BPS Stick-O's?.......Nope

[Heron]

Didnt like 'em.

 

I like to use 3" senkos whenever just fun fishing for numbers.   When others reach for the Ned rig, I grab a 3" senko, and have similar results.   Recently I picked up some BPS 3" Stick-O's, and fished them side-by-side with the Senkos.   And boy lemme tell you what, the difference there was night & day.   I would be catching fish fairly well on the Senko, and then switch to the Stick-O for a good while, and it was like somebody just switched off the mojo.  And I would fish it for a good hour.  Once I switched back to the Senko, it was "game-on" once again.   It was an extremely noticeable difference.

I know many of you have had good results with the Stick-Os, but after this try out, I don't believe these things will be my preference.  Its a shame too cause that was a pretty good deal.

 

[Fun4Me]

I don't know if I would let one fishing session turn me off to any bait, but to each his own, fish whatever makes one happy. 

[Heron]

11 minutes ago, Fun4Me said:

....fish whatever makes one happy. 

Pffttt....Fish whatever actually works.

[Darren.]

3" Stick-O worms don't work very well for me...

But 4, 5, and 6 are incredible.

[Fun4Me]

4 minutes ago, Heron said:

Pffttt....Fish whatever actually works that day.

FTFY

[Travis Gasper]

I've never used the 3" ones, but their 5" version is by far my #1 producing bait for bass. Watermelon Red Magic has caught me near 200 bass this year alone. 

[ChrisD46]

Depends on how you are rigging them : Wacky rig perhaps Senkos are better , T-Rig I can't see how there could be much of a difference ?

[Heron]

35 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

Depends on how you are rigging them : Wacky rig perhaps Senkos are better , T-Rig I can't see how there could be much of a difference ?

Well, they were T-rigged.   That's the only way I fish them. 

1 hour ago, Darren. said:

3" Stick-O worms don't work very well for me...

But 4, 5, and 6 are incredible.

Good to know.  I will keep those options open.

[Heron]

1 hour ago, Fun4Me said:

....Fish whatever actually works that day.

Pfffttt....The 3" Senko works everyday, any day, any time, in all waters, under all conditions.   Ive even used that little sucker at night.

If an alternative stick worm cannot match that kind of consistency, then Im not interested.

[iiTzChunky]

My buddy got a big pack of those I think 5" and man... He couldn't catch a thing. I throw him a Senko and 2 casts on he's reeling in his first fish. I took a couple from him and watched the action of the falling and it's not even close to a Senko. Also took them to the local pond that's good for catching numbers all day long, I typically fish it with some yum worms and bring in a lot of fish. Couldn't get a bite here either. I'm convinced these won't work for how I use them. 

[Heron]

1 minute ago, iiTzChunky said:

My buddy got a big pack of those I think 5" and man... He couldn't catch a thing. I throw him a Senko and 2 casts on he's reeling in his first fish. I took a couple from him and watched the action of the falling and it's not even close to a Senko. Also took them to the local pond that's good for catching numbers all day long, I typically fish it with some yum worms and bring in a lot of fish. Couldn't get a bite here either. I'm convinced these won't work for how I use them. 

Im starting to wonder if there is an issue with BPS quality control.

[primetime]

The Stick O is the #1 selling soft plastic bait that is manufactured by the Main OEM based on a report that the Alabama ledger did on the company, sales, top brands, and how certain baits receive Higher Quality Control.

BPS plastics are made in the same place, same barrels, and the difference imo between say a GYB, STIK O, RAGE, Zoom etc...Is the consistency of the baits. I have purchased zoom baits that were all dinged up and bent in bags, off color, and with BPS since they article stated after Labor Day they buy whatever is left on the shelves for buckets etc., I would imagine that older stock can dry out even though warehouse is cooled but I would agree that the softness and weight of a sticko varies from the date on the bag or lot #. 

GYB baits and Rage baits are actually cooked for an extra 24 hours and every bait is weighed by a person not a machine, then packed in the shell packaging to keep them perfect and keep them air tight to prevent any coffee scent from the grinds they use to evaporate as well as salt and oil. SK will only take perfect baits and GYB is the same way from what I understand. I have looked at new packs of worms and the worms are almost always perfect. I Find that if you buy Stick O's or Zoom, or most brands when on a big sale like 3/10, bogo etc...

You may be buying blemishes in a bag which is how the retailer is getting them much cheaper. A blemish can be a bait that looks perfect but may not have enough flake, even coloring or flake, texture can be slighlty off, or tint. 

I would always look at the baits on sale at Dicks, or any retailer when you purchase them on sale. A very popular Swimbait that is made by a Japanese company and is now made in America, sold at Dicks for example has been on clearance lately as well as another model. I looked at them and sure enough the laminates were bleeding but not badly, they also had bent tails from storage etc....A new lot came in along with new baits for the year and the new baits are Perfect, so soft baits will always vary, but I catch the same amount of fish on baits with dents since I never examine them, as I do with perfect baits, and a soft Stick'O still feels different than a Senko but sometimes really close and also .25" longer or were. They keep changing baits like Yum from scents to salt, but I like GYB grubs and Sticks due to the colors they offer which are different than all other companies and I think that matters. I also never wonder if another worm is better although I do like the Ocho and Salt Lick.

At one point in time, a Stick O cut to the same length as a GYB worm would weigh exact, sink at the exact rate, and only difference I noticed was in the "Shakiness" of the GYB but it was in the sink and barely different. some worms are harder but skip well and I like some Larger Senko's to be stiff like the STick O in 7.25". Thats my ramble for today but the article just came out in the Ledger in Alabama about how Brush hogs require the most work to make out of all the baits, it was a good read. It explains how BPS line was started back in the day encouraged by Tom Mann for BPS, and now they are the best selling brand of soft baits apparently. I would have guessed Zoom maybe but BPS line of baits is HUGE.

[HeavyDluxe]

My personal philosophy:  The number of days where the bass will bite a green pumpkin GYCB Senko and not bite a green pumpkin [copycat stickbait] are very few.  But, there are those days.  And, when you find them, it's beyond frustrating.

Trick is that there are also days where the fish will/would bite the copycat and would bypass the 'real deal' for whatever reason.  

That's fishing...

 

Same goes for color, etc etc.

[Airman4754]

How to make every non salt core stick bait work. 

Boil a pot of water, dump them in, count to 10, dump them into a strainer, run cold water over them. 

Run a 5/0 EWG to match the fall rate of a Senko, smaller for slower. 

Done. 

[BaitMonkey1984]

3 hours ago, Darren. said:

3" Stick-O worms don't work very well for me...

But 4, 5, and 6 are incredible.

The 6"in a watermelon creme color works better than 5"GYCB in my parts. Absolutely slays the fish. I haven't had the same luck in the smaller sizes.

[Bankbeater]

I use Stik-O's in the 3", 5", and 6" size.  Usually they work and catch fish, but every once in a while the bass want a different bait.

[roadwarrior]

This argument, "Senko vs The Universe", has been going on for years:

 

[Bluebasser86]

I've had good luck with the 3" on a Ned rig jighead. The results are far from a Ned rig with a Zman bait, but they still work. I wouldn't both T rigging a bait that tiny weightless. Might put them on a Slider head though. GY Senkos are nearly $9 a pack around here, I'm not paying that to catch 1 or 2 fish per bait. 

[king fisher]

I saw a video where two kids ran an experiment on a small pond.  One fished a Senko, wacky.  The other fished gummy worm candy rigged wacky.  The guy fishing the gummy worms landed a few bass.  The guy with the Senko was  hook a fish.  I'm not going to start fishing gummy worms, and will not be giving away any of my Senkos.  Just goes to show some days bass will do strange things. 

[MassYak85]

I've had far too much success with them to justify spending nearly 1 dollar a bait for something that will get torn beyond use after one dink fish. The senkos sure are nicer and I might consider them for tournaments if I ever did them, but I have no reason to switch currently. I've gone through 10 stick-o's in a day. Probably would have been 3 bags of senkos had I used those instead. 

[Torn Thumb]

15 hours ago, primetime said:

The Stick O is the #1 selling soft plastic bait that is manufactured by the Main OEM based on a report that the Alabama ledger did ...

I would love to read that article if you can link it or pm it to me. I'm a nerd for that kind of stuff.

 

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I've had good luck with the 3" on a Ned rig jighead. The results are far from a Ned rig with a Zman bait, but they still work. I wouldn't both T rigging a bait that tiny weightless. Might put them on a Slider head though. GY Senkos are nearly $9 a pack around here, I'm not paying that to catch 1 or 2 fish per bait. 

Dang, at my local Wallyworld they just went down to $6.36 - 6.96 a bag. For some reason they have the smaller size at the higher cost. At DSG however, they are $8.00~ a bag.

4 minutes ago, Torn Thumb said:

 

[rippin-lips]

There is no exact replacement for a 5" senko. The way they shimmy on the fall either T rigged or wacky is its own thing. People have searched high and low for an exact replacement. Me being one of those people. The 5" bps stick o is one of the baits that's about as close as I've found to a match to the gybc senko. I've watched multiple videos comparing the actions of different stick worms to a senko in the water. That was the closest one I've seen and it made me try them out. So far it was worth saving a couple dollars per pack. Yes, I might miss a few fish here and there as a result but I'm okay with that.  

[S. Sass]

4 minutes ago, rippin-lips said:

There is no exact replacement for a 5" senko. The way they shimmy on the fall either T rigged or wacky is its own thing. People have searched high and low for an exact replacement. Me being one of those people. The 5" bps stick o is one of the baits that's about as close as I've found to a match to the gybc senko. I've watched multiple videos comparing the actions of different stick worms to a senko in the water. That was the closest one I've seen and it made me try them out. So far it was worth saving a couple dollars per pack. Yes, I might miss a few fish here and there as a result but I'm okay with that.  

You need to check out the Forum sponsor BizzBait. Their Sassy Stick is just as good imho

[rippin-lips]

23 minutes ago, S. Sass said:

You need to check out the Forum sponsor BizzBait. Their Sassy Stick is just as good imho

I like their action a lot. I saw a video they'd posted showing it in a tank.  I've never pulled the trigger though due to how cheap the stick o is for 16 worms. 

[S. Sass]

I'll send ya some to try if you pm me your address. I think you will be surprised.