Trailing the willow blade on a spinner arm gives it additional range of motion. “Every twitch of your rod tip or pause on your retrieve can kick out that willow leaf in any direction, catching light in the water column and flashing,” says Rapala Pro Michael “Ike” Iaconelli, namesake of VMC’s Ike Approved line-up of hooks and jigs. “That flash triggers bites. Pretty much any forage bass feed on, it flashes as it swims around, changes directions, tries to escape.”
What’s more, the spinner arm positions that fish-triggering flash closer to the hook, minimizing short strikes, increasing your hook-up ratio.
With the release of the Heavy Duty Weighted Willow Swimbait Hook, VMC is introducing a newly designed self-centering spring to securely hold soft-plastic swimbaits in place.
“That new spring is absolutely crucial, because when you rig a swimbait, it has to go right down the center,” Iaconelli says. “If it’s off by just a little bit, it won’t run right. So having that right in the center is key.”
Heavy Duty Weighted Willow Swimbait Hooks are forged from hi-carbon steel and feature a needle point. They come two per pack in seven sizes: 3/16th oz, 3/0 hook; 3/16th oz, 4/0; 1/4 oz, 5/0; 3/8th oz, 6/0; 3/8th oz, 7/0; 3/8th oz, 9/0; ½ oz,11/0.
