Senko type lures why popular when it’s inefficient

[NYWayfarer]

I carry baits to cover the water column. Top water, plopper and popper. Middle, crankbaits and squarebills. Bottom, jigs and ned. 

 

Weightless Senko is so effective because it covers all the columns. Throw it in and let it sink slowly it falls right to the spot the fish are. Sometimes they strike just as it hits the water.

[813basstard]

3 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

I think more club tournaments are won fishing a Senko than all other lures combined.

 

^^?

Not sure what it means but I like it. 

 

[Fishin' Fool]

It's a confidence thing. I've been throwing weightless senkos all summer because they work and I know they catch big fish. The proof is in the pudding. 3.5 to 4.5 pounders from the last few months which are good fish for Michigan.

[Shimano_1]

I would assume you just haven't fished one enough to understand how effective they are. Sure...I don't like fishing that slow. However, there are times that nothing else will even come close. Sometimes fish are finicky and don't want to eat. Senkos are effective when little else is. There's a reason they're so popular 

[scaleface]

Most of the time I Texas rig the things, Dingers mostly.   Really dont know why they work so well.  About the only time I go weightless  is on top of mats . They have been my hottest lure during august and september  this year .

[Cgolf]

28 minutes ago, Shimano_1 said:

I would assume you just haven't fished one enough to understand how effective they are. Sure...I don't like fishing that slow. However, there are times that nothing else will even come close. Sometimes fish are finicky and don't want to eat. Senkos are effective when little else is. There's a reason they're so popular 

 

I have tried them some, but when baits like a tube or Menace are getting bit I tend not to bother putting them down and trying a Senko. 

 

One situation I might see them working for me is on cold mornings when the sun is coming up and the fish don’t want to bite right away. Generally my goto then is a spybait retrieved slow and straight or a jerkbait popped a couple of times near cover than reeled back slowly to maybe hookup an indecisive bass (this went from a weakness for me this year to a confidence bait by forcing myself to work with them). In fact I stocked up on shadow raps for next year when their site allowed all the codes to be stacked. 

 

It sounds like they work pretty well weighted, I may try them on a slider head like the swim senkos. I need to use those again as I have a fairly healthy supply of swim senkos to use up. 

[Shimano_1]

All those techniques are very effective but still don't compare to a senko.  There's something about the subtlety of it that bass just can't stand. Especially if there's grass around.  Working a weightless or wacky rigged senko over the tops of grass has no equal in my opinion 

[fishwizzard]

21 minutes ago, cgolf said:

It sounds like they work pretty well weighted, I may try them on a slider head like the swim senkos. I need to use those again as I have a fairly healthy supply of swim senkos to use up. 

I really like fishing a 5” Senko with a unpegged 1/16oz tungsten weigh.  I retrieve it hopping across the bottom with the worm gliding down an inch or three behind the weight.  A 6” Kut Tail works better but I rarely carry both at the same time. 

[WRB]

When I read through a thread like this one it becomes clear that most bass anglers don't have a basic understanding of bass behavior. It doesn't mater where they live the bass adapt to the eccosystem that is thier home, where they learned to survive.

Cold blooded predator animal that hunts it's prey, rest the majority of the time. The basses matabelism is controlled by it's body temperature and that is the same as the water they are located in.

Active bass are easier to catch because they are hunting looking for abundant food. Inactive bass are resting, not hunting or interested in food. Nuetral bass are inbetween active and inactive or a transition mood.

Lures that appeal to active bass are nearly anything the bass is willing to strike.

Lures for inactive bass are non existent, the bass isn't interested in food and unlike popular opinion don't have the emotion to strikec out of anger, they do have territorial instinct.

Lures for nuetral bass are those that stay longer in front of the bass or within it's strike zone, slower moving lures.

Bass are individual with independant behavior that at times will hunt in groups where the prey is abundant, i.e. location is key.

Senko's fall into the slower moving lure category along with most soft plastics and jigs that appeal to both active and nuetral bass.

Tom

[N Florida Mike]

Why do I use em? Beacause bass love em!!

[WRB]

I think what is interesting about Yamamoto Senko it was created to be a faster moving Sluggo (soft jerk bait) in lieu of a slower moving drop bait like a nail weight wacky rigged worm. Gary Yamamoto was amazed that his Senko worked like it does.

Tom

[Cgolf]

28 minutes ago, WRB said:

When I read through a thread like this one it becomes clear that most bass anglers don't have a basic understanding of bass behavior. It doesn't mater where they live the bass adapt to the eccosystem that is thier home, where they learned to survive.

Cold blooded predator animal that hunts it's prey, rest the majority of the time. The basses matabelism is controlled by it's body temperature and that is the same as the water they are located in.

Active bass are easier to catch because they are hunting looking for abundant food. Inactive bass are resting, not hunting or interested in food. Nuetral bass are inbetween active and inactive or a transition mood.

Lures that appeal to active bass are nearly anything the bass is willing to strike.

Lures for inactive bass are non existent, the bass isn't interested in food and unlike popular opinion don't have the emotion to strikec out of anger, they do have territorial instinct.

Lures for nuetral bass are those that stay longer in front of the bass or within it's strike zone, slower moving lures.

Bass are individual with independant behavior that at times will hunt in groups where the prey is abundant, i.e. location is key.

Senko's fall into the slower moving lure category along with most soft plastics and jigs that appeal to both active and nuetral bass.

Tom

 

Well said. Fishing reed beds I have seen a change from a narrow bodied menace to a wide bodied ugly otter mean the difference between bites and no bites. Also while this discussion is about plastics I have seen a huge difference switching from an Xcalibur square bill that plows water to a much more subtle Bandit 100 after a cold front. 

 

One of those deals where the fish need to tell us what they want, whether we listen or not is the key to getting bit. 

 

My mental block is fishing fast. Was at a seminar by Seth Feider and when he talked about his jerkbait retrieve I still can’t get myself to retrieve a jerkbait or any other bait has violently as he described. 

[roadwarrior]

 

[primetime]

Senko's catch fish if you fish them fast. You can fish them the same way you would Fish a fluke, and sometimes working them fast on the surface, letting them skip, then killing it if its not grabbed on the pause while walking it under the surface....Sometimes is the way to go...I like to do it with the bigger 7" senko style baits, make long casts over grass, work it fast on the surface, right under, fish it kind of like a fluke...When Bass are aggressive, they crush it just like using a Sluggo, the benefit is the extra casting weight of the Senko, and the action on the drop....Fish will look up at any surface commotion, sometimes they crush it moving, sometimes will grab it a few seconds after the pause...I usually start out fishing them fast and then slow down according to results..

 

The benefit of the Senko...Is you can rig it so many ways and it will catch fish as good as almost any bait. You can pitch them into cover with a bullet weight, Carolina Rig and work them as quick etc.....

 

For some reason I stopped using the MJ Rig that I saw on the Tim Horton Fishing show years back, but I should start using it again because it actually works well....Simply get a screw lock style keeper, screw it into the back of a senko, add a split ring and then a spinnerbait blade, you can mess with sizes, colors etc...and then just cast and wind and it will come through cover better than a spinnerbait etc....It also gets bites on the fall since it puts off flash....

 

If fishing on top of matted grass, instead of using a toad etc...A senko just reeled over the surface gets plenty of strikes since fish have no idea what they are grabbing. Plus with the heavier weight, they can slip into little pockets weightless, in areas that everyone else is punching or throwing toads.....The bigger 7" senkos are heavy, you can pitch them into some heavy cover and get them to through...Sometimes that works better than pitching one on a bullet weight..

 

But I hear what you are saying..I prefer fishing fast, but a Senko flat out catches fish pretty much anywhere, and whenever I am unsure of what to use, I tie on a green pumpkin senko and just start casting.....

[Hook2Jaw]

57 minutes ago, cgolf said:

My mental block is fishing fast. Was at a seminar by Seth Feider and when he talked about his jerkbait retrieve I still can’t get myself to retrieve a jerkbait or any other bait has violently as he described. 

 I have an absolute load of confidence in fast reeling and slashing with my rod with a jerkbait on the end.  I'm talking line whistling jerks.  Give it a go!  I'm on my way to carpal tunnel one warm water jerkbait fish at a time.

[kayaking_kev]

My two favorite ways to fish are using the 90 size whopper plopper on the river for smallmouth and using a plastic worm fishing from the bank. I could use anything on the river and catch a lot of fish, but the WP cover waters fast and doesn't get hung up, the only negatives are the smallmouth like to swipe at it and miss a lot, if they don't feel the hooks I can throw it back out and usually get it. If it feels the hooks, I'll throw a backup and this time of the year the leaves on the water will get caught on the hooks and be really annoying.

 

I like to fish worms when I bank fish because I hate losing lures, I rarely throw a good lure from the bank. And, last year whenever I tried to bank fish or even fish in a lake or pond from my kayak, I didn't do very good at all, but this year I discovered the Senko and now I almost never get skunked and caught my PB 4.6 lb LM on a small lake with a wacky rigged Senko. I usually T-Rig then from the bank with a 1/16th oz. bullet weight and when I wacky rig them I always use a nail weight. I caught 34 bass one river trip and most of them were on one worm wacky rigged with a o-ring.

 

But, as much as I love the plastic worm, I don't usually fish a Senko anymore, it's usually a Strike King Plastic Worm or Yum Dingers, always in 5" size, and I even tried some really cheap ones from Creme that were super soft, but they all catch fish. And, I pretty much agree with those who say it's boring to fish a weightless worm or anything like that for that matter. I can be a patient fisherman, but I'm not good at doing nothing and waiting for too long without doing something, or else I would fish for cats. I could see some situations where it might be best to throw it weightless. I might try throwing more weightless in areas where there are lots of rocks, like the 5 up-ground reservoirs we have here, in spots where it isn't going to take forever for it to fall. I did get some swimming senkos awhile back, but I still haven't used them. To each their own though. 

[OCdockskipper]

I understand the point you are getting at, I prefer to fish fast as well.  However, I prefer to catch fish over fishing fast, so I have learned over the years that what I like or don't like is irrelevant.  What matters is what the bass are telling you they prefer that day or hour.

 

As far as weightless Senkos, I tend to fish Sluggo's or other soft plastic jerkbaits instead of Senkos when the situation calls for it.  Nonetheless, a weightless wacky rigged Senko will skip better & farther under docks than any other bait.  Once it gets to the target, it has the ability to attract fish without you imparting any action to it or pulling it away from the dock, a trait only rivaled by a Ned rig (which I also use to skip docks).  Further, the process of skipping docks with a weightless wacky senko is one of the most efficient methods available, a hurry up & wait routine.  Hurry to the next dock, execute a great cast and wait a few seconds to see if it pays off.  No bite?  Reel in quickly and repeat.

[zell_pop1]

Before I had my own boat I often caught more in tournaments in the back of the boat than the boat owner because they were primarily Senko fishermen and I used a hollow belly swim bait before the A-rig crap made em famous. Hollow bellies cast further, are weedless, and are not worked quite as painfully slow, and catch bigger fish on average. 

Senkos are a great lure, sure, but there are alternatives .

[FishTank]

9 hours ago, Frog Turds said:

take 50 people throwing a weightless wormie and 50 people throwing a jig for an equal amount of water time and see who ends up with the biggest fish of the bunch...my moneys on the jig every time all the time...

I would agree.  

 

For me, jigs do produce bigger fish, most of the time, than senkos but I catch more fish with senkos.  

 

I caught five today on a senko, 2 on a jerk bait, and none on jigs and none on crank baits.  The guy I fish with pretty much the same story....  7 on a Berkley Powerworm and none on jigs.  It just wasn't a jig day.  Two weeks ago different story.  The jig bite was on.  I can't explain it. 

 

One thing with jigs that does drive me crazy (and it may be me).... I loose a ton of them in the rock piles when we do the pitchin' the jig routine. 

[Allen Der]

I think the OPs premise is misguided.  A senko is about the same weight and can be fished as fast as his lightly weighted plastic.  I don't like fishing senkos much either unless I'm in a spot I know has fish and a target to cast to.  90% of bites come on the initial drop, so most times I just reel up and cast again if the initial drop doesn't get bit.

[a1712]

You all are using the words inefficient and ineffective interchangeably. They are 2 different words with 2 different meanings. If you are a run and gun power fisherman, yes, they are inefficient. If you are more relaxed and looking to put fish in the boat, they are neither inefficient or ineffective. Brian.

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, Allen Der said:

I think the OPs premise is misguided.  A senko is about the same weight and can be fished as fast as his lightly weighted plastic.  I don't like fishing senkos much either unless I'm in a spot I know has fish and a target to cast to.  90% of bites come on the initial drop, so most times I just reel up and cast again if the initial drop doesn't get bit.

 

Having fished a Senko before it definitely falls slower than a menace, tube or otter. I do agree that when I fish vertical cover 90 percent of the hits are on the initial drop, maybe with a subtle shake in place before I reel back. Fishing weed flats or in the heart of a reed bed I will get bites on the retrieve as well, usually hopping it along the bottom. 

12 minutes ago, a1712 said:

You all are using the words inefficient and ineffective interchangeably. They are 2 different words with 2 different meanings. If you are a run and gun power fisherman, yes, they are inefficient. If you are more relaxed and looking to put fish in the boat, they are neither inefficient or ineffective. Brian.

 

Want to at least say I have stuck with inefficient, and to be honest in the back of my mind there are concerns gut hooking a bass even when watching the line. I had to change my Ned rig retrieves up a bit because River smallies were choking them if I got any slack in my line. 

[Cgolf]

Reading through the thread also got me to thinking about when I read the lures used to win and place at a Bass or FLW tournaments. These guys all think they have the best baits for the waters and maybe even the only ones they will get bit on. Then a lot of times the baits of the top ten finishers will be quite different. The AOY tourney was one of the few that really had a common theme. 

 

Many responses on here fit that. If the high water goes down, I will have to force myself to try a weightless Senko. 

[JediAmoeba]

When I think of Senkos the last word I associate with them is inefficient.   They catch fish - if that's inefficient than I have been doing this whole fishing thing wrong.

[GreenGhostMan]

I fish out of a kayak, so making a drastic move in location isn’t an option. Sometimes I can’t get a bite on “other” lures, so I’ll tie on a weightless senko because I have confidence in them when the bite is tough.