Are you familiar with all of the different shapes and styles of bass fishing hooks and how to use them? Fishing hooks are often an overlooked piece of tackle by anglers that are very important to your success. Accidentally buying cheap or brittle products could lead to broken hooks and lost fish. So, let us help you find the best bass hooks available on the market today to meet your fishing needs. This review will look at various styles and explain what characteristics make up a quality fishing hook.
Hook and Bullet Top 5 Best Bass Hooks for 2021
| PRODUCT | FEATURES | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Mustad UltraPoint Demon Circle Hook |
| Check The Price! |
 | Gamakatsu EWG Offset Worm Hook |
| Check The Price! |
 | Zman Finesse ShroomZ Jighead |
| Check The Price! |
 | Gamakatsu Drop Shot Hook |
| Check The Price! |
 | Harmony Fishing Weedless WG Hook |
| Check The Price! |
Why Can You Trust Us?
Here at Hook and Bullet, we are a team of experienced anglers with years of knowledge in targeting multiple species, from bass to catfish. We have written various guides to bass fishing, such as articles on how to target both the coveted smallmouth and largemouth bass. In addition, we have also assisted both beginner and seasoned anglers in selecting bass-specific products like lures and rods.
We understand how overwhelming it can be for anglers targeting new fish species to decide what tackle to add to their arsenal. So, please let us help you by explaining what we think are the best hooks for bass fishing and how you can utilize them.
Best Hook for Striped Bass
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The Mustad UltraPoint Demon wide gap in-line circle hook is perfect for targeting freshwater and saltwater striped bass.
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Why We Like It: When fishing for large stripers, you need a hook that is sharp, durable, and dependable. For striped bass, we prefer Mustad’s UltraPoint Demon wide gap in-line circle hook. Mustad’s micro sharp ultra point technology keeps your point sharper for a longer time, thus requiring less maintenance. In addition, these hooks are non-tempered, which increases the durability of their point so that you can fish for large game fish confidently.
Furthermore, the material of this hook is corrosive-resistant, so you’ll be able to use it in both fresh and saltwater applications. Lastly, since the UltraPoint Demon features an in-line design, so it complies with the new striped bass regulations passed in 2021 that require the use of non-offset circle hooks.
Who Should Buy It: Recreational anglers targeting striped bass in fresh or saltwater.
Best Hook for Largemouth Bass
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With various available sizes, the Gamakatsu extra-wide gap offset hook is excellent for Texas rigged worms for largemouth bass.
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Why We Like It: First, Gamakatsu’s worm hook is made of a quality high carbon steel material, making it super durable. Second, its extra-wide gap design allows for a better hook set when you’re fishing with a Texas or Carolina rigged worm. Third, Gamakatsu engineered these hooks with conical needle-honed points for long-lasting sharpness. This feature comes in handy, especially since largemouth bass have hard, bony lips that tend to ruin hooks.
In addition, there are multiple size options available for this hook, from a size 4 to a 5/0 for beefier soft plastics. Plus, you can buy these hooks in a pack of 25, so you’ll have more than enough to fill up your tackle box.
Who Should Buy It: Anglers targeting largemouth bass with a Texas-rigged soft-plastic worm or crawdad.
Best Hook for Smallmouth Bass
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Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jigheads are great for bass anglers fishing small soft plastic baits on a ned rig.
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Why We Like It: These jigheads pair perfectly with Z-man’s TRD soft plastic lures for targeting smallmouth bass on a ned rig. The Z-man Finesse Shroomz jigheads are lightweight and available in a 1/15-ounce to ⅕-ounce weight. Although, if water conditions allow it, we recommend picking these up in a 1/15 or 1/10-ounce. Fishing with the lightest weight possible will enable you to detect even the most subtle bites.
If you would like to learn more tips for catching smallmouth bass, check out our tutorial here.
Who Should Buy It: Anglers who enjoy using ned rigs when fishing for smallmouth bass.
Best Drop-Shot Hook
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If you’re wondering what the best hook for drop-shotting is, then you have found your answer. This product by Gamakatsu is superb!
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Why We Like It: Whether you’re dragging, jerking, or vertically suspending your bait with a drop-shot rig, Gamakatsu has the hook for you. This hook is explicitly tailored for drop-shotting baits to finicky bass. In addition, the point is sharp and sturdy to enhance its hook setting ability, so you don’t lose fish. Plus, this Gamakatsu hook features a durable forged steel material and a closed-eye design. Thus, making it tough enough to withstand fights against those big ol’ bucking bass.
Who Should Buy It: Anglers actively targeting bass by using a split or drop-shot rig.
Best Hook for Wacky Rigging
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Harmony’s weedless hook is a fantastic choice for bass anglers fishing with a classic wacky-rigged worm.
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Why We Like It: First, Harmony’s hook features a durable high carbon steel material to give them added strength. Also, their weedless design protects your lure from getting snagged when fishing in densely vegetated waters. Additionally, the wide gap style and razor-sharp point make it easier to penetrate the fish’s mouth, thus increasing your hookup ratio. Plus, when paired with an o-ring, this hook works well for wacky-rigged worms. This hook will give your worm the action it needs to irritate an opportunistic bass, whether you’re using a finesse or curly tail worm.
Who Should Buy It: Anglers who plan on using a wacky-rigged worm while bass fishing in waters with high weeds.
How To Select The Perfect Hook for Your Bass Fishing Needs
Image Credit: Photo by
Karolina Grabowska on Pexels
We named a few of our favorite bass hooks that are currently available on the market today. However, there are still other various styles we didn’t mention that could potentially be a better fit for your fishing needs. So, you may wonder how do you pick the right one for bass fishing? Well, since hooks come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, the best way to choose the best hook is to:
- Match it with your style of bass fishing
- Match your hook size with the size of your bait or target species
Choosing a Hook Style to Match Your Fishing Style
First, an easy way to select hook styles to put in your bass tackle box is by matching it with your fishing style. For example, if you use primarily hard plastic lures like jerkbaits and crankbaits to target bass, then consider picking up various sized treble hooks. Having some extra treble hooks on hand will come in handy if you need to replace the ones on your lure.
Or, if you envision yourself texas-rigging your soft plastic baits, then make sure to pick up an extra-wide hook. So that way, your bait has the room it needs to squish towards your hook’s shank for a better hookset.
Picking the Best Sized Hook for Bass
As we mentioned above, the best way to select the correct hook size is to match it with the size of your bait or target species. So, to simplify things, generally, you’ll use smaller hook sizes for lighter baits and larger ones for heavier plastics. For instance, if you’re targeting average-sized largemouth bass with a 5-inch Senko worm, a very common hook size anglers will use is a 3/0.
How We Picked
When it comes to buying bass fishing hooks, there is a large volume of products out on the market today. So, to narrow down our search to find the best ones to mention in our review, each hook had to meet specific criteria. Here are the qualities each product must possess to make it onto this list:
- Contain high-quality materials
- Be durable
- Have a strong, sharp point
- Have a good hookup ratio/hook setting ability
- Highly rated by consumers
Therefore, we are confident any of these five products meet the criteria outlined above and will provide value to bass anglers.
What is the Best Hook for Bass Fishing?
When selecting the best hooks for your bass fishing needs, you need to choose the ones that complement your style of fishing. Then, you need to pick an assortment of sizes for each hook style, so you can adapt them to whatever baits you plan on using. As you gain more experience bass fishing, you’ll grow a preference for different styles and sizes of hooks that work best for you.
However, our favorite hook choice for bass is the Gamakatsu extra-wide gap offset worm hook. We like this particular product for its durability, dependability, and versatility when it comes to the array of soft plastic bait sizes you can use on it. Anyways, we hope this review has helped you learn more about bass fishing hooks. If this article did benefit you, then please comment below or share it with your friends.
If you liked this piece, you might also be interested in our review on the top 12 bass fishing rods for 2021.
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