I Found the Senko!

[Sam]

I found the Senko.  OK, I did not personally find it, the new guy at Fishing ProTech in Toano, Virginia, found it for me.

 

The story about this Senko: Six years ago I was fishing by myself on the Chickahominy River outside of Williamsburg, Virginia, when my motor battery died. I waved down a guy in a Triton and he jumped started my motor. Nothing special about helping someone on the water.

 

We began a conversation and I found out that the boat was his dad's and his father had passed away six-months earlier, leaving the boat and bass fishing tackle, etc., to him. He was not a bass fisherman at the level of his dad so he was pre-fishing for a club tournament that Saturday and had some very good luck up river before the dam.

 

So I asked him what he was throwing and he said he had no idea because his dad had taken many of the plastic baits out of their original containers and put them into unmarked plastic storage bags. He added that he was knocking them out of the park with a certain Senko and he reached into his tackle bag and brought one out to show me.

 

It was a 5-inch Senko but with a different color that I was not familiar with. He flipped the Senko into my boat and I looked at it. Baby Bass? Maybe. But that is as close as I could come to figuring it out. He told me to keep that one as he had a bunch and I thanked him and he went his way.

 

At home, I looked at the Senko color charts and could not find the bait. So I called the Yamamoto Company in California and gave a description to their production manager and he said he had never produced such a color for any Senkos for all the years he had worked at the company. Confused? You better believe it. I looked at the Senko color chart; what YUM and other stick bait manufacturers had to offer; and could not find the color. 

 

Two great guys on this Forum in Virginia offered to look at it and make some for me, but I told them thanks and that I would keep searching.

 

I called the BASS and FLW clubs in the area and asked if they had a tournament on the Chick on the weekend he said he was fishing and two did but no one had anyone in their club with a Triton. Here I am, left with one super bait for the Chick that I have no idea what color it is and the guy who gave it to me does not exist. Like living back in south Louisiana with all the Cajun horror stories.

 

Two weeks ago, while at Fishing ProTech I told Lin Bell, the owner, about the Senko and Lin said bring it to him and he would use the newest Yamamoto baits catalog to see if he could find it.  Today, September 23rd, I stopped at Fishing ProTech with the bait and Lin and his new employee said it was definitely a Senko, no doubt about it. An old Senko but a Senko.

 

While Lin and I spoke with Dan Beeler (first Zoom distributor on east coast) about one of Dan's special baits, the new guy looked on their computer and he found the Senko. No doubt about it. It is the Senko I had.

 

What is strange is that its number is 975, way up there with the new colors. The name is Green Flash. Check it out. Maybe it was a comeback color or it has been on the market for years and I could not find it. And remember, the guy at Yamamoto's had told me that he has no recollections of such a bait, color, or what the number could be.

 

I will be trying the Green Flash Senko in the future when they come to Fishing ProTech as I ordered three bags to check them out.

 

Isn't it interesting to be in the bass fishing industry and get to speak with the pros, manufacturers, and others, who are there to help you. 

 

I will have to add to this story when I try those Green Flash Senkos next month.

 

If you have any interesting stories about baits or tackle please share them with us.

Geaux Tigers!

 

 

[wdp]

Looks like the Green Flash color is available on Tackle Warehouse website. 

[BlakeMolone]

Good story and it looks like a good color, I might have to get around to trying it.

[mfnew]

Dick's had these at one time labeled "Limited Edition". Great color.

[BigAngus752]

That's a great story.  I love the persistance! 

[Sam]

2 hours ago, wdp said:

Looks like the Green Flash color is available on Tackle Warehouse website. 

Yes! It is available at Tackle Warehouse where you can get all of the Senko colors.

Now, are you ready for some football?

Geaux Tigers!

[georgeyew]

So you've never used your one senko to see if it was a bass catcher?

[txchaser]

 

 

7 hours ago, mfnew said:

Dick's had these at one time labeled "Limited Edition". Great color.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/gary-yamamoto-limited-edition-senko-kit-16gyauymmtsnkktltlur/16gyauymmtsnkktltlur

 

Green flash came in a senko kit. What I can't for the life of me remember is why I remember that green flash came in this kit... I never bought one. 

[Bird]

I occasionally fish the chic....perhaps I can begin the process of elimination. Lol

 

Cool story, thanks. 

[Sam]

10 hours ago, georgeyew said:

So you've never used your one senko to see if it was a bass catcher?

Right. I have been carrying it around in a plastic sandwich bag and I kept it in my plastics' cabinet.

 

The Senko is old and beat up and I know that if I threw it I would lose it and then not have the prototype to try to find it.

 

Can't wait for the three bags to arrive and give it a try.

[Jaderose]

Looks like a winner!

 

[Str8BraidPowa]

The guys at Protech are great, picked up some great deals rods, reels, and nice baits in there. Super knowledgeable about stuff past and present. Glad you got ahold of what you were looking for.

[wdp]

22 hours ago, Sam said:

Yes! It is available at Tackle Warehouse where you can get all of the Senko colors.

Now, are you ready for some football?

Geaux Tigers!

@Sam Uh no, I’m not really ready for some football. Got a feeling my Bulldawgs bout to get taken to the woodshed by your Tigers, no matter how many tricks the ole Pirate might have up his sleeve. ???

[FishTank]

I picked up at least 12 bags of the Green Flash color at DSG maybe two years ago when they went on clearance.  I believe they were buy 5 get 5 free.  With a coupon they come up to about $2.00 a bag. I still have several bags.  Great color though.   

 

I think I also picked up Bama Bug, Plum with blue flake, and Gooseberry Laminate. For the price, I thought, I wouldn't have to buy them for a long time. The Bait Monkey had other ideas. 

[Boomstick]

Great persistence! I can't even recall half of the colors of senkos that I bought recently and that are still on the market!

[Sam]

On 9/25/2020 at 5:35 PM, wdp said:

@Sam Uh no, I’m not really ready for some football. Got a feeling my Bulldawgs bout to get taken to the woodshed by your Tigers, no matter how many tricks the ole Pirate might have up his sleeve. ???

MSU looked great! Lynch is an outstanding coach and his after game comments are always fun.  Congrats on the win.

[Sam]

As a follow up to my saga of the 975 Senko, I did some research and found the color was introduced in 2015 but was not a hot seller.

 

You can find them on the Internet at various tackle outlets across the USA but you have to search for the outlets that have them.

 

Will give them a try when my three packages arrive from California.

[Ben77]

My Green Flash Senkos came in the mail today. I would of never known to get this color. They look like fish catchers to me. Great story thanks for sharing.

[Sam]

14 minutes ago, Benithebass said:

My Green Flash Senkos came in the mail today. I would of never known to get this color. They look like fish catchers to me. Great story thanks for sharing.

Beni, still waiting for mine to show up next week.

 

Let us know how they perform.

[Log Catcher]

I just ordered some Green Flash Senkos today. Also ordered some in Cinnamon with black and purple flake and some in Smoke Shad. I can't do any worse with them than anything else I've tried this year.

[fin]

I’m laughing because I can relate to getting fixated on something like that. Don’t be disappointed if you don’t catch anything on them, you had a good time already. I love a good mystery!

[txchaser]

Somewhere there's a marketing analyst at Yamamoto trying to figure out what is going on with a spike in orders on 975. Next week they'll be begging to rearrange the production schedule.

 

 

[MN Fisher]

Just now, txchaser said:

Somewhere there's a marketing analyst at Yamamoto trying to figure out what is going on with a spike in orders on 975. Next week they'll be begging to rearrange the production schedule.

...and by the time they ramp up production, everyone who wants that color will already have it...and there will be a glut.

[jtharris3]

Out of stock now at TW....LOL

[Team9nine]

17 hours ago, txchaser said:

Somewhere there's a marketing analyst at Yamamoto trying to figure out what is going on with a spike in orders on 975. Next week they'll be begging to rearrange the production schedule.

 

 

Somewhere there’s a psychology student with a bassin’ scholarship that just found his new semester study project on human behavior