Mustad’s new AlphaPoint chemically sharpened needlepoint hooks feature a 21-degree sharpening angle, creating an even sharper slimmer hook point that is 4.8 times the hook diameter. The elongated and shallower point section allows for deeper and faster hooksets, converting the slightest pressure into efficient penetration for techniques relying more on finesse than force. This allows you to fish dropshot hooks using light to moderate line weights on spinning tackle and to get a good hookset by sweeping the rod, rather than jamming the hook home with heavier tackle.

Weedless/snagless dropshotting involved tying an AlphaPoint Weedless Dropshot Hook on the line, leaving a tag end of about 12 to 16 inches. Then clip, rather than tie, a tungsten TitanX dropshot sinker to the tag end of the line, positioning it up or down the line to adjust the distance at which your bait will be presented above bottom. Next, lightly hook your favorite finesse worm or other soft plastic up through the nose and out the top. Finally, set the dual mono weed guard in place to protect the hook point.

Rigged properly, your hook should ride point-up, and your bait level, as you slowly lift-drop-jiggle-pause your sinker across the bottom. This is usually done with drifting or slowly trolling, although casting the rig also works in shallower water. This teasing action you place on your rod tip imparts a seductive, dancing action to softbaits that even fussy bass can’t resist during cold fronts and pressured fishing conditions.

Apex Weedless Hooks can also be used for live bait rigging large minnow, hooked up through the lips, for walleyes or smallmouth bass in and around weeds or flooded timber; or for slipbobber fishing live minnows hooked lightly beneath the dorsal fin for walleyes, bass or pike living in and around flooded brush or weed growth. The mono weedguard deflects snags and allows your worm or live bait to come cleanly through obstructions.