Question for the Senko guru's

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Brian Ingersoll

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I know this has been covered, but I'll ask it again in case it hasn't. I'm new to Senko's, thrown them maybe 45 min to one hour on three different trips all together.(caught three fish on them though) What kind of visibility is needed and what color for the different water colors. Most of my waters range from

<6" visibility

1' visibility

2' visibility

3'-4' visibility (Pickwick and Kentucky lake)



They seem to be a sight oriented bait although the fish I caught were on green pumpkin T-rigged in 1' visibility water that was 2'-3' deep.



As an aside I have trouble getting faith in a bait that takes so much darn patience to fish. I have trouble waiting for a 1/4 ounce jig to hit bottom in four foot of water.(I'll upsize to a 1/2 ounce for water that deep) I need to learn, but want someone to tell me what they have had sucess with so I will stick with it longer than 15 minutes.
 
Best thing to do is to leave all your other stuff at home. Just take some hooks and a bag of stick worms (Senko, Wave Worm, Stick-O's). You will have to learn patience.



Mini
 
I've shown a lot of people how to use senko's but for technique it has to be in person. There is no amount of typing that can tell you how to fish one. I have to watch you then tell you what I would do different. I know the frustration about the wait and patience. You have to remember that when rigged and thrown correctly the senko is doing the work for you. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits and most other plastics, you have to impart the action. With a senko it helps me to visualize in my mind what it is doing as it falls. That helps the patience. The hard part is if you throw heavier baits, then the senko feels strange. Remember it is considered a finess bait and a heavy one at that. A senko 9 series is the same as a 1/4 oz bait and will fall at about 1 foot per second. I never throw them on any heaver than 8lb test. I don't like fishing them in more than 10 feet unless c-rigged or dropshotting (smaller version). For color, the standard rule applies, the darker the water the darker the plastic. I have some favorites that work in all water colors and will throw them no matter what the conditions. I don't have the catalog in front of me so here are the "common" names and you can match it...



Green Pumpkin Black fleck..

Junebug (Carlos)

watermelon black fleck

motor oil black fleck (KB)

Smoke Salt & Pepper



There are a lot of options and everybody has their favorites. Ask KB, CIII, and Bill Barham if the senko hasn't changed the way they fish!! Great bait.



TOXIC

 
I love throwing a Senko..I seriously had to slow down however and that wasn't me until I saw the results. YOU have to SLOW DOWN! That's the best advice I can give you.



Bill
 
I have one of my rods rigged with a senko all the time now. Just when you think you can't wait any longer, wait some more before picking it up!



Paul
 
There are two colors i will throw anywhere from stained water to jin clear water. Thats watermellon black fleck and black with no fleck. Those two work everywhere and are my go to colors. I have other colors i like too like the pumpkin purole foeck core shots and the pumpkin with green fleck but the watermellon and the black work everywhere.
 
My 2 go to colors are solid Black and Green Pumpkin/Black Flake.



Paul
 
I fish a Senko quite often, you have to be patient as this "do nothing" bait wiggles and undulates by itself. Take everyone's advice and just bring a rod rigged to fish just Senko's. Fish them slow and you will be amazed at how many fish you will catch fishing it slow. Remember, Do not work the bait much if at all or you will overpower the bait. Like vryone else I always have one tied on especially in Spring and Summer. Good luck and catch some senko fish.
 
Oh yeah, use a Gamagatsu 3.0 EWG thin wire hook attached with a palomar knot...blood hook if you like but the black work just fine.



TOXIC
 
Tox-

I will be in richmond saturday the 29th. Will you be there? If so, when? Where? And can i come down there and pick your brain about fishing Senko's?
 
I can attest that Bill learned how to fish this bait. We fished last summer on a small lake and while I was throwing cranks, spinnerbaits and such to short fish if any fish, bill would throw the Senko at a blowdown and wait, and wait, and usualy he'd see the line move off before he felt anything and BAM!! Fish on!!



I did the same when I went to a farm pond at a dude ranch later in the summer. I JUST took a Senko rod (thanks me!!) and it was KILLER for me to WAIT and be PATIENT!!! But MAN the results!!



I'm not good yet, but know in the right conditions (i've not tried it CR rigged or Drop Shot yet), they work great!



Trep
 
Don't be afraid to think outside the box either.



One of the best days I ever had on a deep clear smallmouth lake near me was fishing a Senko fast like a jerkbait about two inckes below the surface over 35 feet of water.



Seeing those smallies come up from the deep and about jerk the rod out of your hand was amazing.



We kind of accidently came across the pattern after having a few blow up un the bait as we were quickly reeling in to make another cast.



Steve
 
Steve R you make a good point. There is no really wrong way to fosh a sekno. I have fished them wacky with no weight( the method most prefer). Texas rigged like a jerk bait or slug-go as Steve described. I have texas rigged them with a pegged weight and fished it like a plastic worm on the bottom. I have c-riggedthem both texas and wacky. Flipped them in brush weighted and not weighted. All the methods i have tried them in i have caught fish and lots of them. They just plain work.



Like Steve one of the best Smallie days i had last season wasall on senko's. I was fishing a gin clear lake andi used a 5" black senko texas rigged with a 1/2oz weight. I fished it on the bottom in 25-30 feet and just smoked them all day. Too bad i wasnt in a tourney on that day, i would havehadone heck of a bag of fish.
 
Thanks for the help, but now I have more questions. Toxic mentioned 8# line. I have been throwing it on 14# XT. I thought I had gone to a really small line size. How good of a hookset, and how many fish do you lose with the small line? I've been throwing it where I normally flip and pitch with 20# XT or fireline and a 4/0 mustad ultra-point hook. My partner gets his 14# line broke pretty often (not abrasion resistant) in these areas. If the water was pretty open I could understand the smaller line. Should I not be throwing it in these areas and save it for more open water or the outside edges of isolated cover.



Forget it, saw the other post on lines.
 
If conditiond warrant you can throw it on heavy lines but remember, I consider the senko a finesse bait. In Michigan where they have the zebra mussels, it doesn't matter what you throw thm on (even braid) you are going to get broken off a certain number of times. I like small (I don't consider 8 lb small...)because the "natural" action can be masked by heavy lines. Yeah, you can fish them all sorts of different ways but when the bite is truly tough and nothing works, throw a senko the way it was designed to be thrown and let the "natural" action work. Anything you do to it (other than wacky rigging) that involves weight or heavy line, totally eliminates the "natural" action and it just becomes a good plastic worm. I look at it from the standpoint that if I get into a fish over 8, I better have my game on anyway. I c-rig them on heavy line with a looooong leader for deep water because when I give that c-rig a good pull, the senko darts UP (the length of the leader) and then I let it sink with the "natural" action. I am a firm believer that on pressured waters all of the over-kill and heavy tackle reduces success. I prefer mono because it soaks up water and sinks better, I prefer lighter test because it aids sinking, I prefer spinning equipment because it accomodates the free release of line as it falls (as opposed to hand feeding with a baitcaster), I prefer the Gamakatsu 3.0 hook because it "fits" the bait the best and has the hooking power for big fish, I prefer the EWG (extra wide gap) because it gives more space between the bait and hook which gives a surer hookset, I prefer the wire hooks because they don't rip up the bait and impede the fall. I will go up in hook size if I get into deeper water and want a faster fall.



Believe me there are a lot more tricks and tips to get them to do a lot of other actions, I could talk for hours....in my seminars there is never anybody getting up and walking out!! It amazes me that such a simple bait can work so well.



TOXIC
 
Tox, you said anything "other than wacky rigging" and it just becomes a good plastic worm.



I mainly fish the Senko, Weightless Tex-Posed, is wacky rigging better?



Some people I know have "Great Success" with Senko's vs. other who just have so-so action. Could it be the wacky vs TRig?
 
Tox I'm thinking you should make a video tape on the subject.That would be kool!! You could even sell them at your seminars.



mark
 
Toxic,



I will most likely have a Tourney on the Potomac this spring, do you fish the River? Not sure how far it would be for you, but maybe we could cordinate hooking up when I'm down there, I could finally get that Senko lesson you have mentioned in the past. :)
 
Yeah, I fish the nasty, dirty, lower unit eatin' (fish filled) Potomac. As a matter of fact the "dress" picture was a Potomac bass. There is "wacky" rigging and "trick" rigging. Wacky is when you hook them in the middle with an exposed hook. You will catch a lot of fish but you better to be willing to lose a lot of baits. Easy to snag or hang up and anything, (including blugills, perch, etc,) that bites either end will rip it right off of the hook. Any bass or bigger fish you hook will normally shake it off the hook or by the mere fact of setting the hook you will rip it off from the fish's mouth pressing it against the hook. There are tricks to help prevent it, like using saran wrap, heat shrink wrap, lure glue (like super glue) and rubberbands but I just leave it alone. Wacky is very suited to the 4 inch senkos. Trick rigging is the same as wacky except you run the hook through the nose of the senko. It looses a little action but they still hit it. Here is another trick. If you are not proficient at pitching under docks, trick rig a senko but hook it in the tail. Pitch it up to the edge of the dock and the natural weight of the senko will take it under the dock as it sinks. I don't like to wacky or trick rig around any kind of cover because you are just asking for lost baits.



Let me know when you get to town and we will try to hook up. Do you have a "No Contact" rule in your club? I would be happy to do a little mini seminar for your club but that would defeat your purpose now wouldn't it!!:)



TOXIC
 
i also always have a senko [stick-o] tied on one rod . love to throw it at missed or boiling fish. other times i flip it in kissimmee grass on my lake. or drag it threw the hydrilla. favorite colors ( only color JUNEbug) maybe once or twice a year i throw watermellon seed..
 
Toxic,



Thanks for the info. I will know on Feb. 1st if and when I will be at the Potomac, I will let you and Bill B, and Beck and Bruce when I'm down by you guys, whoever can hook up would be great. I don;t think we a have a "no-contact rule in my club, but I'm sure others would be interested in a mini seminar, that would be pretty cool.



Tom, Mac's post about the NJ fed having the State team tourney on the Potomac may cause my club not to fish the Potomac and then go to the Flats, not sure right now.



I can pitch pretty good under docks with most baits and also T-Rigged Senkos. They actually may be too easy to pitch under docks or I need more practice, because they seem to sometimes hit the water and skip to high and get caught up on a cross-member under the docks.



In any event thanks for those tips, I will try the "trick" rigging this spring, sounds good.



About six years ago I was eating dinner in one the river fornt places on the Potomac in or near Georgetown. I remember seeing someone in a bass boat fishing the river, maybe it was you? LOL



Thanks,

Chris
 

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