DECOY - WORM317 ZERO-DAN HEAVY WORM HOOK MADE IN JAPAN

Decoy Worm317 Zero-Dan Heavy Worm Hook — Made In Japan

Zero-Dan is short for “zero leader down shot”: a down shot in which the leader between hook and sinker has been taken away entirely, so the weight sits at the hook eye and leads on the fall. The Worm317 is the heavy-weight tuned member of that family. What makes the system work is unchanged — sinker first, worm settling just above it, offset point buried in the plastic — but the sinker is a DS-8 Type Drop and the weights run much further up the scale, to 18 g. That is a deliberate setting for dense cover: weed mats, matted hyacinth and thick timber, where a lighter rig sits on top instead of going through. The DS-8 shape slips through that cover, stays out of the way of the point on the set, and is built to take rough use. The smaller sizes double as a light rockfish tool.

Key Features

• Heavy-weight tuned Zero-Dan, supplied as a complete rig with hook and sinker assembled
• DS-8 Type Drop sinker: slips through dense cover, minimises interference with the hook-set
• Weights from 3.5 g to 18 g — the heaviest Zero-Dan model stocked here
• Offset hook keeps the point buried for a weedless finish in mats and timber
• NS Black finish, built for rough use
• Nine sizes, #4 to #5/0, two rigs per pack (three in #4)

How To Rig It

• Mounting the worm — Rig it as a Texas worm. Enter the nose, thread down until the eye is buried, exit the underside, slide the bait forward against the sinker, then rotate the hook and set the point back into the body. Keep the worm dead straight or it will spin.
• Punching cover — Drop it vertically through the thickest part of the mat with the rod tip high, then feed line so it falls freely underneath. Most bites come in the first two seconds after it clears the cover.
• Rotating weights — Change weight with cover density and the fall speed you want, not with fish size — heavier for thicker mats and deeper water, lighter where fish want a slower drop.
• Which Zero-Dan to pick — Worm217 is the core model — DS-6 Type Stick sinker, 2.5–7 g, for pilings, light cover and bait finesse. Worm317 is this one: DS-8 Type Drop, 3.5–18 g, for heavy cover. Worm313 Zero-Dan Rock is the saltwater version, 14–21 g in tin (Aqua Block) plating for rock and surf.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — Giant snakehead (toman) and haruan in matted weed and hyacinth, peacock bass around flooded timber, mangrove jack and estuary cod on the heavier sizes.
• North America — Largemouth bass punched into grass mats, pads and laydowns; the small sizes for rockfish and black sea bass on structure.
• Japan & East Asia — Black bass in weed and cover on reservoirs and rivers, plus light rockfish (kasago, mebaru) work with the #4 to #2 sizes.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Barramundi and sooty grunter in snag-filled impoundments; hamour on Gulf structure; pike, zander and perch worked through weed beds and sunken timber.

Specifications

All sizes NS Black. Model Worm317 Zero-Dan Heavy, made in Japan by Katsuichi (Decoy).

Recommended Pairing

• Medium-heavy to heavy baitcasting rod for the #1/0 to #5/0 rigs; light spinning tackle for #4 to #2
• PE 2–4 braid straight through for punching cover; PE 0.8–1.5 with a fluorocarbon leader for the small sizes
• 4–6 inch craws, creatures and hog-type worms on the larger hooks; 2–3 inch grubs on the small ones