Senkos

[CubanFisherman]

Hearing such bountiful results as Waterfoul has reported using Senkos, I picked up a couple packs. I am just wondering how everyone sets up their wacky rigs. Weight or no weight? In what depths and conditions do you use them?

Thanks in advance.

[icefishermanmark]

No weight in any depth. Some guys use unweighred senkos in 20FOW:yikes: I prefer to use a split ring but it has to be TIGHT. You should really have to force the bait into it.

[eyecatcher1]

I use a piece of electical tape split width wise, wrapped around the center part of the worm. Hook through the tape so you don't lose them on every fish. I use them weightless in depths up to 15. I haven't ever trid them deeper. They are deadly. The fish usually bite on the initial drop. I work it back no more than half my cast and try again. Watch your line cuz sometimes you won't feel the take. Good Luck, not that you need it once you start throwin Senkos at em.;)

[fishindude]

Before i wacky rig them, I rig them "normally" - for lack of a better term. When one end gets shredded up, and the way bass hit these things they will get ripped apart fast, I just switch over to the other end of the bait. You get more fish out of one senko. Make sure that when you rig it wacky style you have some sort of o-ring as these baits aren't very tough.

[thedude]

9 times out of 10 i texas rig mine w/ no weight - mostly because i fish them in the weeds.

[chewy2407]

I'm like Fishindude and texas rig them. I don't have the patience to fish them any deeper than 6 or 8 feet deep. I think I have other lures that work better and more efficiently that waiting for a senko to reach bottom. I LOVE them around and skipped under docks. They can be deadly there. If you don't like having them tear so easily and want to pay less for them you may want to look around. There are a lot of company's that offer the exact same bait and I found that they work just as well.

[CubanFisherman]

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. I wonder when Waterfoul will chime in.:evil:

The baits I got were not actually Senkos but Tiki-sticks I believe. Fifty cents a bag with eight in each. Quality baits, too as far I can tell.

[waterfoul]

Having fished them HARD now for 2 seasons... you will catch more fish whacky than texas. Just my experience. If I'm fishing heavier weed cover, I've gone to a weedless hook and had good luck whacky style. I won't say that texas style doesn't have it's place... but whacky is where it's at!

At the fishin' show this past week one company had their "senko's" priced at 25 for $6. Needless to say I bought a few! I compared them to a Senko (yamamoto brand) and they were VERY similar. I also know a guy here in GR that pours his own... and after I throw a few I'll probably be getting them from him... custom colors... custom scents, and about 30% cheaper than Yamamoto, 15% cheaper than Yum.

[redneckman]

YOU WILL LOVE THESE BAITS FOR BASS. You can catch largemouth, smallies, pike, perch, dogfish, and even gills on senkos. You can rig them weedless wacky style too. All you do is hook it the normal wacky style and then just turn the hook and hook it into the senko again not exposeing the barb. It does work in light to medium weed cover. But heavy cover rig them texas style. I NEVER use weight on them. Fish them along any weeds and or other cover. 5" is the best length, and try watermelon seed for a good all around color.

Redneckman

[Raf]

when i used to bass fish a lot i used senkos wacky rigged. the best way i have found to make the baits last is to put a small drop of super glue right where the hook meets the bait. this works awesome and i did not notice and differance in the amount of fish i caught.

[waterfoul]

I HAVe caught fish on EVERY color senko I've thrown. Every one. My girlfriends daughter ( 12 yr. old) even caught a 12" bass on a pink senko!!! Selkirk lake, rigged whacky of course!

[fishindude]

I have multiple versions of a senko, the original, tiki sticks, YUM DINGERS, and multiple hand poured versions. I feel the hand poured versions out fished the original senko in many ways.

First is that as hard as this is to believe, the action is better. For me atleast, the senkos tend to ride up in the water column when you twitch them. The hand poureds don't

Number two is that they are a little bit more durable. Senkos only last for a few fish before they are to ripped up to fish with. Plus i tend to skip them under docks. They don't hold up very well like this.

Plus, you can get the color that you works best for you. As good as the senkos are, hand poured are better.

[Frozenfish]

I tried some different ones last year that I got at a near by bait shop. There didn't seem to work as well as the senko's as they were a bit heavier. I think the wieght in the senco's is the key. Cinnamon has been a hot all around color for me. As well as watermelon. However, I have caught with every color. Just have to keep switchin em up.

I will try the elec. tape and super glue trick this year. Them things get pricey!!!!!

[redneckman]

The Bass Pro Shops stik-o's are 20 for $4.99. There are more durible than senkos too. Gary Yamamotos have outfished every other kind for me. Second would have to be the Yum dingers. Then the Stik-os. It will change from lake to lake and personal preference. I don't know if it was said or not but a split ring just big enought to slide down the senkos is a good way to have the senko from not tearing up.

Redneckman

[jstfish48162]

when i fished the Potomac River in 2002, my partner and i were fishing a weed bed along the river and the ONLY color we could get the fish to hit was pink. he had a few, and needless to say, before day 1, i had 3 or 4 bags. also did very well on a pink Zoom Super Fluke soft jerkbait in the same area. very weird....any other part of the river standard colors worked just fine. my favorite colors are:

watermelon/green pumpkin black flake laminate(yamamoto)
cotton candy (yum dinger)
pearl with black flake(any mfr)
watermelon/black flake(any)
green pumpkin/black flake(any)

mainly texas rigged with NO WEIGHT, but do fish them wacky style with my own wacky system and have great results both ways. ESPECIALLY when largemouth are on the beds....man-o-man what a blast!!!!!

[waterfoul]

watermellon with gold flake is one of my favorites. Along with cinnamon with purple flake. And... and... and... I have MANY bags of Senkos!!!

[jstfish48162]

oh yeah...i have many BOXES of senkos!!!!:fish2: lolol

[raisinrat]

I use the Slat Stix from Snackdaddy Lures. They are out of Holland. The Sal Stix has scent and salt and they hold up better than the Senko just has soft.

[Southend517]

for you senko fans - in the new Field and Steams the Senko got the #30 spot of best all time lures.

[Globalgills]

I got a 6'6 Light St. Croix rod, My "Senko" rod. I use 6 lbs Fireline on a Light Shimano spinning reel. I like to dead stick those 4" Yamasenkos. Killed the smallmouth on Belleville last year with Smoke w/blk/bl flake.

[CubanFisherman]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I can't wait until early May rolls around!

[schaaed1]

I have been trying to hold back .... but can't take it any more!!!

Whats the big deal with you bass guys and Senkos??? He!!, we used rubber worms back in the late '60's.:hide: ..... we had red, purple, black, striped, ... even PINK and two tone.

Now that I've got that off my chest .... I'll shut up.:D .... and duck!!

[jstfish48162]

this ain't your everyday-run of the mill lure......it's a SENKO for crying out loud!!!!

i have used senko's for about 5 years now, and can honestly say that i have tried the following....see a bass on a bed....gently flip a plastic worm in and work around the bed a couple of times....NOTHING.....switch rods, flip the same color senko in the same exact spot.....WHAM..... the senko doesn't even make it to the bottom of the lake and the bass enhales it!!!!

that's why us "bass guys" are so hung up on these baits.....they flat out-no questions asked work....simple as that.

i'm not knocking the plastic worm of the good ol' days, just so we are clear....i have plenty of those as well. it's just that the senko has taken control over that aspect of my bass fishing.....the plastic worm just doesn't cut it like it used to. when i introduced my cousin to them, he was content with the 7" power worm he was throwing....then i handed him my senko rod and he was reluctant at first, until he fished a senko around a dock he just fished and a nice fat 4.5 pounder changed his mind real fast.

you need to try them, next time you are bass fishing. they work when alot of other baits make it seem as if the fish aren't there.

[Handlining Rules]

I would still pick a fluke and tube over a senko anyday...not saying they are a bad bait ( I have caught many fish on them) but they are what I call an old mans lure....BORING TO FISH!!!!!

[jstfish48162]

more of a location thing than a boring thing. a tube and a fluke are tied on and with me at all times. there are days when they get fished and the senko doesn't, but that all depends on where and for what i am fishing for. LSC....tubes, flukes, zara spooks and burning spinnerbaits, Erie.....tubes, tubes and drop-shot, inland lakes....senkos, flukes, tubes and top-water poppers. location depicts my arsenal for the day. later.....:fish:

[waterfoul]

Boring to fish? I fish a lot of lakes with docks and boat houses... flipping them under docks and into boat houses with 6" of space under the door is a blast! I hooked a 3 pounder INSIDE a boat house and set the hook so hard that the fish smacked into the door... there was about 4" of space between the door and the water... the Senko skipped right into the boat house and the bass hit it instantly... got myself and Glugger 3rd place in that tournament.

[redneckman]

Crank those senkos real fast over the lilly pads and BAM!!! That is a blast. Or when you cast it and the line starts to fly to the side. I catch a few pike on them too and it is fun. I think they are the opposite of boring in my opinion. I catch many fish on them so i never think its boring. I have well over 150 senkos. The bad part is it won't last me through the summer.

Redneckman

[mikenyo]

Waterfoul -

We've got to know.............................................. ..................









How much is Gary Yamamoto paying you? :lol:

[waterfoul]

Crank those senkos real fast over the lilly pads and BAM!!! That is a blast. Or when you cast it and the line starts to fly to the side. I catch a few pike on them too and it is fun. I think they are the opposite of boring in my opinion. I catch many fish on them so i never think its boring. I have well over 150 senkos. The bad part is it won't last me through the summer.

Redneckman

I too have a ton of senko's in my bag.

As for being paid by Gary.... I wish!!!!!

[jstfish48162]

i use alot of the off-brand "senko" baits for lakes with alot of smaller fish. they seem to tear the senkos up quicker, and it is alot cheaper with the off-brands. mostly, i fish the Yamamoto senko when money is on the line, or when i see a big fish cruising or bedding. there is nothing wrong with having fun and paying less. BPS and YUM are my "off-brand" choices. same color selections and more product for the $$$.

[raisinrat]

Once agian Salt stix from snack daddy holds up better and fishes the same.

[Bass Pro Shops Doug]

Here is the list of my favorites in the order that I fish them. Most of the colors have some sort of flake in them, I choose the color of flake by the depth of water that I'm fishing. A simple process when you look at the color chart to see what colors disappear at what depths. Red becomes colorless between 8-10 and the violet family is still completely visibly in 50 foot of water. I rig them Texas 90% of the time, I like to rig a french fry wacky style 100% of the time and that is bait from years gone by that still produces numbers and decent size fish. I use Mustad Ultra Point Mega-Bite hooks in a 4/0 or 5/0.

#1 Snack Daddy's Snack Stick Watermelons and Green Pumpkins (All Lakes)
#2 Bass Pro Shops Stick-O Watermelons (All Lakes)
#3 Chompers Watermelon, Huckleberry & Rootbeer (Inland Lakes)
#4 YUM Dinger Watermelon & Green Pumpkins ((All Lakes)
#5 Northlands Slurpie Watermelon & Python (Inland Lakes)
#6 Yamamoto Senko Watermelon & Green Pumpkin (All Lakes)
#7 Kinami Flash Baby Bass & Watermelon (All Lakes)

Here is a tip for Lake St. Clair Smallies: I use a bait caster and cast the bait as far as I can, I then pull about 8 foot of line off the reel and let the line just sit, basicly what most people call Dead Sticking. The smallies hit it with so much anger that the 8 foot of extra line is eaten up in a fraction of a second. The deepest I fish a Soft Stick Bait is 30 feet of water.

[waterfoul]

Once agian Salt stix from snack daddy holds up better and fishes the same.

I would argue this fact. I have fished the snack daddy's in the same water back to back with Yamamoto's on the same day in the same hour and the Yamamoto has ALWAYS outperformed the snack stix.

[redneckman]

I see you like green pumpkin from yamamoto bass pro shop doug. If you are interest in senkos dont just stock up on what some one says. The color may work great in one lake and then the next it might not catch many bass. I havent even used 1 pack of green pumpkins from yamamoto, but i have used more than 5 packs of smoke with silver flake on the same lake in a year. Maybe pink will work at a certain lake extremely well, you never know.

Redneckman

[waterfoul]

I just checked.... I have 10 different colors of senko style baits at the moment... including smoke with silver flake.

[redneckman]

Sorry Waterfoul i beat ya...I have 16 different colors. And i need to pick up a few colors i dont have because i ran out last year. I dont need any hooks though. Those Gamakastu wide gap 3/0s sure do the job.

Redneckman

[waterfoul]

I probably could find a few other straglers in other colors... oh... I have a sample bag from a local guy pouring his own... add at least 3 more colors (this is a guess without digging the soft plastics bag out again!)

[redneckman]

You can never have to many colors. My top 3 would have to be watermelonseed, smoke with silver flake, and watermelon with red flake. The one color that I am starting to use more is the neon tipped tail senkos. They work good too.

Redneckman

[waterfoul]

My faves are Watermellon with gold flake, cinimon with purple flake, and probably baby bass.

[RyGuy525]

My favorite is green pumpkin w/ black flake. Never had as good of luck on a diffrent color.

[Frozenfish]

forgot about smoke, to much of it, :lol: :lol: :lol: ...but smoke works great!!!! I can't wait!!!

[Southend517]

peanut-butter

[Bass Pro Shops Doug]

redneckman,

These are "MY" favorites, I use them all over Michigan. I use the color of the flake to change my color selection, the greens are just the base color. Just because I use certain colors it doesn't mean that I don't own all the colors. I will tell you that hands down, Snack Daddy's watermelon candy has been "MY" number one money winner.

Here is the list of my favorites in the order that I fish them. Most of the colors have some sort of flake in them, I choose the color of flake by the depth of water that I'm fishing. A simple process when you look at the color chart to see what colors disappear at what depths. Red becomes colorless between 8-10 and the violet family is still completely visibly in 50 foot of water. I rig them Texas 90% of the time, I like to rig a french fry wacky style 100% of the time and that is bait from years gone by that still produces numbers and decent size fish. I use Mustad Ultra Point Mega-Bite hooks in a 4/0 or 5/0.

#1 Snack Daddy's Snack Stick Watermelons and Green Pumpkins (All Lakes)
#2 Bass Pro Shops Stick-O Watermelons (All Lakes)
#3 Chompers Watermelon, Huckleberry & Rootbeer (Inland Lakes)
#4 YUM Dinger Watermelon & Green Pumpkins ((All Lakes)
#5 Northlands Slurpie Watermelon & Python (Inland Lakes)
#6 Yamamoto Senko Watermelon & Green Pumpkin (All Lakes)
#7 Kinami Flash Baby Bass & Watermelon (All Lakes)


Doug

[jstfish48162]

......had Any Home-made Vegetable Soup Lately!!!!!????? you should tell your story in the comedy forums....give all who read a big laugh!!!!!!

[fishindude]

baby bass followed by smoke with any color flake are my favorites.

[Bass Pro Shops Doug]

Jstfish48162,

Who made the veg. soup????? I made the chili that wiped Dave out....hehehehehe, I made a funny ....wiped...Dave came in without socks and a half a t-shirt that day.

Doug

[jstfish48162]

i am assuming that this is doug phillips who was running the Michigan BASS Federation tournaments a few years ago.if so, do you remember running across the campground at Intermediate Lake with 1 shoe on, one hand "holding it in" and the other hand reaching for the bathroom key?

[waterfoul]

We still talking about Senko's????

[CubanFisherman]

We still talking about Senko's????
I think so. Apparently, this Doug Philips guy was "holding his Senko"....:D

Thanks for all the responses guys, but I have another question. A little while back I read about some anglers who insert small nails in the ends of the bait so it has a more pronounced flapping motion. Do any of you do this? If so, do you notice any difference?