Senko And Lookalikes Differences.

[wperry]

I've been using Senkos since I started bass fishing again ( last year ). I had not freshwater fished in many years. I fish salt and fresh now. I just got back from Wal-Mart with a pack of Strike King and a pack of Yum. They look like Senkos but price is less on 8 vs 10. Will I notice a difference in weight or sink rate? Anything else?

[Bluebasser86]

They are much less dense so they will sink slower and the wobble will be less pronounced. They will still catch fish and will outproduce the original Senko at times also. I prefer the YUM and BPS versions for pitching into cover with a pegged bullet weight because they're much tougher than the original Senkos are.

[wperry]

Thanks. Maybe I'll try the Senko with less or no weight this spring. I fished Texas rigged last season, but never tried it weightless. If the other brands are less dense I'll Texas rig them. Sometimes sink rate matters a lot. 

[michang5]

FWIW.... A lot of people are adamant that senkos should be thrown weightless. I've only thrown them once weighted. Caught a dink, but in the BOW I was fishing, the dinks would have bitten a rubber band on a hook.

[A-Jay]

I 'd say that the baits action differ between each manufacturer.

 

Some are softer, some are firmer and different salt content plays a role in sink rate.

 

There are several to choose from and most will take fish at one point or another.

 

The Original Senko seems to have a little something extra when it comes to getting bites,  but what ever that is, you'll pay for it.

 

Yum and Yamamoto are the only one I know of that make a 7 inch bait.

 

Which is my personal favorite.

 

A-Jay

[Felix77]

The Stike King Shim-E-Sticks I get at Wally World work great.  I have a caught just as much on thost $3/pack lures as I have with my $7/pack Yamamotos.  The Black/Blue with Blue tip are my alltime favorites!

[Raul]

This theme has been covered over and over again. The truth is that the "extra" original senkos and Kinami Flash have is given by the fact they are softer and have a more accentuated action, problem is, the extra softness makes them a lot more fragile than other stickbaits, most of the times there isn´t much difference in the catch ratio of senkos vs look alikes, but there´s much difference in the durability. There will be days the little "extra" can make all the difference in the world, but in order to find out you first have to try fishing with the look alikes.

[nascar2428]

I got hooked on sticks this past summer. Used dingers, shimmes, big bites/gander mountain and of course the original. Caught the most on the original followed by the big bites. If you use owner twist lock hooks, you will get more life out of all of the brands when t-rigging. Will try a bullet weight on the dingers and see if that helps. If we ever come out of the ice age here in Michigan.

[zachb34]

I 'd say that the baits action differ between each manufacturer.

Some are softer, some are firmer and different salt content plays a role in sink rate.

There are several to choose from and most will take fish at one point or another.

The Original Senko seems to have a little something extra when it comes to getting bites, but what ever that is, you'll pay for it.

Yum and Yamamoto are the only one I know of that make a 7 inch bait.

Which is my personal favorite.

A-Jay

BPS makes a 7" and that thing is big and heavy

[Darren.]

Senkos most assuredly have their place. They are a "my happy place" bait. LOL...

 

I did an experiment last year, took nothing but a bag of BPS Stik-o worms out with me, fished them wacky, and caught a bunch of nice bass. To this day, they're a staple in my fishing arsenal.

 

Also used YUM, and a number of other brands. Pretty much stick to BPS, and Senkos today. Easy to buy them at Bass Pro near me.

 

Good thing, you've got TONS of options from name brands, to eBay sellers who pour their own.

[A-Jay]

BPS makes a 7" and that thing is big and heavy

 

 

Thank you very much - I'll check it out.

 

A-Jay

[Arv]

From my experience, the closest is the bps stick o. It's pretty much theonly stick worm I'll buy full price anymore

[roadwarrior]

MegaStrike MegaStick is a comparable bait:  http://www.megastrikefishingproducts.com/shop/mega-stick-soft-plastic/

[Bluebasser86]

BPS makes a 7" and that thing is big and heavy

Great big fish bait rigged with a 1/4oz bullet weight. Lots of bulk with a very subtle action and it gets through heavy cover very easily with no appendages to catch on anything as it sinks. 

[Comfortably Numb]

If you fish Senkos or knockoffs Texas rigged with a bullet weight, why use the Senko. That makes no sense to me since these baits are so fragile. Wouldnt a trick worm work as well if not better in its place. They are more durable and heck of a lot cheaper. Or if you want the Senko shape, have a custom bait maker make them in a regular (non sinking) formula.

 

A Senko is designed to be fished weightless. Once again, not saying you cant fish it other ways, but then there are better options

[Scott F]

Durability and price are the only real problem with Senkos. Lots of other baits will work just about as well. As has been said, the sink rates of the copies are not always as good. To me, the main attraction of these baits is the slow sink. Adding a weight takes away the main trigger that makes these baits special. The "wiggle" action to me is an overrated feature. The wiggle is so slight, it can barely be seen. Maybe it helps, but I don't think it matters much. The other trigger these baits have when you texas rig them, is the jerk bait action when you twitch them. They don't move like that when you wacky rig them.  Another choice of a senko copy is the Case Magic Stik. They aren't always poured to look perfect but they are durable and catch fish.

[camovan]

Does anyone make a Pro Senko or Thin Senko knock off?  Of all the stick baits I have used, these have produced the best for me but they are even more fragile than the regular ones and it is pretty easy to go through 2 packs a day when thats what they want.  It's kinda hard to justify $20 in plastics for some reason even though I have lost way more on lost cranks with far fewer fish and that never bothered me too much....

[ww2farmer]

Before Yum switched to the F2 scent, I use the LPT Dingers. I only switched to GYCB senkos because I don't like the "stiffness" of the F2 dingers. I don't catch any more on the senkos as I used to catch on the dingers, and if Yum would soften them back up, I would go to back to them.

[Bluebasser86]

If you fish Senkos or knockoffs Texas rigged with a bullet weight, why use the Senko. That makes no sense to me since these baits are so fragile. Wouldnt a trick worm work as well if not better in its place. They are more durable and heck of a lot cheaper. Or if you want the Senko shape, have a custom bait maker make them in a regular (non sinking) formula.

 

A Senko is designed to be fished weightless. Once again, not saying you cant fish it other ways, but then there are better options

Because it's much larger than a trick worm, bulkier and attracts much larger bites. Hold a 5" stickworm next to a trick worm, the stick worm is much thicker and almost as long. Compare a 7" stick worm to a trick worm, the trick worm looks tiny. I don't use the GY Senkos with a bullet weight, way too fragile. I've tried and it's easy to go through baits without ever catching a fish on them just because they get shredded by the cover and won't stay on the hook anymore. The knockoffs like the YUM and BPS Stick O (my personal favorite) are plenty durable for this type of fishing and are extremely effective fishing t-rigged with a bullet weight. It works a lot for the same reason a trike worm works, it looks like a lot of things a fish would eat and it looks very easy to catch and pretty defenseless, just like a bass likes it's food. If you seriously think that weightless is the only way to fish a senko you are missing out big time.

[ww2farmer]

 If you seriously think that weightless is the only way to fish a senko you are missing out big time.

 Why don't you just zip it...LOL.

[Comfortably Numb]

Like I said, Y'all need to hook up with a custom bait pourer (actually injected)

 

I am out of that business but you can get some great plastic with the sink rate, color, and softness YOU want.

[Insanity]

I've been out of the loop for a couple of years. ( so I don't no about the copies being made today ) But when senkos came out i wasn't impressed with the cost verses durability. But after trying others I decided if you want to fish weight less it was going to have to be a senko. It has to have the salt in it for weight. I have never tried rigged any other way as weightless worked so good. Wacky seemed to draw dinks in like crazy.

I even pored some myself. After making plaster Paris molds. Which works really well by the way. But there not senkos. Just another copy.

If I was going weighted I would save money and use a cheaper brand as the fall rate that triggers so many strikes is lost.

[Fishes in trees]

LIke most of the other guys here, I own a bunch of different brands of stick baits.  Every time I am out and about and see a brand I don't have, I will most likely buy some of those also.  That being said, I still find myself using a Senko 99% of time time when I want to wacky rig, and some other brand should I desire to tx rig - weightless or not.  I probably use the BPS brand the most, but I will use Dingers and the Wave Worm variety from time to time.

 

A point of order, Strike King makes the Ocho - an 8 sided stick bait in a 7" size.

[Mike2841]

I only buy GY senkos in odd ball colors that i like, for staples like watermelon i buy the BPS stick-o's

[RandySBreth]

Does anyone make a Pro Senko or Thin Senko knock off?  Of all the stick baits I have used, these have produced the best for me but they are even more fragile than the regular ones and it is pretty easy to go through 2 packs a day when thats what they want.  It's kinda hard to justify $20 in plastics for some reason even though I have lost way more on lost cranks with far fewer fish and that never bothered me too much....

Bass Pro used to make a "Stick O Thin" that was an exact knockoff - they don't anymore but I bought several hundred at the outlet store when they had them on clearance. That one and the Chompers drop shot worm flat catch Spots and Smallies on Beaver, Table Rock and Bull Shoals when wacky rigged.