We don’t all wear shoes of the same size and style, and you could sink a bass boat will all the different hats and sunglasses options. So why should we think that a single hook can effectively pair with various baits and techniques?
Sure, overlapping and multi-tasking happens — and if you’re working with a lean budget, you can get by with a couple of hook models. That being said, you don’t have to spend an exorbitant amount to assemble a diverse terminal tackle array.
Note: We obviously need treble hooks for those hard baits and the super strong, super sharp twin hooks for frogs, but we’ll focus this discussion on single hooks for soft plastics.
The Lineup
Bassmaster Elite John Crews recently laid out his top-5 bass hooks and matched them with particular offerings from his Missile Baits lineup. Crews uses Gamakatsu products, but if you have a favorite brand, this collection will guide your hook choices.
Same goes for soft plastic baits. Use this rundown as a guide to the bait shapes and hooks that’ll equip you to handle most of the common bass fishing techniques.
Heavy Cover Worm Hook: Starting with one of bass fishing’s most celebrated techniques — flipping/pitching — this hook is used in the Texas rig configuration. Using his Missile Baits D-Bomb (beaver style bait), Crews inserts his hook point into the bait’s head and brings it out about 1/4-inch below. He then pulls the hook through the body and rotates the point so it faces the bait’s broad side.
This ensures proper alignment by covering the hook’s neck — the straight section between the eye — and the outward flaring shank. Re-inserting the hook point into the bait’s body protects it from snagging for the classic weedless presentation.
Before tying on the hook, Crews adds the appropriate size bullet weight to his line. As the hook name implies, he’s flipping or pitching his bait into dense habitat; anything from matted grass, to pads, to laydowns. The heavier the cover, the heavier the weight and with a “keeper” built into the hook, the bait stays in place as it moves in and out of cover.
Extra Wide Gap (EWG) Hook: This hook is used for baits with more body mass riding in the hook gap (the space between the point and the shank). A Texas rig is designed to protect the hook point until a fish bites, at which time, a strong hook set pulls the point through the plastic and into the fish’s mouth.
For clarity, a bait like the D-Bomb has an overall larger profile than a fluke style bait, but anglers typically rig creature baits laterally, through the thinnest section, whereas a fluke or a big worm positions the bait’s full mass in the hook gap. Too much plastic riding in the hook gap can limit hook-up efficiency, so using an EWG style minimizes that impediment.
The fluke style baits work well anytime bass are feeding on baitfish higher in the water column, or as a follow-up bait for the fish that misses a topwater bite.
Offset Shank Round Bend Worm Hook: Pairing this hook with his Missile Baits D-Stroyer, Crews uses this setup when he wants a highly active creature bait look. This is a good choice for flipping/pitching lighter cover where the bait has more room to show off its rippling twin tail motion than the more functional in-and-out motion common to heavy cover flipping.
From sparse pads, to loose grass clumps, when a Texas-rigged bait encounters less resistance entering and exiting the cover, you can back down on the hook’s beefiness. You’ll still want a firm hook set, but the offset point offers greater hooking ability than in-line points.
This same hook/bait combo also delivers good results on the back of a Carolina Rig. Build this rig by placing a slip sinker flanked by red beads on your main line before tying to a swivel. To the swivel’s other side, add 2-4 feet of monofilament (floating line) and the tie on that Offset Shank Round Bend Worm Hook.
G-Finesse Worm Light Wire Hook: Think of this model as kind of a scaled-down version of those beefy heavy cover flipping hooks. Crews primarily uses this one on a dropshot, specifically, when he’s fishing around cover, as the weedless Texas rigging keeps his hook out of trouble.
Note: Texas-rigging a dropshot also offers the strategic benefit of bringing the hook point closer to the fish. At times, indecisive fish will only nip at a dropshot worm’s tail. The pressure signals “bite,” but when you go to set the hook — nobody’s home.
Bring the hardware closer to the fish’s mouth and you increase your connection chances.
G-Finesse Splitshot/Dropshot Hook: This is the smallest of Crews’ hook lineup, but it’s one that gets a lot of playing time. With every fishery subject to bass moodiness, finesse tactics play an essential role in a bass angler’s repertoire nationwide.
While the split shot rig (basically a split shot crimped a foot or so above the hook) has its place, Crews does more work with a dropshot. From bedding largemouth, to deep smallmouth, to spotted bass on points, this unique rig allows you to suspend a bait off the bottom and hold it in place to entice the fish.
To form this rig, tie your fluorocarbon leader to the hook with a Palomar knot. Leave the tag end about a foot long and pass it back through the hook eye, top-to-bottom. Cinch that tag end tight and the hook stands out parallel to the line with a dropper below.
Add a dropshot weight to the bottom of the dropper and then nose hook a finesse worm or a small baitfish imitator like the Missile Baits Shredder Junior.
Rigging Tips
When Texas rigging a soft plastic, keep your bait straight and prevent bunching by properly positioning your hook point back into the bait’s body. Once you’ve run your hook through the bait’s head and out the side, lay the hook against the bait and use your thumb to mark where the bend rests.
This spot is always lower than where the hook point aligns, so grip the bait firmly, raise it up to where you can insert the point at the spot where the bend rests. After that, simply straighten out your bait and you have a perfectly spaced Texas rig.
All that’s left is convincing a big fish to bite.
