The Bass University founder and 17-time consecutive Bassmaster Classic qualifier Mike "Ike" Iaconelli conducted a seminar in Kokomo, Indiana about an often-overlooked detail of bass fishing, hooks. The hook and the line are your direct connections to your bait and your fish. Iaconelli discusses how selecting the correct hook for the job, just like selecting line, will ensure the correct action for your bait and increase your likelihood of landing bass. Iaconelli will break down not just the shape of hooks, but the gauge, size and more.
Main Topics in This Hook Selection Class
- 2:20 How to select the correct hook
- 5:00 Different hook styles
- 10:15 Picking the correct style and size
- 11:25 Picking the correct gauge (wire thickness : light wire vs heavy gauge)
- 12:55 Soft plastic rigging methods
- 25:55 Treble hooks
- 28:30 Hook modifications
Iaconelli discusses the following hook styles:
- Straight shank - What do you use a straight shank hook for? What makes this hook type different?
- Extra Wide Gap (aka EWG) - When do I use this instead of a regular round bend? What type of bait do I want to fish with a EWG hook?
- Round Bend Offset - What types of plastics work well on regular round bend offset hooks?
- Drop Shot hook - Often used with minnow style baits
- Neko Hook - Emerging in popularity, find out why!
- Wacky hooks - What baits do you fish with this wider gap short shank hook?
- Swimbait Hooks - A great hook with a bait holder that's available in weighted and non-weighted.
- Treble Hooks - differences between round bend, EWG, short-shank and hybrids
- and more!
After selecting your hook type, Iaconelli shares tips for selecting the correct gauge and gap size of hook. He talks about how asking the right questions like, "How thick is my bait?" and "How fast do I want this bait to fall?" help determine the what gauge to select. In general, there are 3 gauges: light wire, standard gauge and heavy duty.
Soft Plastic Rigging Techniques and Hooks:
- Texas Rig - how to rig a soft plastic texas rigged
- Carolina Rig - What other tackle you will need to rig a Carolina rig
- Nose Hook - What hook do we use, what size, how do we rig it and where do we use it?
- Threading - How is it different than nose hooking and when to use it
- Neko Rigging - What bait to use, how to weight the soft plastic, where to insert the hook, how to rig and how to fish the Neko rig
- Spinning Worm Rig - What the heck is it?
Hook Modification
Iaconelli shares some secret tips for hook modification like offsetting hooks, and why/when you want to do it and how far you want to offset it.
