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HomeNewsChoosing the Right Zoneloc Hook for Plastics
This nifty hook design allows for the easy Tex-pose rigging of any soft plastic allowing for easier hooksets. Once that Zoneloc hook has penetrated its quarry, it’s staying put.
What do the Zoneloc pros have to say about their favorite Wide Gap Worm Hooks?
Alton Jones Jr.
“Be sure to use the right hook for the right cover. When fishing in more open water, I prefer the Zoneloc Wide Gap Worm Hook. But when heavy cover and heavy line is in the equation, I chose to rig up the Magnum version to handle the toughest situations.”
Jay Yelas
“The Wide Gap Worm Hooks are the models I use most often in bass fishing. I use them for all sorts of plastics: Senko, worms, creature baits, Tubes, craws, D Shad, you name it- and the Magnum in heavy cover for a pitch/flip presentation.
“I love the way they are so versatile, but also that they so are efficient. I skin hook the tip of the hook (Tex-pose) after running through the body of the bait. It remains extremely weedless, and fish retention is nearly 100% “There are several wide gap hooks on the market, but what is unique about the Zoneloc is that there is no escape due to the deep bend that keeps fish away from the barb.”
Alton Jones
“I really like the Zoneloc Wide Gap Magnum Worm Hook. It is a great heavy cover hook. I recently used them fishing with soft plastics and 50-pound braid in some heavy cover. I had a Top 10 finish thanks in part to that hook.
“The key to rigging them properly is to make sure the eye of the hook is covered up by the plastic, and instead of using a traditional Texas rig you skin hook it or Tex-pose to maximize hook-ups. With Zoneloc Wide Gap Worm hooks, a bite pretty much equals a bass.”
Check out the lineup of Zoneloc Wide Gap Worm and Wide Gap Magnum Worm Hooks along with the rest of the Zoneloc family at www.zoneloc.com.
Amid a fishing trip on the bass-starved Ohio River in the summer of 1987, Alan McGuckin’s Dad told a then 16-year-old “Guck” — “I don’t care what you do for a living, just promise me you’ll do something you love.”
Originally from Pittsburgh, McGuckin considers himself a blue-collar kid, who has been richly blessed to live-out the best piece of advice his dad ever gave him for many years now in the Tulsa area.
After earning a degree in ecology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he placed radio transmitters in largemouth bass to track their habitat preferences, he moved his life to Oklahoma in 1992, where he earned a Masters in Zoology and Fisheries under the direction of Gene Gilliland at the University of Oklahoma, before then embarking on what’s now a nearly three decade long career as a marketing and media veteran in the fishing industry.
His career spans 28 years of wisdom-rich marketing experience working to strengthen brands and increase sales for Lowrance, Terminator Lures, Toyota, Yamaha Outboards, Boat U.S., Carhartt, Costa, Quantum, Vexus Boats, and Zebco.
- Member of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame voting committee, as well as a Board of Directors member for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful
- Co-piloted the Terminator brand of premium lures from its birth to more than 10 Million pieces sold between 1997-2006.
- Has authored and published more than 800 stories on Bassmaster.com, along with several other popular bass fishing websites.
- He has generated $3 Million dollars’ worth of branded digital media since 2020, as a content creator.
- Serves as emcee for hundreds of guests at the annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners event.
- Avid angler, who fishes nearly every weekend when not on the road working.
- 13,000 followers on Instagram @GuckFishing.
“Guck” lives just north of Tulsa, OK at Lake Skiatook with wife Sherrie, an elementary school principal who also loves her job, and has a genuine passion for slinging a Rapala Brat crankbait on shallow points and habitat-laden flats.
