3 Wacky Rig MISTAKES That Are COSTING You Fish! 

Thanks Nathan!! Great seminar on this technique. Keep on hawgin'!!

I have never lost a fish on those VMC hooks. Love them. I use the same line combination and it is fantastic and I fish gin clear water

I've caught countless bass on whacky rigged yum dingers.

Good on ya ! Great informative information. I'm glad to have found ya Tony in Modesto CA.

I use the VMC Neko Weedless Hook, 15 lb high vis yellow braided line with a 4’ Fluo leader and I do use the Yum Dinger 5” stick worm. I catch more fish with this setup. I’ve used a Senko in the past but I loose way to many. Lately I’ve been using the VMC crossover tube. I love them far more than the o-ring for sure.

Good content. I’m using Berkley weights heads

A good alternative hook is the Lazer Sharp weedless neko hook at walmart. Very similar hook but only $3 for 8.

Thanks Nate. Great content and extremely helpful.

Thanks for sharing 👍 I'll give it a try!!!

That was a great help. Thanks so much!

Thanks Nathan. Excellent tips which I will apply to my fishing when in Florida.

Just watched this again, since I do so much wacky. LOVE the explanation of different baits. I have Big Bite & Yum Dingers. I wondered about those for wacky, since I could see it was sinking slowly. I did NOT know about the Bass Pro Stiko! Good value. I'm 1 week from the New England Fishing Expo. I'll look for colors and density at the soft bait booths, PLUS pick up some VNC Neko Hooks (I do use that Octopus hook). Great value! Love how you immediately start with educational value (not brewing coffee or mentioning your hair -- both which I've heard in videos!).

Excellent video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Very thorough video. Thanks for the tips.

As a bank angler I love the wacky rig. Great tips, thanks!

FYI: Bass Pro makes a Stik O specifically for wacky rigs. It's thinner in the egg sack area to increase the action and is named appropriately enough the Wacky Stik O.

Great video. I started using the Spearpoint GP finesse hook in a #1 and it is a game changer for my whacky rig and my neko rig.

If you use a weighted head it will make the yum dinger shimmy. Like the expensive Senko.

Super helpful. Lost a few today prob because of hook choice. Good to know why. Thank you!

Spinning reels is all you need for anything!

Yum dinger.

Very interesting. All I do is catch bass on Yum dinger- 6 inch worms with wacky rig. I do agree that at times, it seems like they sink too slow. But I also think that depends on the hook and line choice that I have on a particular rod/reel set up. Who knows though 😂

Great job I think that smaller hook is the reason I stopped fishing a wacky rig but I am going with a bigger hook and see if I can build my confidence back up in a wacky rig

Thank you for the video

Great tips

I agree on hook choice

Good stuff Nate

I destroyed the fish at my local lake yesterday wacky rigging Yum dingers. Nothing wrong with them at all.

A small 3/16 weighted wacky hook makes the less dense worms work well. Especially the 4 inch dingers

Great video. Boy a senko is tough to beat!

Great tips! I've been using the #2 Octopus with good results, but I've lost a few on it. I use straight 10# blue ice fluorocarbon and have no trouble seeing it. I'm definitely going to try the Neko hooks and hopefully get a better hookup ratio, especially on those light bites. Another thing I do is use clear shrink wrap instead of O rings. I put a small piece around the midsection of the worm and run my hook through the shrink wrap. I rig a bunch up before I go out, but as a rule, one worm will last me several days because there's no O rings to cut into the worm. Works great and saves me $$ in worms. I'm partial to the Yamamoto Green Pumpkin and the black and blue through spring/summer. Red flake and watermelon work great in the fall.

Great video!

Thanks

Amazing I’ve been doing this, proved this works.

Chompers Salty Sinkers are great too. Harder to find though.

Interesting considering I’ve caught some 7 and 6 pounders throwing yum dingers on a wacky rig 🤷‍♂️

I’m a novice when it to bass fishing. 2 questions on the wacky rig. Is the hook always exposed? Seems like you would get hung up a lot. Is the action just to let it sink to the bottom and sit there? Or are you lifting and dropping it as you retrieve it?

Hey Nathan good stuff I’ve been playing a lot with the Neko rig along with a wacky rig and my hook up ratio hasn’t been the best. I use the small octopus hooks that have the wire we guard and it just seems I lose half the fish I set the hook on. Headed out this weekend and I’m definitely gonna change my hooks And use your advice. Will let you know how the day goes

Nice 💯🐟🎣

Bassmooch Lynch worm is awesome

thanks cause I've been missing way to many with the hooks I'm using

When I catch 16 bass wacky rigging yums, I wonder can it get better.

Agree with you on hook choice. You can overcome the worm weight issue with a small bullet weight, flick shake head, or nail weight. I like a small weight as it allows me to fish the wack horizontally more effectively, as well as vertically.

I use the small hair rubberbands (cosmetic zone of whatever store, black uncoated basic rubber) instead of O-rings, they are random sizes but usually doubled or tripled over they fit a Senko diameter without hugging too hard or too loose. I've used one worm for like two days sometimes, rarely lose them (Yamamoto's usually, which I always hacked several in half per day with other hook-connection strategies, or lost them on cast). The two or three loop "harness" seems to fatigue the bait less than single rings, and I think it also translates some yanking shock into constriction more evenly around the body instead of just hammering in one spot on the leeward side. And each band loop has a slightly different tension so they apply force more gradually than a hard rubber O-ring. They may also be less weight but I've never checked. I like to keep the weight to a minimum so the drop rate is as slow as possible while still wiggling. I also use Mutu style short shank hooks, they are similar to the Octopus hooks (which I have used, and agree are bad), but the key feature is the tip angle with an inward curved tip so when it's hookset time that locates the jawbone, slides into a corner and lightly pricks a pilot hole and the rest of the hook body is forced around at hookset, the shape of a #2 size and the angle of the eyelet vs the tip still accomplishes what your long shank ones do, and I have a low loss rate even with the barbs bent, like a hog-ring sort of, hard to spit, easy to loop back out with the correct spin. I also get these in red, so that it appears more like maybe something bleeding or tasty for extra picky bass that know hardware is evil. I'd be afraid of a long shank being too much visible rigging but I do like the weedless aspect and the anti-spit.

Good video, thanks!! Did you ever push a finishing nail thru the front of your worm to add weight? There is another guy on here that has a video explaining this. Seems to add some weight to help a worm sink better. This of course would be more for lighter worms.

Hey Nathan, Thank so much for your instruction! Can you zeroed in on on the main line and the lead. What test should each be? How long should a lead be?

Have you ever tried a Jackall Flick Shake worm on a weighted wacky jig head. It looks amazing in the water!

Good tips

Thanks for those helpful tips!!!👊🏻 I've been using the wrong type of stick baits for wacky rig so Ii guess the Yum Dingers and Bitter's are better for Texas Rig & Neko Rig.😣 Stay Safe & God Bless!!!!

What coincidence.??? Hit the water early this morning 5/19 Didn’t start that great, couldn’t keep the Muskie off my top water dogma.??? Switched to a wacky rig and wore them out till noon. Was definitely a good day of fishing.

I use dropshot hooks for my wacky worms, literally never lost a fish or a worm on them, and i stabbed it right through the middle and i never lost a worm ever, it's awesome.

Great video. What brands of braided line are best for your rod eyes? Some can be very abrasive

Great video content. Question: What brand of braided line do you use and recommend?

Nate !! Shhhhh about the 6th sense green pumpkin burst 💥!!

Wacky is another one of my "go to" techniques. Thanks to your EXCELLENT advice, I'm sure it will be even MORE effective for me! Do you ever use O-Rings for wacky? Thanks! Roger, The Smiling BassHole

I have caught a 7 lbs bass on a yum dinger lol

Some stickworms actually works better on a weighted hook. They're usually a little stiffer but have more spring to them. They also hold up better. The more a Senko gets used, the more torn it gets and the more air pockets it develops. Also, using wider support collars does increase the resistance against the flow of water, translating to more movement. I recommend using clear shrink tubing in 1/4" ID. Just stretch the worm, to make it thinner, as you thread it through. You can also cut it at different lengths to max out the worms reflexive elasticity. I often cut mine in a "V" shape where the wider end is on top and the narrow end is on the bottom where the hook is. It also preserves the structural integrity that makes the entire body undulate naturally, rather than pinching or cutting into it when setting the hook.

Would you suggest an FG knot or something different for your braid to fluoro?

Strike king ocho works well also

Okay, what about the way you had that hook on the worm? I've been told time and again to either run the hook through the worm, or use double o-ring, X fashion, so that the hook shank was perpendicular to the worm, and not parallel.

Awesome video the hook you mentioned #2 and #1 not 2/0 or 1/0 hook ??

Only stick worm I will use for wacky rigging is the Yamamoto senko and the Strike King KVD Ocho.

What is the best worm for this set up . Is it the one that falls fast or the one that falls slow ? Or is it the heavier or the lightest?

Great detailed info & Tips. I will use this on Guntersville & Chickamauga down south.

I I use the Clout worm on St Clair

I’ve caught more bass on yum dingers rigged this way than any other bait .. not sure why you don’t think they aren’t good

I’ve noticed that the crème worms at Walmart actually have a very nice fall rate.

x zone true centerstick is also a good bait and it is stronger than the yamamoto. For half the price:)

Nate, help me out brother, how about some advice for lake berlin

Let me toja, U need to be getting paid by one of these big companies for your presentation. U are casting the info out there & u can have a audience silence listen to every word you say you are the man

Nate, do you think 5.4" is too large for Smallmouth Bass? I usually use a 4" Senko. I live in Coraopolis and mostly fish for Smallmouth. Thanks!

What about using a weighted wacky rig hook?

Man, I catch a ton on weightless Dingers.

If you’re setting a circle hook you’ll lose fish. When you get a bite reel fast and hard and you’ll see your hook up ratio pass any other hooks.

You don’t set the hook with the circle hooks. Just reel first and the set after you feel the hook up.

Sorry I have to disagree on Yum Dingers being bad for wacky rigging. That's nearly all I used during the 2022 season and I've never caught so many smallmouth

You've forgotten the setup. What Length and Action rod would you use for this setup. And what setup would you use for a weighted Wacky Rig?

What kind of line and lbs use ?

StrikeKing Ocho is the best I’ve found

Neko hook all day

Someone told me that the Senko's trick to its density is that they add a small amount of fine sand to them. Have you ever heard of this?

"You don't even need a baitcaster..."....you don't NEED a baitcaster for any technique. Gotta love these baitcaster snobs who think anyone using a spinning reel is a "beginner".

The president need to send u from state to state preaching your fishing knowledge. Keep jacking them outta the water

2000 pounds of grass?

Honestly I use the whacky rig on my home river and I use it on a drop shot. Green pumpkin or orange black work best. I've not used a better lure on this river .

Never have understood why fishermen target spawning bass! This just cannot possibly be good for future generations of the species

You caught 2000 pounds of fish!?

Be a better video if it looked like you were talking to the viewers and not something else to the right