HAYABUSA - WORM HOOKS 951 FISHING HOOK

Hayabusa Worm Hooks 951 (WRM951) Fishing Hook

Hayabusa summarise the WRM951 in one phrase — an offset hook that uses the movement of the worm to get the hook home. It is a short-shank, wide-gap design produced to Toshinari Namiki's specification, and the short shank is the point of it: less steel inside the bait stiffens less of the plastic, so the worm keeps the shimmy and fall it was moulded to have. The gap is cut deep to make up for the shortened shank, giving a thick worm or a soft jerkbait room to collapse on the strike so the point comes clear instead of stalling in the plastic. A pronounced Z-shaped crank behind the eye bites into the head of the bait and holds it square, which is what keeps a short-shank hook from tearing its way loose after a few casts. Hayabusa's Aero Point profile handles penetration, and the finish is a matte black with no shine to it. Seven sizes here, #4 up to #4/0.

Key Features

• Short shank — less hook inside the bait, so the worm keeps its own action
• Deep wide gap giving thick worms and soft jerkbaits room to compress
• Z-shaped crank that grips the bait head and stops it sliding down the shank
• Aero Point profile for quick penetration
• Designed to Toshinari Namiki's short-shank, wide-gap specification
• Seven sizes, #4 to #4/0, in a matte black finish

How To Rig It

• Texas rig — Nose the point in, out through the belly, rotate the hook and re-enter so the point sits just under the skin. Push the head fully onto the Z-crank; if the bait sits crooked it will spin on the retrieve.
• Weightless stick worm — A #1/0 or #2/0 through a senko-style bait, cast and left to fall on slack line. This is where the short shank earns its keep, because the bait can still fold and shimmy on the drop.
• Soft jerkbait — #2/0–#3/0 through a fluke, twitched on a slack line so it darts left and right, with a pause after every two or three twitches.
• Finesse sizes — #4 and #2 for 3–4 inch worms and small craws on spinning tackle, where a larger hook would kill the bait's movement altogether.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — Hampala barb (sebarau) and peacock bass on weightless plastics in reservoir timber, giant snakehead (toman) and haruan over weed, barramundi (siakap) on soft jerkbaits around mangrove edges and pilings.
• North America — Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass on Texas rigs, wacky and weightless stick worms, flukes and shaky-head style presentations; redfish over inshore grass.
• Japan & East Asia — Black bass in reservoirs and rivers, the fishery the pattern was designed around, plus rockfish game where a plastic has to survive repeated casts into structure.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Australian bass, saratoga and estuary barramundi in snags; perch, zander and pike on weedless plastics in European lakes and canals.

Specifications

Hayabusa also list the WRM951 in #6; the seven sizes above are stocked here.

Which Hayabusa worm hook? The WRM951 is the finesse-to-mid-range offset and the one with the most hooks in the packet. Move up to the FF311 T.N.S. Offset Heavy Duty when the wire matters more than the bait's action — PE line, punching, big fish in cover. The EB99881 Power Stage BM is a plain forged wide gap hook starting at #2/0, for larger craws and creature baits. The FF203 sits outside the group: a swivelled cover neko rig rather than an offset.

Recommended Pairing

• #4–#2 with 3–4 inch finesse worms, 6–10 lb fluorocarbon on medium-light spinning tackle
• #1–#2/0 with 4–5 inch stick worms and flukes, 10–14 lb fluorocarbon
• #3/0–#4/0 with 5–7 inch worms and creature baits, 14–20 lb fluorocarbon on a medium-heavy baitcaster
• 1/16–3/8 oz bullet sinker for Texas work; a 60–120 cm fluorocarbon leader on braid in clear water