Neko rig- Equiptment or technique ?

I am a big fan of wacky rig fishing, couple weeks ago I found out about the Neko rig.

First time out with it I had five bites. Landed one, three got off just as they broke the surface.
Yesterday, I had four bites, landed one, two got off as they broke the surface.

I am using a St Croix medium lite spinning rod.
10 lb braid with 8 lb leader.
First trip out I used VMC wacky rig hooks
Second time out I used VMC Neko hooks.
Using 5 inch blue/black and Sweet Tater Senkos.

The ones I landed were hooked in the upper lip, which is suppose to be correct.

So how do I avoid loosing them?
Is this a product of the Neko technique ?
Or do I need to change my Tackle ?

Thanks

I fish a very similar setup. I normally use the Gamagatsu G-Finesse hooks with really good hook-up/land ratio. I finally lost my last hook and bought some VMC hooks. HORRIBLE! I now lose 2 outta 5.

Gonna have to reload on the Gamas.

I would think it has a lot to do with the hooks. Also I have never fished this style before. Can you fish it shallow?

Had to look that up. They come up with a damn name for everything. Anyway #2 gama shiner hook has worked fine forever

Also what happened to the fifth and fourth fish

Go with Gamma shiner hook and rig it hook point up. It will hook them in the top of the mouth every time. Just pull into the hook set and let the rod do the work. Works great for Neko and wacky rigs. Tried VMC Neko hooks and after one outing threw the rest of the pack in the garbage.

Kind of me being a dumb a....
Four and five:
I discovered these swim baits made by Storm. They are called
360 search baits. Love these things. They are what I start my day out on,
unless there is some topwater action.
Anyway, I throw the 360 swimbaits, drag it along the bottom till I get a bite,
then I yank the rod up and start reeling.

But when I switch over to Neko rig, I felt that bump, bump, yanked the rod up and missed the fish.
Then I have to tell my self to reel down first, lift the rod.

Man, I love that bump, bump !


Thanks folks, I'm going to try some of the Gama's.

I'm using the VMC weedless Neko hooks and have had Absolutely no problems with hooking fish or losing them on this hook. I am using a 6' medium action spinning rod and 12# Trilene Xl line.

I'll echo the bad experience with VMCs for ANY finesse technique, I wanted them to work well, but nothing positive to say about them. I trashed all my VMCs and I use a finer wire Owner, Trokar, or Gammy for anything finesse. For example, for wacky senko, I use a 1/0 Owner and have my hook up ratio has increased tremendously since ditching the VMCs.