I am finally a believer

[cassidyta]

In the past three years, I have probably caught a mix of 6 bass on Senkos. They just have not produced for me until recently.
In the past week, I would say that more of my fish have been brought in on Senko's and Yum Dingers than any other bait in my bag. I have found that casting them out to the deep water, letting them fall to the bottom, and then fishing them back like a jerk bait has been quite deadly.
It is funny how you can have a bait for several years and out of th eblue it just starts working.

[WaffleJaw]

Well thats great news because Ive yet to had any luck on a Senko wacky or T rig'd..Not even short strikes.
The producer for me lately has been the purple/blue fleck power worms.

[cassidyta]

I have yet to catch anything with the wacky rigged. The one that I am throwing the most is a yum dinger with a pearl white bottom and a bass like top.
I usually throw IKA's instead of senko's. More often than not it is black with a blue flake.

[WaffleJaw]

Blk/blue finesse worms have been another big producer for me in this stained water,so good,Im down to three left,lol....I think I feel more confident with the lighter ,thinner worms...I'll throw a 5'' senko on and keep trying it for the sake of its reputation...It just doesnt feel right for some reason....I guess Im just a Senko agnostic,lol

[Bassboss]

Yup! I know what you mean! Same thing happend to me with speed craws. I had never caught a thing on them before, than one day I tried everything in my box didn't catch anything. Than I found an old bag of june bug speed craws, and used them. I used the whole bag up in about an hour... maybe less!

[WatterBoy]

Originally Posted by cassidyta

I have yet to catch anything with the wacky rigged. The one that I am throwing the most is a yum dinger with a pearl white bottom and a bass like top.
I usually throw IKA's instead of senko's. More often than not it is black with a blue flake.

That amazes me that you aren't catching them using a wacky-rigged senko, but I suppose the conditions where I fish could be completely opposite of where you fish. I don't have my last two trips entered in my spreadsheet yet, but about 1/2 of the 185 bass I caught this year were on a 7" wacky-rigged Yamasenko. On the lake I fish almost exclusively, I use them in water anywhere from 2'-10' deep, and the water clarity of the lake is 15+ feet. I'm either tossing them into areas with pretty thick underwater cover or else up along the edges of lily pads and/or reeds (or even into them if it's not too thick).

I always use them on fluoro line -- anywhere from 8 to 12 lb test. Do you use fluoro when you are fishing senkos?

Almost every fish I catch on the senko is on the original fall. I really don't fish it back to the boat much -- just the original cast and fall and then maybe a twitch/raise or two and reel it back in and start over.

[TnTom]

I need to work a little harder and see if I can get the into the Senko groove. Never really did well but I think maybe not giving them a fair shake.

Incorrect, dont know what I was thinking. Yes Ive always had good luck woth senko T-rigged. great bait.

[skeeter944]

I really like throwin senkos, one of my favorite baits to skip under docks and overhanging limbs. I like to wacky worm in the spring when im sight fishing, it gives the bait a killer action.

[islandbass]

If you really need to get your first senko strike, rig it on a drop shot, nose or wacky style. It's a shoe in.

[MississippiBoy]

I've caught a good number of fish on Senkos and the Wave Worm knockoffs, but only when using them T-rigged weightless. I've never given them a fair shot wacky rigged, so I guess maybe I ought to.
For those of you that do wacky rig a lot; I've seen them rigged both weightless, and with a small, maybe 1/8 or 3/16 oz jig head. Which do you prefer?

[skeeter944]

I've had lots of success wacky rigging with a light weight mushroom jighead, its like a jackall flickshake almost. In shallow water (0-6ft) try it weightless, anything deeper (6-20ft) throw that jighead. The biggest thing is to keep an open mind, fish the moment.

[rodnreel]

I've never had much luck on Senkos, either. I have had a lot of success throwing YUM Dingers, though. I thought it was pretty weird that fish would bite the Dinger and not the Senko, they're almost the exact same bait.

[Baron49]

A 5'' soft stick bait rigged wacky with a 3/0 circle hook is my go to bait when all else fails. Have caught fish up and down the east coast with this bait rigged on a spinning rod. I use the same 5" soft stick bait rigged texas style when fishing in heavy cover or as a follow up bait when a bass misses a frog or buzz bait. Have caught a lot of fish this way that would not come back for a frog, but would nail the soft stick bait on the first cast.

[cassidyta]

My partner in the last tourney caught almost all of his fish on a wacky rigged senko with an undercarriage spinner as the hook. I have seen them work wacky rigged, they just have not done it for me.
I have thrown a lot of jackal stickbaits wacky rigged and caught fish, but th ebigger 5" just have not produced when tied on wacky. I don't know that I have given them a fair shot.

[WaffleJaw]

Originally Posted by Baron49

A 5'' soft stick bait rigged wacky with a 3/0 circle hook is my go to bait when all else fails. Have caught fish up and down the east coast with this bait rigged on a spinning rod. I use the same 5" soft stick bait rigged texas style when fishing in heavy cover or as a follow up bait when a bass misses a frog or buzz bait. Have caught a lot of fish this way that would not come back for a frog, but would nail the soft stick bait on the first cast.

That is an excellent strategy!..Im gonna remember that on the next buzzbait miss....
Im gonna hit some ponds after work,Im gonna take the spinning rod out and work some wacky rig....Its been awhile.

[keithdog]

Thats a great feeling isn't it cass! It's kind of funny, the last couple years I did very well with Senko type baits. The Wave Worm is my favorite. But this year I didn't land a single fish on one. Go figure. Maybe because the water was more off colored this year than it normally is. I DID have a great year with Jitterbugs, something that hadn't produced for me at all previously.

[BeaverIslander]

I've only caught bass on Senkos when skipped under docks. A wacky rigged 5" Senko is just about the easiest bait to skip, and I've had some good times with them.
I haven't really given them a fair shake in open water or around weed cover, but I just don't have much confidence in them. I choose to use other lures, although that'll probably change sooner than later.

[Bender]

Over the summer I bet I threw a wacky rig at least 50% of the time and did pretty well. I tried all the hooks from circles, dropshot/split shot, EWGs, Octopus, etc. and found the best is the Owner green Wacky Hook. I use 2/0 most of the time. It also works in deep water if you have the patience, but mostly I threw it shallow and weightless almost always casting to cover or structure.

[BigBassin144]

I've had great success this year with senkos (Yum Dingers actually) both weightless t-rigged and wacky rigged.

We did good fishing them like a jerkbait, or letting them sink to the bottom and raising your rod straight up and letting it fall back down.

towards the end of the summer, I started trying different hooks on the wacky rig and I still think I like the Gammy Octopus better than the other couple I tried (octopus circle, gammy DS/SS hook and Owner mosquito hooks (which are pretty much the same as the gammy octopus)).

I've never used that green owner hook, but looked at it a few times. I'll have to get a pack for next year. Bender, I know when we fished with you on kent you had some of the weighted wacky rig hooks. How did they work for you? any better than a plain hook? and do they really change the action that much?

BB

[Baron49]

I was not sure we could mention brand names on this site. The soft stick baits I have been using for many years now are 5" Venom Salty Slings. These are a little stiffer then a Senko or Yum dinger when you first start to use them, but they soften up after a few bites and actually work better the more worn they become. I have caught up to a dozen fish off one of these Salty Slings and you can repair these plastic baits easily with Mend-It.

[jig fisherman]

Thats the same color I use and it caught me my pb this year. Cool to see that it works out west too.

[Panthrosan]

I swear by 4inch and 5inch Smoke w/flake Senkos in Maryland. Caught my PB and tons of other fish on it.

[Bender]

BB, I never did use those Inchy Wacky heads. (but I HAD to have them ) I have talked to a lot of guys that have had great success on the weighted wacky hooks though. I'm in the process now of grinding out a mold to weight those Owner hooks for my own personal use only.

[BeaverIslander]

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...291&hasJS=true


These are good hooks. I use the 1/32 and 1/16 oz. I find the weight doesn't hinder, but just accelerates the Senkos action which I think works best when it's warmer.

Again yesterday, I pulled a half dozen from under the few remaining docks, and not a single one in open water, even though they were hammering spinnerbaits like crazy on the calm side of the lake in this 45 degree water.

[danielbasspro]

Bucket has some awesome senkos.