How to fish a Senko?

[walleye vision]

Hey guys,

I'm mostly a walleye guy, but I'm heading up to vermillion next week and hopefully will run into some smallies. My question is how do you guys fish senkos for smallies....wacky rigged, drop shot, texas rigged? Also what type, size of hooks do you prefer. Any advice would be awesome.

Thanks,

WV

[Central Bassman]

If it isn’t wind out I love to fish them Wacky rigged. It lets me fish slow, fish it on top of deep weeds and lets the fish come up and eat it. I also think is show the best action of the bait wacky rigged. If it is windy drop shot or texas rigged will work great. Bubble Bum, Pumpkin, Red Shad and Green Pumpkin are colors I like for fishing Smallies. Good Luck.. Let us know how you do!!!

[badfish]

I personally like to fish senkos wacky rigged right over there heads...they can't resist. I use 1/0 or 2/0 Gamakatsu finnese hooks. If i'm fishing deeper i'll put a little weight on the line maybe 1 or 2 feet ahead of the hook just to get it down a little faster...hope that helps and good luck.

[senkoskipper]

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Hey guys,

I'm mostly a walleye guy, but I'm heading up to vermillion next week and hopefully will run into some smallies. My question is how do you guys fish senkos for smallies....wacky rigged, drop shot, texas rigged? Also what type, size of hooks do you prefer. Any advice would be awesome.

Thanks,

WV

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For hooks i like to use the red gamagatsu hooks and size 2 i think works best

[SledNeck]

#1 Eagle Claw Kahle wacky rigged. The hooks seem to work TOO good. You'll be hitting Vermilion at prime time for bass. Not my lake of choice in the area, but it'll still be pretty good.

[walleye vision]

Thanks for all the advice so far, I just have one more question I forgot to ask....what size senkos work best for smallies?

[Cabela10]

I find that smallies like smaller baits than largies. I would go with the 4" senko, but bring some tubes with you also. Smallies in Vermilion love tubes.

[RK]

Hiya -

Pretty hard to fish them wrong really. Wacky with a Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap, weightless Texas Rig if you're in the rushes, or even on a light jighead, which is a very underrated way to fish them. You can swim/dart them, and fish them a little faster, and they still work very well.

For smallies I like the 4 inchers, and will actually use 3" ones for drop shotting.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[SledNeck]

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Thanks for all the advice so far, I just have one more question I forgot to ask....what size senkos work best for smallies?

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5" green pumpkin black flake. The choice of thousands of vermilion smallies so far.

[ikeslayer]

well like rob said i don't know if there is a wrong way to fish them. i still have yet to figure out why these fish eat these things but they sure do. I have seen some people rig them which looked WRONG to me and then slaughter the fish. Good luck.

ike

[bgreen82]

this is great news. no wrong way to fish them means i may be able to catch some fish on them without messing it up.

[Doonbuggy]

A big thank you for this thread! I hit a small west metro lake this morning and could not get anything going on cranks or spinnerbaits so I really worked the senkos and I ended up boating eleven, losing three, the biggest being just under 19". I had not fished this lake in over ten years.

I started out not having a lot of confidence w/ the bait, but I stuck with it and slowly things came together. With light winds it was the perfect morning to work that bait and I'm going to Vermilion next week so I figured I better practice now for the V's smallies.

Had a 10 pack in baby bass green and ended up with just three left. Great day on the water. Gonna hit another lake tomorrow.

Couple questions:

1. I've heard something about an O-ring that you can slide over the senko so you can put the hook under the ring and not into the bait. It's supposed to help minimize losing the baits when you have a fish on. Any info on this?

2. Are people using 6-6 or 7-0 rods in medium heavy? Other? I like the rod I'm using (6-6 medium), but I feel like I need a bit more muscle for the bigger fish.

Walleye Vision - How was Vermilion? Our group leaves Saturday. Fishing the East side.

DB

[Tman2]

I saw a post somewhere about the O-ring. You slide the o-ring to the middle of the Senko. Then just run your hook under the o-ring, but not in to the Senko. Apparently it prolongs the life of the senko. I haven't tried it, but I think that's what your're referring to.

[walleye vision]

Doonbuggy,

Vermillion was good. Not great, not bad. The smallies were real hit and miss. They really liked the senkos fished really really slow. Didn't make much of a difference wether you rigged wacky or texas-rigged. The best color by far is pumpkinseed. Our best luck came pitching tubes (again pumpkinseed) to rocky windblow shorelines. The walleye action was a little slow. We got a couple of limit days, but the walleyes up there are really dinky.

Good Luck

[garage_logician]

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Couple questions:

1. I've heard something about an O-ring that you can slide over the senko so you can put the hook under the ring and not into the bait. It's supposed to help minimize losing the baits when you have a fish on. Any info on this?

DB

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I just ordered a hookerztackle myself. Burning through 2-3 bags of Senkos on an outing can really add up, this thing should pay for itself the first time out.... :-)

[note from admin- no links please]

[rippinlips]

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Couple questions:

1. I've heard something about an O-ring that you can slide over the senko so you can put the hook under the ring and not into the bait. It's supposed to help minimize losing the baits when you have a fish on. Any info on this?

DB

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Doon I wrote something in one of the threads about o-rings I use them all the time they really do save on the life of the senko, I normally use black ones but time to time I will use clear ones when the bass seem to be really picky and changing o-ring color does seem to make all the difference in the world sometimes. Hope that helps you out a little bit.

[MVBASSER]

there are many, many ways that are good ways to fish a senko. My favorite are skipping it under docks, working it super-slow through lily pads, and wacky worming it. All three are very effective.

[WJS]

anywhere local to find O rings? had my first real senko bite this weekend and was probably 1.2 senkos per fish.....so I went through 2 bags....caught a lot but it is expensive. if I can find a way to save some senkos that would be nice

[Slyster]

Search for them on hsolist.. I bought a huge pack for just dollars.

[rippinlips]

And if you need them right away any fleet farm, home depot or any hardware store will have them.

[Slyster]

What kind of jig heads are you all using for shakey heads?

[Ralph Wiggum]

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And if you need them right away any fleet farm, home depot or any hardware store will have them.

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What section do you find them in? I know I could find them, but I'd waste a lot of time looking!

[ocf1]

O rings can be found at any hardware store,senkos should have 1/2 in. OD correct? Part 94115K014 Of mcmaster car may work(100 for3.10)or these which would fit better from oringsUSA -014 E70 (1/2 ID X 5/8 OD X 1/16 W)(2000 for 12$)

[rippinlips]

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And if you need them right away any fleet farm, home depot or any hardware store will have them.

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What section do you find them in? I know I could find them, but I'd waste a lot of time looking!

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I bought my last bunch at fleet farm qty.100 for like $4 I don't recall what section they are in I always have to ask someone that works there because they are always moving things around in there. Hope that helps a little bit. Or you can order them from mcmaster carr.

[enduro67]

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You slide the o-ring to the middle of the Senko. Then just run your hook under the o-ring, but not in to the Senko. Apparently it prolongs the life of the senko.

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I still prefer to barely skin hook the senko through the o-ring...otherwise if you have a small bass grab the end of it the senko will pull right through the o-ring when you set the hook. It will still tear slightly when you catch a fish but you won't lose as many and you can hook it in different spots.

I use the K-wacky hooks made by Falcon (available direct from Falcon online)...you can get them with a weed guard and weighted to allow you to fish the bait a little deeper or in windier conditions. I prefer the 1/32 oz and 3/0 hook. It also helps to keep the light colored side dropping downwards on a two tone laminate...just skin hook the senko through the o-ring about 1/8" down from where the darker color blends with the light color.

Also my favorite bait is a Culprit Stinger in the Okee gold color. It is a two tone laminate with a bluish top and offwhite belly...looks very much like a minnow. It is a little tougher than the Yamamoto brand but doesn't smell funky like other knockoffs.