Honest Senko questions

[Fishnngolfn]

While most of my fishing is with plastics, I have yet to try Senkos. I have been fairly productive with my Zoom plastics this year so I have not seen a reason to change brands.

How would you fish these types of worms?

Jerk bait like a fluke? Swimbait? Walk the dog?

Finesse worm? Wacky? Shakyhead?

Jerkbait?

I ask this because I have heard a lot of people rave about the Senkos. If I am going to purchase some I want to make sure I use the proper presentation that the bait was designed for.

I T-rig or T-expose 99% of my plastics with a 3/0 Gammy extra wide gap hook. Everynow and then I will use a 2/0. Sometimes I will also put a glass bead in front of the hook.


Also, how "sturdy" are the Senkos? I can catch about 3 to 4 fish on one Zoom before I have to toss it or repair it with glue (which reminds me, I am out of plastic glue).

[Rodman_Rob]

the senkos tend to have a lot of salt and therefore the fish holds on longer, however the plastic tears easier. i've had little sucess with the swim senko. regular senko is good t-rigged or wacky, no expierence with your third.

[Raul]

Senkos ( as any other GYCB bait ) have near zero sturdiness, but it comes with the territory, no other bait has the action the original senko has, they catch fish when other lookalikes don´t, 90% of the time fish will bite the lookalikes, it´s when that 10% of the times happen and fish don´t want to bite them when the senko shines, I know it because I have Senkos, Dingers, Tiki Stiks, Stikos and so on.

The swimming senko is for swimming it.

The Senko and Kut tail ...... rig them any way you want it, there´s no "wrong" way to rig them, the rigging method depends on how and where you want to present.

[Fishnngolfn]

I have yet to try wacky rigging a worm. Many seem to like it. What size hook would you use when wacky rigging a 4 to 6 inch Senko? Also, does the water need to be open or clear (weedless) to fish wacky style? That exposed hook makes me think that it would grab a lot of weeds and mess.

[Raul]

1/0 Weedless Gamakatsu hook.

[cassidyta]

They do pick up a lot of grass, but they fall rather slowly. I wacky rig mine with a 2/0 stright shaft hook. One thing to know about senkos is that the fish don't just hit them. Often they will swallow the whole thing on the fall.
They are not a long lasting bait at all. They GY baits senkos, IKAs and so on will start to wear just from casting alone.
One good thing about the material is how easy it becomes to customize the bait. I will often make a slice down 4 inches of the back to give it "legs"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXYfheJr-zY

There are a ton of youtube videos on mods to this bait.

IMO senkos are a good bait when other things are not working, but for me it is like throwing live bait. No real presentation required. Cast, twitch, or just reel.

[MIbasser]

FnG, I fished them a lot this year and have caught almost everything wacky style w/a 4" bait on a 2/0 worm hook. I will t-rig them weightless and also use an Owner hook w/weight. I do have the swim senko but no luck on them yet. Oh, and can usually get 1 or 2 fish per bait..... (I hear the monkey coming now.....)

[zooker]

want to have some wild fun get some falcon belly weighted hooks. rig them on a senko it brings a whole new type of action into play. this is a lil thing i do if the anglers are putting some pressure on the bass with senko...

zooker

[texasbasser]

Nothin to wacky rigging really. Stick a hook through the middle and throw it near some weeds.

TB

[bhfishman]

Fishnngolfn, I have used 2 of the three types of senkos that you show but have owned all three. Rodman is right when he says that the senko is loaded with salt which is a benefit in the sense that the fish will hang onto it a little longer. The biggest problem that I have found is that they just don't last very long. Typically you should feel good if you get two fish out of one senko. This is why I don't use them much anymore. There are others on the market that will give you close to or just as good of action as the Senko at a fraction of the cost. I used the creature baits from Senko for a short time until I figured out that it was costing me about a buck a fish because you typically could only catch one fish per bait before it was torn up.
As far as technique. I usually texas right it weightless with a 4/0 or 5/0 wide gap hook. Some people I know use a worm hook. I have also wacky rigged which is a lot of fun. The other way that I have used them locally in the pond is to put a split shot about 12 inches above the hook and drag it in slow (pretty much an easy carolina rig with out the beads). There are many ways to work a Senko or Trick stick. Let the fish tell you what they want. I usually start out letting it fall all the way to the bottom and if I don't get a hit on the fall, I will slowly lift it up and reel in about a foot at a time. Really the possibilities are endless. I will also mention that with a Senko or Trick Stick, don't feel like you need to add a weight to cast it, they will both cast a good distance without the weight.
Hope this helps,
__________________
www.1stcastfishinglures.com

[Jim80]

Ok F&G most the time I'm out i fish with yum dingers which is the same type of bait as a senko I've always t-rigged them with a 3/0 or 4/0 wide gap hook and switch between a bump and hop retrieve all the way around they are one of my favorite baits .

Jim

[Jigger]

A senko or senko knockoff is one of the few baits I've ever had any luck dead sticking. I Texpose it weightless on a 3/0 EWG Gamagatsu hook and cast it out and let it fall. If I don't get a hit on the fall, I let it set still on the bottom for a little while. Sometimes a fish will pick it up while it's setting still. If nothing happens I barely lift the nose of the bait and then sometimes this triggers a strike. If it doesn't, then I reel it in and repeat.

[airskank]

I'm pretty new to fishing still (2nd season), this bait was shown to me by the local BPS guy who said to wacky rig it. I have had success (way more than any bait) with this. I simply cast it out, count to 60, lift the rod 2x slowly and smoothly and count to 30. If no fish is on i slowly reel in and repeat. Fish will pick it up off the bottom and they will hit the lure on the 2x lifting. Other than that i've not had much success with ANYTHING (but i'm a pretty bad angler : ( )

[chubs]

I use a senko when I'm dock fishing or lowhanging trees as for anything else I feel that there are other plastics that will out fish them.
2/0 gamma finnese weedless---docks and trees.
3/0 or 4/0 weighted texposed when the water is deeper and the cover is NASTY.

[jasonfish320]

One trick that I have found extremely helpful when wacky riggin senkos is to buy some small rubber bands, the best & cheapest I've found are small black hair bands that are like $2 for 50....wrap these around the worm in the location of your hook and push the hook under the ring and out the other side of the band...(it's hard to explain without an illustration) If you look up O-rings for wacky rigs you will see what I mean...but this is way cheaper and just as effective...I go through a ton less baits..

As for hooks, I really like the 2/0 octupus hooks...sharp as all he.ll and rarely lose a fish

[Bassgrl81]

I am a "senko-aholic"! That has got to be at the top of my confidence baits list!

I fish the weightless a majority of the time on the river. I cast it right up to the grass line. On the lake I use them wacky rigged especially around the stumps of the cypress trees and under docks.

[kennsandy]

if you ask me 2 years ago, i would have said what the heck is a senko. was turned onto them by a tourney fishing buddy of mine when myself and my fishing partner were headed north to try a lake we heard so much about. he diagrammed me a way to hook the senkos, ended up being the 2 basic ways, texas and wacky. he also included something called a shrink ring, small plastic o-ring type thing that you have to heat up with a lighter to adhere it to the senko. just putting the hook between the senko and the ring means no wear and tear on the senko. usually when you set the hook rigged wacky with a ring on it, the worm and ring shoot up the line a ways, and all the fish has in its mouth is a hook.

although wacky seems to keep the senkos in better shape, i use them texas style and have personally caught my share of big fish. going into this year, i have never caught a bass over 20 inches, this year i have caught 5, with a handful of 19s too. a 5lb+ smallie, a 5lb+ largemouth have made me wonder why i never heard of senkos b4 this year, lol. since the shrink rings, we have changed over to small black o-rings, no shrinking needed, but you can just about use anything. try a mcDonalds straw cut into 1/4 inch pieces and pull the senko thru that, will work just as good. rubber bands if your kids have braces work well also.

hope this helps, good fishing to all, and i hate to say it, but this is gonna be a longgggggggggggg winter, lol.

ken

[BassinBandit]

I love senkos, I really like the Yum Dingers, and the Yamamoto (sp?) Senkos (they just tear so much easier), I have never had a lot of luck fishing them wacky but i have tried it as much. One thing I have learned that if you can learn to skip it, it can be great on docks and low hanging trees and brush. If I am fishing a 4" I tend to use a 3/0 but 4/0 for anything larger. Just what I have been doing

[Fishnngolfn]

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions. Once we get out of our financial funk, I will try them and many of the other alternatives that you guys have suggested. Thanks again.

[Jim80]

Originally Posted by Fishnngolfn

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions. Once we get out of our financial funk, I will try them and many of the other alternatives that you guys have suggested. Thanks again.

I hear ya there man , I got all sorts of stuff on my wish list and am barely breaking even working 80+ hours a week .

Jim

[Cranebird]

I love both the senko and the cut tail worm. I fish both weightless, use a smaller owner worm hook for the cut tail worm.I use the stitch method to fish them, usually go to the cut tail worm where I find bait popping on the surface along the weed edges,I don't know why but it flat out works well.If you buy yamamoto, try #214 color and remember Ivan told ya so.Ivan

[Rebbasser]

Swimming Senko-T-rig, small weight, chunk and wind. They are designed to be worked like that.

Regular senko-weightless T-rig or wacky

Cut tail-T-rig.

Senkos are not sturdy, but I think that is part of what makes them work.

[Nitro911]

Zoom has a variation called a Speed Worm...it is basically a Senko with a paddle tail. I really like it if I am fishing fast. The tail vibrates pretty hard on the pickup (you can feel it in the rod) and then it settles nice and slow back to the bottom. Lots of noise & vibration.

There you go, one more option, as if it was needed.

[metalbrew]

Originally Posted by jasonfish320

One trick that I have found extremely helpful when wacky riggin senkos is to buy some small rubber bands, the best & cheapest I've found are small black hair bands that are like $2 for 50....wrap these around the worm in the location of your hook and push the hook under the ring and out the other side of the band...(it's hard to explain without an illustration) If you look up O-rings for wacky rigs you will see what I mean...but this is way cheaper and just as effective...I go through a ton less baits..

Folks wearing braces on their teeth use these little rubber bands that hook to the metal in their mouth. These rubber bands are perfect and are available at every drug store. I think 50 are in a little baggie (perfect for the tackle box) for $2. They really help the durability of wacky rigged Senkos. I've been able to fish a couple of hours on a single Senko using this trick.