There isn’t a better feeling in the world than to feel the trademark “thump” of a fat bass on the other end of your favorite flipping stick. When you feel that bite, it’s essential to have a quality hook on to ensure solid penetration. VMC provided us with a few of their Heavy Duty Flippin Hooks to review and I’ve been beating the tar out of them lately to see what they’re made of. After fishing with them for a couple of months, I’ve been impressed by 4 things.
- Strong
- Sealed hook eye
- Double-spiked bait holder
- Snell knot friendly
Doesn’t bend or break
Whenever you flip with 65-pound braided line, your hook needs to be super tough to withstand the impact of a huge hookset. The VMC Heavy Duty Flippin Hook has proved to be a real workhorse in every situation I’ve put it in. This hook works excellently with a Berkley Havoc Scott Suggs’ Rocket Craw and I’ve flipped it into the nastiest stuff I could find without any bending or breaking.
The hook point is extremely sharp and penetrates both your bait and the fish’s mouth with minimum pressure. I’ve even casted the Heavy Duty Flippin Hook to deep brush piles to experiment with it and have caught some nice bass. With upwards of 50 feet of line between my rod and the bait, I’ve been getting solid hookups.
No more heart breaks
My collegiate tournament partner and I came close to winning the National Championship a few years ago, but a line slippage through the eye of a hook prevented that from happening—talk about a broken heart. Since that day, I’ve avoided unsealed hook eyes like the plague. Fortunately, VMC has sealed these hook eyes with a smooth epoxy resin to combat any line slippage or premature line wear.
When a big bass clamps down on this hook, the last thing you need to be worried about is your line separating from the hook. This has been a go-to hook of mine lately and has given me the ability to worry about fighting the fish, not a gap in the hook eye.
Holds your baits in place
You see a lot of hooks on the market with a single-spiked bait holder, but it doesn’t cut it for me. If I have to adjust my bait between every flip, I’m getting frustrated and wasting valuable fishing time.
The VMC Heavy Duty Flippin Hook features a double-spiked bait holder that holds your favorite flipping baits in place, even after a fish catch. You don’t have to worry about running out of baits after they all get shredded on the hook shank because these hooks don’t allow it to happen. I’ve really enjoyed the efficiency of making flip after flip without having to constantly monitor the condition of my soft plastic.
Excellent for Snell knots
The VMC Heavy Duty Flippin Hook has just the right amount of space between the hook eye and the bait holder for tying a Snell knot. This knot is very helpful for getting the right penetration angle following a hookset and these hooks give you plenty of room to tie it perfectly.
Flipping creature baits is one of my favorite ways to nab those elusive kicker fish in tournaments and I’m pumped up to find one that I like so much. Whether you like to flip in close quarters or even cast a Texas rig, this is a hook you should consider trying. Priced at $3.59 per 4-pack, you can grab a couple of packs without breaking the bank.
The VMC Heavy Duty Flippin Hook is available at TackleWarehouse.com.
