I always try a different pattern in August, something to expand my skillset and give me some options when it comes to catching fish when other patterns aren't working. It started out with dropshotting, then finesse bait fishing, then to the Bubbashot pattern I outlined last year.
This year I wanted to try a very popular technique that has seen a lot of use in many tournament trails, the Neko rig.
Different from the centre hooked wacky rigged soft plastic, the Neko rig sees a nail weight inserted into the fatter or head portion of the bait. I then placed an "O Ring" around the collar of the worm, with a weedless Neko hook placed initially under the ring and into the worm.
After some experimentation, I came to rely on certain products made by VMC which made rigging the Neko system a lot easier and faster. I started using the Crossover Rings on the worms, which, according to the VMC website, have a dual-channel hood which allows for either Neko or Wacky style rigging. Keeping the hook out of the worm itself meant the worm lasted a lot longer and wouldn't be ripped to shreds by smaller fish. I used VMC's Crossover pliers to get the ring around the worm. Simply put, the ring was put around the tip of the pliers, then opened, and then the worm inserted into the ring. The final VMC product I made use of were their Weedless Neko hooks. They never failed in solidly hooking all fish caught, and held up well to smallies that both jumped clear of the water or dogged against dock pilings. Importantly, I ensured to have the point of the hook facing upwards, away from the head of the bait. This prevented the bait from getting hung up on any structure or rocks that were present. You can get all of these products at most fishing stores, in my case they were all purchased at Gagnon Sports in Oshawa.
When it came to purchasing Neko weights for the rig, I opted not to drop money on the tungsten options available. They aren't cheap. Instead I headed over to Canadian Tire and picked up some common framing nails, ones that were 1" in length. They were easy to insert into the worm and provided enough weight to get the head of the worm falling head first in the locations being fished.
I tried all the usual stick baits available on the market...I decided to stick with the success I found while using the Berkley General in both the 4" and 5" sizes. The fish held on longer and afforded me the time to get a proper hookset into them. They were also durable, and I didn't lose any while fishing. If I did notice any damage or tears, I stopped using the bait immediately.
I used two different setups depending on the type of cover I was fishing. Both involved 7' MF spinning rods w/ sized 2500 reels. I prefer Daiwa, but that's just me. The length of the rod helped me in many ways, from skipping baits under docks, to leveraging fish out from those docks, to making longer casts from shore to cover the vast rock flats I fish. For dock and other heavy cover fishing I used 30lbs hi vis yellow braid w/ a 15lbs fluorocarbon leader. My choices are Power Pro and Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon. The hi vis line was easy to see when moving, and the fluorocarbon never broke when it came into contact with dock pilings or boat cradles. For the vast rock flats I fish, I dropped down to 10lbs hi vis braid w/ a 10lbs fluorocarbon leader. As mentioned above the hi vis braid and fluoro proved invaluable in landing all my fish. A short fluorocarbon leader was key, no longer than 15" in length.
I found that the Neko rig really performed well against other options I've experimented with, including the shaky head and Ned rig options. Both of these presentations see the line tied directly to the weight of the setup, causing it to become hung up on the various structures being fished, especially rock flats. With the hook being a good 1-1.5" above the weighted head of the worm, there were no snags encountered and the hook was in the perfect spot to set every time the General was picked up. If you fish from shore like me, or even from a boat, I truly believe that using the Neko rig will put you onto fish even during the slowest of fishing times.
Neko Rigging, Targeting Smallies w/ The General
