Rivers and Senkos

[jrk]

For all of you that like to fish Senkos while river fishing (read slight to moderate current), what style has been more sucessful for you, wacky or weightless TR?  Very much appreciate your time in response.

[riverfisher]

Neither style works in rivers!! Please bag them up and send them directly to my attention for proper disposal!! ;D

[dixieboysles]

When my and my buddy fish with senkos, he rigs them wacky, I rig them Weightless TR and I flat wear him out every time.  plus im not getting snagged as much so my cast to catch ratio is much better.   

[jrk]

Thanks for the replies...keep them coming.

[Aluma-Bass]

both styles work great...for swift water i would go with weightless or t-rig bounce off bottom. In still or slack water wacky rig would do good! Cant go wrong either way...wacky rig will get hung up more of course but ive slayed'em of both ways.

also if senkos are working well for ya try a fluke! James river smallies eatem up!

[Copen1822]

Fish wacky rigged in slower/deeper pools. If current is a bigger factor I'm more likely to fish a T-rigged fluke.

If I do fish a wacky rig in swifter current I find it works well to cast straight downstream a few feet and then let the current take the bait down while keeping slight contact with the bait. When the bait hangs up I can pull up and back and generally get it to pop over whatever it's hung up on. Much less likely to get hung up then when casting upstream and drifting back to me.

[RandySBreth]

I fish them both ways, but the wacky rig gets the nod for behind current breaks or anywhere I want to fish a little more thoroughly. Oh, for wacky rigging in the river, you could use a weedless hook you know...

[Crestliner2008]

I fish them both ways, but the wacky rig gets the nod for behind current breaks or anywhere I want to fish a little more thoroughly. Oh, for wacky rigging in the river, you could use a weedless hook you know...

Hey! Same hook I use whenever I fish snaggly, timber strewn river banks, when wacky rigging. Good hook, but the wire guards are not very sturdy.

BTW....do not limit yourself to Senkos - same applies to the Fat Ika. In my opinion, even more effective! 

[jrk]

I fish them both ways, but the wacky rig gets the nod for behind current breaks or anywhere I want to fish a little more thoroughly. Oh, for wacky rigging in the river, you could use a weedless hook you know...

Hey! Same hook I use whenever I fish snaggly, timber strewn river banks, when wacky rigging. Good hook, but the wire guards are not very sturdy.

BTW....do not limit yourself to Senkos - same applies to the Fat Ika. In my opinion, even more effective!

Interesting.  So you use Fat Ikas with good results in river fishing?  I was under the impression these were better for still water application, but not sure why I had that notion now that I think about it.

[Crestliner2008]

Very effective in rivers. Rig them reversed on an EWG 4/0 worm hook. Green pumpkin color. Cast quartering upstream, ahead of an eddy and hold on! You won't regret that you did.

[Scorpio]

I do very well fishing senkos wacky with a jig head in the Susky.

[IwillChooseFreeWill]

For the local Shoal and Blackwater River which is a bit faster, shallow, usually stained and some side pools. If it is in the river itself which has almost no vegetation in the main current and sandy bottom, I prefer wacky or carolina, and for the eddys and side pools, I prefer TR as they have more vegetation. Also on the wide sweeping bends, topwater hard baits like Devils Horse and topwater or very shallow spinners work very well.

NOTE: this is primarily for largemouth as smallies do not tend to come this far south or in these rivers (usually)

[MNGeorge]

We often times fish both Wacky and TR simultaneously in the upper Mississippi. TR produces more bites for sure, but the average size is noticeably bigger on the Wacky rig. If you prefer TR, try a swimming Senko, we've had excellent results on them also.

[Eternal Angler]

I'm all for wacky!

[iceintheveins]

Senkos work best in slackwater areas of rivers IMO but I have caught them in swift water too. I usually do better on tubes and grubs in rivers though honestly. But in deep, slack areas, senkos rule.

[grimlin]

Very effective in rivers. Rig them reversed on an EWG 4/0 worm hook. Green pumpkin color. Cast quartering upstream, ahead of an eddy and hold on! You won't regret that you did.

I don't fish senkos in any type of current.I'm Dead Serious.I never do well with them in current for whatever reason.I only break them out when the water is pretty much dead calm.

Fat Ika however....Got a little more action and the fish around here seem to like it. Same reason why i fish a lot of tube baits in the river systems.

[cax1]

i never have much luck with senkos i like to use zoom 4in lizards  with gamagatch(sp) skip gap hooks

[tntitans21399]

I know this is a old post but I was curious what size hooks did you prefer for rigging a 4" senko?

[Sam]

7 hours ago, tntitans21399 said:

I know this is a old post but I was curious what size hooks did you prefer for rigging a 4" senko?

#1

On ‎2‎/‎4‎/‎2010 at 11:19 AM, jrk said:

For all of you that like to fish Senkos while river fishing (read slight to moderate current), what style has been more successful for you, wacky or weightless TR?  Very much appreciate your time in response.

Wacky

[12poundbass]

5" senko 2/0 hook TR

[roadwarrior]

SWEET!

 

[All about da bass]

Neko rig.

[TOXIC]

It's really great to see so many Senko fishermen and the different rigs.  To the OP, I can relate to the current via a super tide swing in Florida.  When the tide is moving it rivals a swift river.  Other than fishing the breaks and eddys, when I was in Florida, I learned to use a Bullet screw in weight in the nose of the Senko.  You have to rig it a little different to get enough plastic forward of the hook eye to grab with the weight but it is very effective.  I also use that method here on the Potomac.  I use a 1/4 oz football head jig, hook exposed, to drift fish in Michigan on St Clair.  Deadly technique.  I use a 3.0 EWG in a 4 inch Senko and a 4.0 in a 5 inch.  That helps in keeping them from gut hooking.  Gamakatsu makes a weighted wacky hook as well.  

 

 

[FryDog62]

For smallmouth in rivers I use  primarily wacky rigged Senkos on 1/16 oz VMC wacky hook with weed guard.  

[Fairtax4me]

Anybody have color suggestions for stained/murky water vs clear water?