What Line Do You Use With Senko's?

[dodgeguy]

IMHO leaders are not needed. I use 59 yellow Sufix 832 and color the last 5 feet black . I have no problem catching lots of Senko bass or big bass.

[TOXIC]

I never said you couldn’t catch fish with heavier lines but I have said I guarantee you are not getting the unique action you pay more for.  Personally I have never been a fan of throwing 50lb, 30lb, or even 20lb braid, fluro or mono.  If you are fishing deeper than your leader you’ve lost the action.  Fluro, braid, mono, copolymer and all the other hybrids have different water absorption rates, sink rates, water tension resistance levels and the action of a Senko is so subtle that throwing the heavy poundage lines for fish from 3 to 7 lbs on average is ridiculous overkill.  I throw 8lb because I have good gear and good drag systems I trust.  I have posted some catches on 6 and 8lb test.  If you are pitching wood or weeds, your not throwing weightless.  You can catch them on piano wire if you want but after my years fishing and guiding, I throw what works best for me.  I could show you in my tank demonstrations at Bass Pro how different lines affect the action and fall.  

[Dye99]

15lb suffix yellow braid to a 8lb Daiwa leader. 1/0 gamkatsu drop shot hook, sometimes a 2/0

[waymont]

On 7/13/2022 at 9:41 AM, J Francho said:

Braid to mono or fluoro leader has zero sensitivity on a slack line, which is almost always the case with a senko. 

I do not find this to be the case. I feel slack line bites on my braid to leader rigs all the time. 

[J Francho]

One of my favorite moments was watching a "local stick" give a lecture at the Bass Pro Shops fish tank explaining why braid to leader was better because of sensitivity.  He was casting a drop shot rig (hook point cut off), and the bait was getting absolutely murdered on the drop by several huge steelhead.  Once the bait settled he started describing what the sinker was going over, and was actually quite accurate but he totally missed the other bites due to the bow in the braid and lack of sensitivity in the setup.  It got pretty comical as it went on like this cast after cast.  I already knew about this from my own experience flipping a jig into weed pockets as drifted along.  A bass totally attacked that jig and the only indicator was me seeing it happen and some very slight movement of the line at the surface.  I'm not going to say braid with a leader is wrong - I even have a couple of spinning rigs setup like this for certain situations, but you really have to pay attention.

[Glenn]

I use 15lb fluorocarbon.  I don't use leaders.  Fluorocarbon slowly sinks. So does a Senko.  Braid and mono are buoyant.  So it seems counterintuitive to use them.

[flatcreek]

Flouorocarbon sinks faster than mono so it depends on the rate of fall you’re looking for.

[killobet]

For me 6 lb floro..

[Kirtley Howe]

Vicious Fluorocarbon, usually 8lb test, sometimes 6lb in super clear water, and maybe 10lb in heavy weed/small stick-ups. To me it is very sensitive, and surprisingly abrasion resistant. Retie OFTEN. I have tried braid and mono, but the fluorocarbon works best for me. Use quality hooks and check the point often, especially if fishing around rocks. You can get away with light line because using the good, sharp hooks you don't have to cross their eyes on the hook-set. Just reel up slack and apply firm pressure and you will usually get good hooksets and will not break the fish off. At least that is my experience. Oh....keep a close watch on your line, and often the bites are subtle. Any little "jump" of the line, or your line moving in almost any unnatural way can be a bite. In many cases I have found that I have a fish on when I go to pick up slack....no indication at all that the fish was there until I felt the resistance when moving the sinko.

 

[Swamp Girl]

I used 14 lb. mono on a spinning reel in 2022. I use my wacky-rigged Senko as a follow-up to missed surface lure hits. The bass hit the Senko a lot of the time. In 2023, I'm dropping to 10 and 12 lb. test. If the 10 and 12 lb. test allow me to control the fish, I'll likely drop again to 8 lb. test. 

 

As I shared in a thread, pulling bass out of weeds was a new challenge for me, so I'm thinking I went with heavier line than I needed. 

 

BIG fish, Toxic, on 6 lb. test! You are a heckuva fisherman. Here's a pike I caught on 6 lb. test. Every summer, I'd go north and catch some nice pike, but since I was fishing from a canoe, I'd release them in the water for safety and never get a photo.

 

Well, one trip, we used an abandoned, leaking boat (See it listing to the side as it filled with more and more water?) and said, "As soon as we catch and photograph a nice pike, we'll go back to the non-leaking canoe."

 

Luckily, I landed one the first evening as well as five smallmouth from 19.75" to 21", all on 6 lb. test. We were sure happy to drag that boat back to its final resting place!

 

However, your fish are much heavier than my pike!

 

 

[Bandersnatch]

On 7/31/2022 at 6:12 PM, Bandersnatch said:

I’m stuck on this. What gives the best opportunity to catch fish between this two options 

 

30lb straight low vis braid (more senko action but braid connected to hook?)

 

30lb hi vis braid to 15-20lb gold label leader (less senko action but clear leader)

Still looking for opinions on this. The visual of the straight braid vs leader but line diameter differences and no connection knot 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

1 hour ago, Bandersnatch said:

Still looking for opinions on this. The visual of the straight braid vs leader but line diameter differences and no connection knot 

Personal opinion just a crapshoot. Me Im straight braid for where I fish abrasion not a concern I dont worry about bass having the intelligence to be line shy. I though wouldnt use 30# braid with senko 10# max.

[Tarpon Hunter]

If there is something to snag on, I use 12 fluoro but on rocks, gravel, sparse weeds, 6 lb fluoro .  Have landed a 41" pike (a miracle) and 14 lb carp on 6 lb, light action spinning rod. I'll admit, it does get nerve racking when they are big

[waymont]

On 7/13/2022 at 9:41 AM, J Francho said:

Braid to mono or fluoro leader has zero sensitivity on a slack line, which is almost always the case with a senko. 

Who made this idea up?

[J Francho]

Fly anglers. 

[APK62]

8lb Invizx 

[TOXIC]

Funny this comes back up now.  I am heading to Headwaters in Florida at the end of the month and will be throwing some 5 and 6 inch Senkos.  I’ll rig my Senko spinning outfit up with at least 8 maybe even 10 pound mono and a 4.0 or 5.0 ewg hook Texas rigged.  No wacky rigging.  I’ve never liked the braid to leader setups.  Heavy grass and big bass mean I need to upsize.  I’m not worried about the action.

[stratos4me]

Use whatever line you would use for a worm under the same circumstances.

[stratos4me]

On 1/16/2023 at 7:43 AM, TOXIC said:

Funny this comes back up now.  I am heading to Headwaters in Florida at the end of the month and will be throwing some 5 and 6 inch Senkos.  I’ll rig my Senko spinning outfit up with at least 8 maybe even 10 pound mono and a 4.0 or 5.0 ewg hook Texas rigged.  No wacky rigging.  I’ve never liked the braid to leader setups.  Heavy grass and big bass mean I need to upsize.  I’m not worried about the action.

Unless you're fishing very clear water with little cover, 10 lb is too light for FL in my opinion. I would be fishing braid to 12-16lb stretchy fluorocarbon leader. For straight mono or fluorocarbon, I wouldn't go under 12lb unless there is 15+ feet of vis. Good luck. FL is fun.

 

One more thing. Strongly consider a baitcaster instead. Heavy grass and spinning gear are recipe for disaster. You obviously see the need to scale up, I just think that we have very different definitions of what scaling up means.

 

[Cbump]

14-16 lb fc for me. T-rigged. Normally Weightless. 

[TOXIC]

On 1/23/2023 at 12:04 AM, stratos4me said:

Unless you're fishing very clear water with little cover, 10 lb is too light for FL in my opinion. I would be fishing braid to 12-16lb stretchy fluorocarbon leader. For straight mono or fluorocarbon, I wouldn't go under 12lb unless there is 15+ feet of vis. Good luck. FL is fun.

 

One more thing. Strongly consider a baitcaster instead. Heavy grass and spinning gear are recipe for disaster. You obviously see the need to scale up, I just think that we have very different definitions of what scaling up means.

 

While normally I would agree with you, and since the Senkos I threw were all weighted so I had no real consideration for action on the bait, I went with 10lb straight mono for weighted and 8lb straight mono for weightless.  We had to go to some of my fish that were in the heavy cover and I had a harder time setting the hook on long casts but I was extremely happy with the performance of my gear and on this trip the Senkos absolutely ruled along with the new Yamamoto 7” Speed Senko. 

[Cdn Angler]

I fish a mix of semi sparse grass and pads, and more open water and always fish a wacky worm on 12 lb. flouro on a spinning Rod. 

[stratos4me]

On 3/7/2023 at 8:05 AM, TOXIC said:

While normally I would agree with you, and since the Senkos I threw were all weighted so I had no real consideration for action on the bait, I went with 10lb straight mono for weighted and 8lb straight mono for weightless.  We had to go to some of my fish that were in the heavy cover and I had a harder time setting the hook on long casts but I was extremely happy with the performance of my gear and on this trip the Senkos absolutely ruled along with the new Yamamoto 7” Speed Senko. 

Looks like you had fun. Light line is fine.. until it's not...

[Boomstick]

I basically have three setups I’d use for a Senko.

 

Most of the time, I use a M-MH/XF rod with 12# fluoro. This setup has enough power to handle a decent amount of weeds and also throw them weightless decently.

 

If I am in some real thick milfoil I will use a MH/F or MH-H/F rid with 16# fluoro.

 

Occasionally I will throw them on my ML/Xf or M/F spinning rods with 12# braid and a 6-8# fluorocarbon leader. I don’t like braid for senkos though because I have to be sure to keep my line tight - which is easy to do with a drop shot. The lighter rod does help balance it out a little bit.

[Jrob78]

I know some people opt for light line and spinning gear for Senkos but it just doesn't register for me. Senkos are heavy and I use a 5/0 EWG hook and make long casts. A 7'2"- 7'4" MH F rod and normally 14-17 lb  fluorocarbon are what I feel is minimum to get good hooksets at the end of a long cast and getting fish out of cover. Braid sucks for slack line presentations IMO, which Senkos definitely are.