Jacob Wheeler believes straight-shanked hooks produce the best hooking percentages compared to other varieties. He makes regular use of weedless versions when wacky rigging stick baits around cover and opts for a size 2 hook with 4-inch plastics, size one for 5-inch baits and 1/0 hook for 6-inch and bigger baits.
Wheeler likes showing the bass something different by wacky rigging stick baits with appendages and recommends fishing them up in the water column as opposed to strictly slow and near the bottom.
He’s often focused on covering water when wacky rigging and casting gear spooled up with 14lb fluorocarbon allows for fast flipping and pitching and the horsepower to get fish up and out of cover — power that spinning equipment doesn’t provide.
Here’s an underwater look at 4 different methods wacky rigging methods if you’re interested in learning more about this productive technique.
