Senko's

[ocf1]

There have been alot questions about senkos so I wrote this for ya'll

One of the hottest finesse baits I have used recently is the senko bait. The senko bait was originally designed by Gary Yamamoto but now is manufactured by other companies that provide a similar and more durable version, these include the Strike King Zeros, the Mister Twister Exude Comidas, the Wave Tiki Sticks, and the Yum Dingers which I make use of. All of these lures have heavy salt concentrations that gives the bait a horizontal fall with a little Fluttering action. I like to use the Yum Dingers because they have Yum's LPT technology and a hook slot for Texas rigging. The two ways I rig this bait are wacky, Carolina, V, and Texas rigged.

Texas

Texas rigging this bait weightless is tremendous in or around weeds. Just Texas rig it like you would with any other bait. When Casting around or into weeds, reeds, pads you need to let it fall for more than 6 seconds without doing anything but watching your line to see if it starts moving side to side or back and fourth. I like to lift the bait and let it fall again on the way back to your fishing platform. A good place to try with this bait is breaks or pockets in the weeds/reeds/pads. For this technique A 4/0 or 5/0 worm hook is a good choice. A 20 lb. Test line or better would be nice with a spinning or bait casting reel and a MH rod.

Texas Rigging the senko is excellent around brush and weeds. You can swim it through tough places. Either a screw in sinker or a pegged sinker is very helpful to prevent snags, and it gives you a better feel of the bottom. I fish it almost like a Carolina Rig or just swimming it. To fish it like a Carolina rig you sweep your rod and then reel up the slack, then repeat. For swimming I reel in while lift the tip up and down several inches. I like 5/0 hooks and Yum Dingers for this. Try a H or MH rod with a bait casting reel spooled with 25 lb. Test line or more.

Wacky

Wacky rigging senkos are very good over rocks and under/around docks. To wacky rig I put a 3/0 octopus hook right down the dead center of the bait. The way I fish it is solely finesse. I let it fall for at 6 seconds, It needs to get close to the bottom before doing ANYTHING. When It gets down there I slowly raise my rod tip and maybe shake it a couple times. Don't do this the whole way back to the boat, once its out of the strike zone get it back quick and repeat, many fish are caught on the third or fourth cast to the same spot with this bait. One of the major complaints is the durability of the baits doing this. I honestly haven't lost that many doing this technique with the Yum Dingers. Spinning combos rule here with Fluorocarbon line, going lite is always

V rig

The last technique I am going to talk about is the Vertical rig(here on out V rig). The V rig consists of a pegged float in front the and then a Texas rigged senko with a weighted or weightless screw in the back. You can also add beads for extra rattling action. The cool thing about this is that it will stand up vertically and you can adjust float and weight size so you can suspend it. When you get it to where you want to go you can shake it as much as you want. Or you could lift it up and let it down again in practically the same spot. I have been killing fish on this lately, this rig is extremely versatile and you can fish it basically anywhere. I'm not sure if someone has done this before so please tell me.

Remember when you are fishing senkos, don't get robot syndrome and do the same thing over and over, you need to find what they want. There are a lot of ways to fish these extraordinary baits, so go out and find what one works best. Good Fishing! More Pics to come tonight or tommorrow morning.

[Coach Dog]

Great Information!

[Pherris]

Very good information. One of the things I have found is many people fish the senko type baits to fast when they fish them weightless. I always drop my senko over the side of the boat on slack line and count how many seconds it takes to hit bottom. You will be surprised how long it takes in 15'-20' feet. Also weather and weather,wind and water temp will play a role in the fall rate, once you have the timing down I then cast and allow enough time for it to fall to the bottom before I do anything. I usually know how deep the water is that I am casting to so it works well for me. Line watching is a MUST many of the strikes will come on the fall and if you are not paying attention the fish may "spit" the bait or end up gut hooked. My personal favorite is to fish it wacky and many times on a weighted hook. Just more food for thought. Again great information in the post above. Thanks and Good Fishing!!

[ocf1]

Pherris, very good info! Keep it coming boys!