The hooks that grabs bass and won’t let go are again grabbing attention with a new feature finesse fishermen will love. The adjustable bait-keeper on the new VMC® Finesse Neko® hook holds finesse worms firmly in place.
“Once you slide your bait over that little resined keeper, your worm is not going anywhere,” says VMC and Rapala® pro Michael “Ike” Iaconelli, who uses the new hook to secure small drop-shot baits and Texas-rigged finesse worms. “It will keep it threaded on or Texas-rigged without that bait ripping through. Pretty amazing.”
The Finesse Neko Hook expands on the success of the original Neko Hook, which VMC created originally as a key component for Neko Rigging, a modern take on traditional nail rigging. Rapala Pro Seth Feider soon popularized Neko Hooks for wacky rigging and drop-shotting in his win of Bassmaster’s 2016 Angler of the Year Championship tournament on a famed smallmouth fishery, Lake Mille Lacs. “I had such a good landing percentage on it, I decided to use it as my drop-shot hook for smallies,” he explains.
Iaconelli has enjoyed similar success with Neko Hooks.
“They’ve got the most unbelievable hook-to-land ratio of any hook I’ve ever fished,” he says. “The shape of the Neko style – that particular bend of the hook – once you hook one, you’ll land that fish.”
Finesse Neko Hooks feature a black-nickel finish, wide gap, 3-degree offset point, resin-closed eye and a forged, long shank. They’re available in four sizes: 2, 1, 1/0 and 2/0.
A resin-closed hook eye is “key for guys who use really, really light fluorocarbon or braid – 4, 6 or 8 pound test,” Iaconelli explains. “You’re never going to have that line pull through the eye of that hook.”
If you favor finesse approaches for putting bass in the boat, “you’ve got to try the Finesse Neko Hook,” Iaconelli says. “It’s going to increase your applications. It’s going to put more fish in the boat. Give a try and get more hook-ups.”