My Experience with the VMC Ike Approved Weedless Neko Hook

[JHelms]

Skipping docks with a wacky rigged Senko is a pretty common staple on most lakes. I've tried weedless wacky hooks, regular wacky hooks and Gammy 3/0 worm hooks. My favorite, up to now has been the Gammy worm hooks. They have the weight and heft to get the job done and have a good hook-up rate. Of course they are not weedless and if the fish doesn't hit on the drop, chances are pretty good you will be cleaning some weeds before the next cast.

This year I've been trying the Neko Hook by VMC and I'm pretty impressed. The hook-up rate is 100%, it is very weedless allowing more than just a cast, drop and reel in. The weight is perfect for skipping and if you add a nail weight it can bury in the weeds but you can still work the worm without getting hung up.

It might be my imagination but I think the straight shank hook might have some hook setting advantages and the hook itself is sticky sharp and strong. I've been using the 1/0 size on Ohio bass but might move up a size or two if I was fishing somewhere where the bass got to any decent size.

This is just my personal experience of course.

[jc2bg]

I have some, but keep forgetting to try them. Need to do so.

[DrewFlu33]

I've been extremely pleased with them, and I was very skeptical at first. To say they look extremely unimpressive is an understatement in my mind. The first thing I thought when I saw them was that all they were missing was the junky line snelled to the shank and a long plastic pack that says "Eagle Claw" on it.

Lo and behold, they've proven themselves. I've caught a bunch on them, including a 5.5 in the weeds on the size 2 with a near perfect hookup percentage. No need to go bigger in my mind, but to each his own! That 3 degree offset is huge, methinks....

[Quillback]

Thanks for the info!

[NY Trooper]

I have some, but keep forgetting to try them. Need to do so.

No, no you don't John. Neko rigging is highly over rated. Just leave them at home or send them to me to dispose of. I wish all this talk would just stop about this neko fedish. Use the Texas rigs boys.

[dean c]

Explain to me how that isn't just a renamed wacky worm? Not being a smartazz....whats the diff?

[Craigjc00]

I was talking to Dudley about this same subject. He will only use a straight shank hook due to the hook up percentage and presentation. I’ve been using straight shanks for quite a while but I’m going to have to try those VMC’s.

[BassinR83]

They are pretty awesome

[wildturkey]

Do they make you want to scream and shout, run around the boat hollering biggun?

[db220]

I use the 2/0 on the California Delta and when I get bit the hookup ratio is great. Despite what some people say about senkos on BBC they are almost always hooked in the top or the corner of the mouth.
Considering that the entire Delta is mostly vegetation of all kinds I have to clean them off sometimes, but they are pretty weedless.

[gatorsin09]

Rebarb hook has been out for years seems the same to me?

[Skeeterbait]

I rigged some in 2/0 up on Jika rigs to fish small craws. Have worked very well, far more weedless than I expected, and hookups have been solid.

[greendragon]

Good information thanks for letting us know about VMC. I do have some just never tried them yet.

[JHelms]

Explain to me how that isn't just a renamed wacky worm? Not being a smartazz....whats the diff?

I'm no expert by any means. But I when if fish a wacky senko I fish it weightless, and usually skip it under docks and most hits are on the drop. When I fish in deeper, weedy water or weed edges (say 8 to 12 ft) I'll stick a nail weight in the fat end of the senko. Then I call it a neko rig and work it more off the bottom like any contact bait. But it is still rigged the same way on the hook with an O-ring.

[iabass8]

been using them since last year. it's a great hook.

[dean c]

I'm no expert by any means. But I when if fish a wacky senko I fish it weightless, and usually skip it under docks and most hits are on the drop. When I fish in deeper, weedy water or weed edges (say 8 to 12 ft) I'll stick a nail weight in the fat end of the senko. Then I call it a neko rig and work it more off the bottom like any contact bait. But it is still rigged the same way on the hook with an O-ring.

Thanks...we always use the lunker city nails in wacky rigs. So the neko is basically a deeper wacky rig. Thanks...thought I was missing something.

[jfunston]

So what happened to the Ol slider head

[db220]

Thanks...we always use the lunker city nails in wacky rigs. So the neko is basically a deeper wacky rig. Thanks...thought I was missing something.

I'm not sure that it's that simple. It doesn't fall like a weightless wacky rig and it doesn't look anything like it when you fish it on the bottom. Watching a wacky rig flutter down to the bottom with both ends quivering and watching a weighted one fall straight down from one end is different. I also fish them as shallow as any wacky rig.
I guess the rigging is the same, but the comparison ends there in my opinion.

[dean c]

I'm not sure that it's that simple. It doesn't fall like a weightless wacky rig and it doesn't look anything like it when you fish it on the bottom. Watching a wacky rig flutter down to the bottom with both ends quivering and watching a weighted one fall straight down from one end is different. I also fish them as shallow as any wacky rig.
I guess the rigging is the same, but the comparison ends there in my opinion.

I never fish wacky weightless...usually throwing in brush piles or some sort of cover. Maybe Im not getting it, but you stick a hook in the middle of a worm...with a weight its going down one side first..no weight...its fluttering. The only variable is how much weight/depth and how fast/slow it falls. I guess we've been fishing neko rigs before they were called neko...we just call any worm hooked in the middle, weighted or not...a wacky worm.

[db220]

I never fish wacky weightless...usually throwing in brush piles or some sort of cover. Maybe Im not getting it, but you stick a hook in the middle of a worm...with a weight its going down one side first..no weight...its fluttering. The only variable is how much weight/depth and how fast/slow it falls. I guess we've been fishing neko rigs before they were called neko...we just call any worm hooked in the middle, weighted or not...a wacky worm.

That does make it simple.