight on the rocks or stirring up additional sediment to get the fish's attention.

2. Invest in some heat shrink. 1/4 inch is perfect for most finesse worms and trick worms, while 3/8 is good for senkos. I got 10 feet of clear 3:1 on Amazon for like $10 for each size. It's gone up substantially, but 2:1 works too. Lifetime supply. Use 1/4-1/2" of this like you'd use an o-ring on a normal wacky rig, but place it accordingly to balance with the Neko weight added (so not in the middle - the weight throws the balance point off-center). Just hit it with a lighter and stick the hook right through the heat shrink as you would if not using anything. This helps with durability as it lasts much longer than o-rings, and solves the issue of the worm shielding your hook point in a "normal" single o-ring setup.

3. Find a wacky hook with a good weedguard. For me, "good" is a balancing act between remaining weedless and high hook up rates/keeping them hooked. The Gamakatsu "Wide Gap Finesse Hook Weedless" is my go-to right now, but I believe that will change when I get my hands on the "G-Finesse Weedless Wacky" if I can manage to stomach the price. Their "Wicked Wacky" is another I plan to try.

I like fishing it with a Zoom Trick Worm or a Senko, with Trick Worms getting the most use. Skips extremely well, works great in just about any cover you can imagine save for heavy weeds, and I've additionally been fishing it instead of a drop shot in a lot of situations. Partially because I hate fishing a drop shot, and partially because it's been working in places where the fish see a ton of drop shots.