Don't feel too disappointed missing fish on the weedless baits. Basstrix style baits and Mission Fish are very known as being lures that are hard to hook fish on.

I think the worst display of this I ever saw was fishing as a nonboater in a Pro/Am, I watched my pro get 14 bites on a Mission Fish and land 2. Some of those were real good fish. I've had similar experiences with Basstrix and Mission Fish - setting on big fish and losing the fish. It's the nature of the lure.

To improve hookup ratio on the Berkley Hollow Belly (which is an identical copy of the Basstrix) rig the lure with a treble hook on the belly. There's a few ways to do it:

1. Push the EWG hook through the nose, then put the eye of a #2 or #4 treble hook over the point of the EWG hook. You can put a piece of surgical tubing over the eye if you like (just like a spinnerbait trailer hook). Then thread the EWG hook back in to the belly of the bait and out the back.

2. Get a KSH custom bait weight like this:

http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/2008_11_23_bass-a-thon/ksh_custom_baits_bait_weight2.jpg

Arguably the world's most expensive 3/4oz lead sinker at $3.50 apiece. However, they fit perfect inside a 6" basstrix and put the wire loop in a place where you can attach a treble right in the middle of the belly of the lure. You'll catch many more fish this way. Note that I'm holding the weight upside down in the photo above.

In the end, Nico makes a darn good point which is that the best way to get your confidence up is with a Slammer. You should land about 80-90% of your Slammer bites.