Ask The Pros
Hooks and Jigs
Q. I'm going to order the Swimming Jigheads (probably 3/16oz.) as shown on page 6 of your 2008 catalog. What size (2, 3, 4 or 5/0) do your recommend for the 9P Pro Senko, 16L Pro Double Tail Grub and the 5" swimming senko? Do you recommend different sizes for smallmouth versus largemouth fishing?
Robert Bremer
Rapid City, MI
A. Bob, I use some version of a "shaky head" every time I go out (over 150 days last year). After looking at the catalog I would go with a 2/0 or 3/0 max for the Pro Senko. Get some heavy ones in case the winds are blowing, it really helps. Use as light a head as you can get by with but still maintain the feel.
Gary Harlan
Southern Pro
A. I don’t feel there is a need for anything over 3/0 on those baits. I do prefer fishing the 2/0 overall, 3/0 if targeting big LM. 1/0 and smaller are used sometimes for more finesse type presentations.
Nick Barr
Northwestern Pro
Do Red Hooks Make That Much Difference?
Q. My big question is: do you think there is anything to the red hook craze?.I have tried them to some extent but it’s hard to tell if there is that big a difference when compared to fishing with a black hook.
Al Perry
A. I think in clear water it does make a difference. I have changed hooks and tried to do a little experimenting on my own. There are days that they really seemed to make a difference but not so much on other days, so I have some baits with red hooks and some without. If I’m having trouble getting strikes I switch to red hooks again and sometimes it works.
Don Roberts
Southern Pro
A. I think there is a difference. We throw different color of baits for different color of water, so why not change the color of your hook for different kinds of water? Here on Lake Fork, especially in the spring, anything red is a winner. Here is something else to think about; it seems to alternate every other year for red to be the hottie! Even with the crappie, sometimes they like the color red.
Connie Kilpatrick
Midwestern Pro
A. Absolutely YES I think they make a difference! Do I use all red hooks, absolutely not! There is a time and place for red hooks. One factor that you have to keep in mind; the color red is in every way imaginable associated in a bass’ feeble mind with forage and prey. Whether it be blood, gills, eyes or just the coloration of craws, they associate red with forage, period.
I don’t ever use red hooks on my Texas rigged plastics, but I ALWAYS use a red glass bead. I don’t always use a stinger hook on my blades or buzzers, but when I do, it’s always a red one. I’ve seen the difference here the past two years guiding on the California Delta and Clear Lake. I’m fishing a 1 oz Yamamoto white blade with a red stinger and catching fish left and right. My clients can’t get bit on their white blades with regular stingers, so I give ‘em one of my red ones and . . . Bingo! Amazing!
I will not throw a jig unless it has red flake in the paint of the head, and has two red eyes painted on it. My custom hand tied flippin’ jigs are tied with red thread. I use a piece of 129 Yamamoto grub on the shank of my jig when fishing pork, just for that red flake with the purple body. I’ve found just the opposite with Senkos when weightless fishing them. I’ve never used red hooks here, yet have had many clients who have, only to replace them with my standard black round bends. I do like to use red treble hooks on crankbaits, especially shad like cranks and lipless cranks. It seems to really make a difference. Same thing with spoons, that’s the new thing to draw additional strikes; red treble hooks.
I think the key of when to use and when not is in the speed of the retrieve of your bait. If you are fishing any one of the reaction baits I mentioned above, using red hooks can be an added allure to trigger strikes from neutral and negative feeding fish. But if you’re fishing a very slow, methodical bait, one that you fish slow enough that a bass can get a good look at it, I think red hooks on a plastic worm, whether it’s Texas rigged, wacky or nose hooked, does not look so natural to a fish. It really all boils down to what you believe and have confidence in, Al. Me,
I believe in the red thing, to an extent that it’s not really a craze with me. Just intricate little subtleties and details I believe that allow me to get more bites in a given day.
Andy Cuccia
Western Pro