Senko magic worth the expense?

[Slayem9]

Yesterday I was fishing for shallow water bass and pickerel using Senkos and came to a few conclusions regarding baits that fall apart after one or two fish.

The recreational user may ask himself Â*if the cost is worth it for a few fish per lure, most of which will be dinks or pickerel'? For the tournament angler that needs a limit and the pay off is substantial, this may not be a relevant question, but the for casual angler, that knows he can catch fish on knockoffs, paying over 70 cents for one worm and one or two fish doesn't make sense.

The magic of the Senko lies in the super-softness of the bait plus the high percentage of salt for weight. Fish are attracted by the worm's unique body action on the quick, horizontal fall. For some strange reason, (in my opinion) bass can detect lure softness and density before it even bites it and the softness of a lure [/i] is usually a superior fish attractor and bite-retention quality.

It's possible that the action of a soft plastic lure is quickly perceived as body consistency and chewabilty (for lack of a better word), by the way it acts on the fall or on the bottom. That's possibly the reason soft plastics have been the most popular of all lure types for decades.

Many knockoff jerk sticks lack a high degree of softness or weight and though durable, are only good as jerkworms in very thin, weedy water. Plastic without salt, is more buoyant (ie Slugo) and the texture when bit, is totally different than a salted plastic. Â*I won't get into the controversy that bass can taste the salt and therefore hold on longer, Â*but a salted plastic is internally textured and spongy. For some reason, Senkos (and other soft plastics) have been found in bass digestive tracks! Again, the trade-off for super softness, is durability and the magic of the Senko or any other properly salted, soft stick-worm is lost if either of those two elements are missing. Â*

I pour my own plastics, and yesterday caught far more fish-per-lure than on my Senkos. To the Senko's credit (and softness), I was able to cut off the ruined ends and wacky rig the final three inches of a 5" Senko and still caught a few more bass (a total of 4 small bass and one pickerel on one bait).

My lures are somewhat less soft, but contain the same ratio of salt. The back half of my sticks, have more taper and therefore a different action when twitched on the way down. My jerk worm, like the Senko, has also been picked up off the bottom on the initial fall and allowed for an easy hook set, which in itself, is normal for many dead-stick plastics.



It's nice to know I don't have to pay over 70 cents for a worm and for less fish, just to experience the 'magic' of the Senko or Cut Tail. If I was a diehard tournament angler, I would probably use Senkos at least half the time and my own the other half because any knockoff, shaped like a cigar, will work better as a shallow jerkworm in weeds.

Eventually, Yamamoto may have to come down in price to maintain market share and does have some good sales on his In-Side Line site.

[jglassguy]

Well thought out and written senkosam

I am convienced that the salt has a lot to do with them holding on to it, and they do have an incredible softness to the plastic

[IL.bassin36]

Very good article sam! I totally agree- the salt/softness of those baits really does cause them to have a unique fall. I plan to do alot more experimenting with knock-offs this year though, that $7 a bag is a tough sell ;D

[redneck13]

Could someone tell me the best color to use in clear water with a thick grassy bottom that grows to the surface in places?It's a shallow water situation(2-6 ft.).I want to go weightless on this flat,but I need some suggestions on color.Is watermelonseed a good choice? Thanks in advance. I really want to become proficient with the Senko.

[jglassguy]

The pros usually say natural colors for clear water but my fav is punkin seed and chartruse

[Bassin_Dude]

good post. i will take a tiki stik over a senko any day. IMO they have a better feeling and action to them. 7 bucks for some soft plastics is way to much. i will stick to my 3 dollar tiki stiks which are better then a senko anyway imo. rogue, i would go with a redshad/bug tiki. they are very good. might also want to give the tiki dipstiks a shot in that same color, just with a chartruese tail.

[Worm_King]

I love Netbaits Salt Licks. Haven't used Senko's much because I bought Salt Licks and have been catching fish on them so I don't see the need to buy Senko's. There are a lot of good knock off's out there that cost a whole lot less.

[jglassguy]

Thats for sure, just tie on something soft n salty and let the fisherman get the credit for landing that bass from its life like action

[macgyver]

[quote author=Rattlinrogue link=board=news;num=1116854661;start=0#3 date=05/23/05 at 13:09:35]Could someone tell me the best color to use in clear water with a thick grassy bottom that grows to the surface in places?It's a shallow water situation(2-6 ft.).I want to go weightless on this flat,but I need some suggestions on color.Is watermelonseed a good choice? Thanks in advance. I really want to become proficient with the Senko.[/quote]


My personal favorite color is Greenpumpkin. However lots of colors will work. Junebug is also one of my go to colors.

Sam,

Once again an outstanding post. Your baits do hold up a lot better than senko's. To be honest the price is always secondary to me. If I find a bait, that to me is a fish catcher I will spend the money for it. However on the Senko issue, I truly believe that so many of the knockoffs will work just as well. The closest knockoff to a real Senko that I have found is the Yum Dinger. It has a very soft feel, and falls almost identical(at least to my untrained eye ) Also as you stated, you can tear off the end that is ripped and reuse it just a little smaller. Plus I have found that the Pro's Soft Bait glue will help hold them on longer, and keep them from completely falling off. Thanks again for the post. And your baits catch fish too ;D

Lizards

[Slayem9]

Thanks LR.

What I've found interesting for spring is that the larger size sticks work better for all sizes of bass and pickerel. Colors, so far, have been unimportant and so few are needed to get the bite (at least in spring).

In clear, shallow water I've been using green pumpkin, rootbeer and green/black flake, bubblegum, watermelon and red/black flake and baby bass laminate. I haven't thrown a black stick yet, but wonder if black with flakes would be more effective than plain black.

I've found that I prefer salt over non-salted stick baits 95% of the time (5% non-salted for action tail-slimmer worms where you want the body to stay more upright on bottom.)

LR, do you use lizards mostly weighted or occassionally weightless for surface weeds?

SS

[macgyver]

[quote author=senkosam link=board=news;num=1116854661;start=0#9 date=05/24/05 at 08:59:59]Thanks LR.

What I've found interesting for spring is that the larger size sticks work better for all sizes of bass and pickerel. Colors, so far, have been unimportant and so few are needed to get the bite (at least in spring).

In clear, shallow water I've been using green pumpkin, rootbeer and green/black flake, bubblegum, watermelon and red/black flake and baby bass laminate. I haven't thrown a black stick yet, but wonder if black with flakes would be more effective than plain black.

I've found that I prefer salt over non-salted stick baits 95% of the time (5% non-salted for action tail-slimmer worms where you want the body to stay more upright on bottom.)

LR, do you use lizards mostly weighted or occassionally weightless for surface weeds?

SS
[/quote]

You're welcome

I use lizards weightless 90% of the time if it's an option. By that I mean if I'm fishing out of my boat it will be weightless, on moss, weeds, deadsticking or just twitching it at whatever depth I need it to be at. When fishing in a tourney or someone elses boat, most of the time they are not moving slowly enough for the weightless approach, so I will usually have a mojo rig on it, or even t-rigged or c-rig. So if I can it's weightless, if I can't then I use the smallest weight possible for the cirumstances, preferrably with the mojo rig(split shot rig will also work) with the weight pegged approx 8"-12" up the line, thereby not having the lizard actually dragging on the bottom. IMO the lizards are best when they have no weight right at the head.

Lizards