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Just got back from fishing 6 days of the world class smallmouth factory better known as Lake Erie. Got to spend some time with my buddy Dwight chasing the bronze fish around. Much like last year, the true behemoth bass were few and far between, but we managed a few. Just like last year, it took me to my last day to PB(smallie), but that just makes it "Oh so much sweeter!" In 6 days we caught 94 smallies between the 2 of us, along with a couple nice Walleye, including my new PB there as well, a couple steelheads, a lake trout, and a drum, all while fishing jerkbaits and blade baits. The final day we had a 26lb bag all smallies anchored by my 5lb 13oz PB! I had an absolute blast, and look forward till the next time we can fish together! PB Walleye- 8.5lbs PB smallie- 5lbs 13oz Jeff

Senko Lover First when ya post something expect it to be critiqued Second learn to accept criticism Third ya aint said nothing new or advanced

Happy "Senko" de Mayo lol.

I clicked to like a post and couldn't. It said I had reached my quota of likes for the day. I have never done that, and actually wasn't aware that you could. Anytime I start a topic, I will click like on every response, even if it is contrary to what I posted. I do that to acknowledge that I did read your post. I read every response to every topic that I post. So if you reply to a topic that I started and you don't get a like, it's because I have used them all up. I certainly appreciate all your responses. Hootie

BTW MODS: I looked through every thread in the "senko" thread and feel like I have something to add to the discussion. Please feel free to move my thread out of here and into that thread if needed. This is not a discussion on best color/brand/hook/rig. I'm trying to delve more in-depth. So I immediately fell in love with stickbaits last year when I got my first bag. I've been fishing them addictively ever since. Right now I'm trying to up my game. Here are some things I've learned. -QUIET presentation is killer! Especially when you're fishing it in shallow water, always utillize your ninja skills with a senko. I've gotten to the point where I feather the reel enough for the bait to enter the water without much of a splash at all. This is crucial. It doesn't matter what size, color, or rig you have with your bait. If you're not presenting it with the utmost care, it's simply not as effective. -Experimentation with retrieve pays off. Don't get caught into one retrieve. Sometimes the fish want a jerkbait-style retrieve; a pop-pop-rest with the rod tip down. This is what I use when I'm covering water. Then, once I get a bite (but not a hookup) on the faster retrieve or I reach some cover where I want to slow down, I switch to letting the bait fall and twich twitch twitch it up, then let it fall gain, with the rod tip up. Then sometimes I do a mix of the two, letting it fall and then popping it up with my rod to the side. I let the fish tell me what they want. Sometimes the faster, higher in the water column retrieve is what they're looking for, and sometimes they want me to slow down. Either way, I've got to find out. Experimentation is key. -Don't get stuck in a rut with your wacky rig. A 'wacky rig' is typically having the hook right in the middle of your bait. Well, often I'll change it up a little and put the hook farther down the bait, not making the rig symmetrical & the hook in the middle. What it will do is one end will fall faster than the other. You're still fishing it like a wacky rig, but it gives the fish a little something different to look at. This comes into play ESPECIALLY around cover, particularly logs. If I had senkos (and rods) to waste and I was fishing logs, I would have three wacky rigs rigged up: one regular, one rigged offset to the left, and one rigged offset to the right. The offset baits are for fishing the sides of the logs. Instead of falling right on the side of the log, they'll fall down underneath the log because one side is heavier than the other. This is something to keep in mind. Helps you get those pressured fish out from under logs. Hope this helps you go forward in your senko fishing game. Comment your own out-of-the-ordinary tips and tricks for utilizing this bait.

I am one who will fish a weightless senko in 20ft of water also, caught a lot of very good fish doing it. Is it efficient, obviously no but my goal is to catch fish not see how many cast I can make. If they want to eat a senko like that I will be more than happy to feed it to them.

Last year I started seriously pursuing bass after a couple years of chasing trout. This year I've had a good few weeks of fishing since the ice melted off the water. Since I have a semester of college off due to transferring schools, I have the weekday mornings to get out and have any body of water almost completely to myself. It was a slow start at first but then I caught a largemouth that was short of 21 inches fishing a 7/16 oz finesse jig, marking a new personal best for me. Then I went up to the mountains where I usually trout fish, but I went after bass this time. I landed two nice 17+ inch largemouths slowly dragging a 3/4 oz football jig over some chunk rock. But last Wednesday I went to a lake that is a true gem for where I live, as it is full of big, healthy largemouth. I had my best 3 hours of bass fishing quality wise. I landed around a 2lber, a 3lber, as well as two dinks and had another bass around 3lbs break my line right at my feet. But it was capped off by a new personal best for me. Unfortunately, I had lost my tape measure at the mountains and didn't get a measurement. All I know was that this was a solid prespawn chunk and it had more girth than my previous pb. Today I went back out to the same place as last Wednesday. Caught two small ones on a crankbait and then it began to rain steadily. Since the water at the lake is muddy I decided to throw a black buzzbait. I've never caught a bass on a buzzbait before but I always imagined that if a giant hit it, there would be a big explosion coming out of the water. So when a fish gently slurped my buzzbait 10 feet in front of me, I thought it was just a small one. Next thing I know a giant 5+ lber jumps vertically out of the water tossing my buzzbait behind me. I was in shock at first and then the disappointment settled in. But I really can't complain. I have had a great year so far and I'm sure that I will break the 5lb mark for sure, soon. Just wanted to share the success I've had this year. Tight lines - John

Patience is not something that anyone "Has"; it's something that a person chooses to exercise or not. Patience as it relates to bass fish is another way of putting time in and doing whatever is required to experience success. It's also quite often the difference between the anglers that will catch the bigger bass and the ones that do not. A-Jay

I'd rather contribute to the current discussion than argue whether it's been said before or not (which is almost certainly has). If the mods don't like it, they can lock it. I have had a lot of success with senko style baits (I typically throw Yum Dingers). Just like J Franco, I find skipping the bait when in shallow water makes a huge difference. I've also fished it effectively on a weightless wacky rig in about 10' of water with submerged vegetation. I have an excellent hook up ratio using an octopus hook. Often it will just land on top of the vegetation, and when it falls into the vegetation I will slowly lift the tip of my rod and let it fall again (I know this is very basic but leads to my next point...). Often when lifting the bait, I will hang in some grass, just shake it a couple of times and let it fall back on a slack line and this entices a huge number of strikes. Once again I know I'm not offering anything new here... but I love senkos too

If a bass is in a lake that has no trout, what does it think when it sees a trout bait? My guess is it thinks "I could eat that".

Prespawn is moving north! Fished 4 to 6:30 today at Linganore, New Market, MD. Caught 6 LMB. They are definitely in pre-spawn and staging due to warm temps. Only saw two beds but many fish were swimming/schooling 10 to 20 feet off shore close to the surface. I saw quite a few hawgs but the ladies were not interested. Here are my two largest of the day. One at 20" and the other at 19".

I really considered keeping this to myself, but instead I will share with you all... May 04, 2015 - - - - - May 05, 2015 Bait Fish 01 Fish 02 Fish 03 Fish 04 Fish 05 (Largest) Fish 05 (Largest) Pose I Approve Of This Bait. Credit: Enjoy, WolfyBrandon

I had to try some of these S-cranks and Knuckles, Vile Craws as well

It's often challenging to successfully achieve a solid hook up using 4 lb line and anyTexas rigged plastic - regardless of the hook used. The only presentations I feel confident recommending when using 4 lb line would have to involve a small open hook. Nosed hooked plastics on a drop shot are a standard. Going up to 6 lb line will in my mind, open up your options a bit more. A-Jay

All backlashes are operator error

It's here!!

Just uploaded a new video today about the Ned Rig. Enjoy! http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/ned-rig.html

Got my first tattoo today, been thinking about this design for awhile. Decided to get it, pic doesn't do it justice the detail is great.

Here's my attempt to simplify the color selection process: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/how-to-lure-colors.html Hope that helps!

You have been banned by the "LIKE" nazi! No like for you!

I bet there's an old article for every thread on this site, lol.

I have a VHS tape by Bill Dance from 1986 that I watch from time to time and will continue to watch as long as my VCR holds out and he says that confidence is the most important lure in the tackle box.

My philosophy is to have fun and enjoy what you have to fish. Do what brings you happiness . If its experimenting with new baits, then do it! If its fishing a confidence bait, catching numbers, then do it. Do what makes you happy, whether its fishing with a friend, or entering a 100 boat tournament with lots of strangers. When it stops being fun, then change tactics. Don't worry about others, and what they think, or what they're using. There are hundreds of ways to skin a cat, and no one has all the answers. Just go out and enjoy the situation at hand, and do what you feel right for the conditions .

Why switch? Just use both hands! Twice as many reels to buy!

If we're gonna switch to RH reels, we're gonna do so in style.

I spy blue cooler! Very nice fish man!

I'd buy it flat out. You can get a darn nice boat for ~5k and not having a payment is like a luxury in and of itself.

It was a pleasure fishing with you Jeff. Sweet PB at the last minute too.

50 steps out my front door is a small bayou, the water is shallow & very clear. The bank is 8-10' above the water giving me a pretty good veiw of what's going on in the water. I'll walk over to bank 5-10 times a day just to stand there watching. I've been at this game 55+ year, every minute spent on a bank with or with out a rod in hand is a learning experience.

Get yourself an anchor & 25' of rope! Drop the anchor, fish 360° around the boat, pull up the anchor, drift the lenght of a cast, drop anchor, fish 360° around the boat...repeat!

small fish is till learning. its cool to hear your challenging yourself with different baits and presentations. its how we all learned. best of luck to you!

You're not going to be able to get much other than a really small, entry level aluminum boat for even 15K, but you can get a really nice used boat for that much. I bought my 2012 Stratos 189VLO with a 150 Pro XS for just a little more than that.

St Croix Avid in that price range would be an excellent choice.

I managed to keep from getting very red too, which is a victory for someone who burns if the moon is too bright. My pictures from the trip.

Couldn't decide where to go this morning, decided on Lake Massasecum. I've only fished in in the middle of the summer so i wasn't sure what to expect...with the wind and fishing while standing up in a canoe i would have been happy with just catching a few..ended up having a great day catching about 20 fish between 2-3.5 lbs. didn't get anything huge but had a lot of fun. ended up with a 4lb pickerel absolutely hammering my SPRO bbz-1 Most fish came on a jerkbait or a crankbait, both natural colors. all of them were primarily on a big grass flat right next to deeper water.

So would these "advanced" techniques work in lakes. I can catch fish on just about anything in a pond. A large lake is a VERY different story. I once thought I was a good fishermen, when I fished ponds.

Thanks! SPEEDBEAD inspired! Jeff

How 'bout a smallmouth and a largemouth?

Good idea on the wacky variations, but like I said my favorite use for a senko: melt in a microwave and pour in a swimbait mold.

I am pretty partial to this new pair...... Jeff

I have a pond identical to this. Spooked bass will return once the spot settles. so to expand on A-Jays advice I cast a 6" senko or 10" ribbontail as far as possible to deep water. It even spooks the big bass sitting on the drop off. but I'll wait 3-5 min before starting a retrieve. it's easy to outsmart them if you have patience. if you ever spook a bass at the shoreline stand perfectly still like a tree for 5 min and they will swim right back up to you. some bass/bait will even use ur shadow for cover. when staying shallow I used a modified 1/8oz Mepps spinner. there are plenty of 3-5lb bass in this pond so the stock hooks are way too small. I'll add a size 1 to 1/0 treble hook on the back which gives me much better hook ups. the small spinner blade is the only thing i've found that won't shadow spook them. it even has opposite effect in that they are mesmerized by the flash of the tiny blade

Really Good Times Right There ~ Thank you for sharing them. Those Great Big Smiles say it All. Congrats. btw - thanks for having & using a scale. If I had to "guess the weights" I'm pretty sure my brain would blow up . . . A-Jay

Stop fishing shallow - forget those fish. Especially since you didn't use any words like "Big" or "Huge" when you described them. Instead concentrate your efforts away from the bank. Try doing both sides of points and as close to the ends as you can reach. Look for drops and places where there is a change in the type of cover. The first break off the bank that's in front of or close to some cover often holds a few as well. And if you can swing it - night ops often changes the game you're playing quite a bit - and usually in your favor. Good Luck. A-Jay

Yeah, try skip casting small, subtle baits or even throwing your bait onto the shore and then pulling it off slowly into the water. This will largely depend upon the exact layout of your pond though. Also, fish into the sun when possible, or focus on the side of the pond receiving the most wind. -T9

Clearly, you've been starting too many threads

Regularly risking the tip of a $100 rod to have a chance at getting a bait that is worth at most $10 out of a tree/stump/rock

Boy oh Boy! did we have a long winter and late Ice out! Been fishing a few times and already got a Second place finish in a tournament and it's only our second tournament of the season. Last Wednesday my wife and I finally got out together and fished one of my favorite smallmouth lakes. The bite was slow but we manage to catch 30 smallmouth with an upper two pound average and at the end of the day we caught a few three plus pound smallmouths. a few pics from that day We even had two doubles!

take me with you lol

Oh no he di'int lol.

Pick up some keel weighted hooks. Commonly known here as the Rage Rig. For the standard size I use a 5/0, smaller ones use a 4/0. Either a 3/8 or 1/4 oz will do nicely. Mike