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Using the Senko The first time I went fishing with my wife's very southern uncle, he had a slight bit of a condesending tone when I broke out my senko. I told him they were fishing magic but he didn't seem persuaded. I can't blame him, I too was skeptical of this bait that looked like nothing but a stick of soft plastic. There was nothing at first glance about the lure that seemed to say to me that it would be one of the best and most versatile lures I'd ever use. That was until I got the senko in the water. It didn't take me long to come around. Just watching the senko slowly wiggle towards the bottom of the water column, I knew I had found something special. By the way...It took my wife's uncle about 45 minutes and an 8 fish to 0 ratio before he asked me to use one. 5 Minutes later, he was pulling in fish. Another satisfied customer...
The Slooooooow Retrieve (weightless) You literally can not move the senko too slow. I can not emphasize this point enough. We'll get into deadsticking next but for now, we'll talk about the slow retrieve. What you are looking for with the slow retrieve is the natural falling action of the senko. You are going to try and let the lure do the work for you. As it falls, you can watch the senko shimmy as it falls through the water column. It is subtle, but I swear it drives the bass absolutely insane.
There are a couple of different ways to slow retrieve the Senko but I'll usually start with casting it, giving the line some slack and letting the Senko fall slowly to the bottom. A majority of the time, you will get a strike as the bait falls through the water column. Once the bait is sitting on the bottom, you can do one of three things 1) slowly drag the bait, reeling very slowly, 2) perform a series of retrieves with pauses in between (allowing the Senko to fall each time), or 3) give the Senko a jerk and then a pause, like you would with a fluke. It is absolutely ciritcal to know that when fishing a Senko, you have to pay great attention to the line. Sometimes you will not feel any bite but you may see the line jump slightly or you might feel a dead weight on the end of your line. (Note: many anglers will pinch the line between their fingers as they retrieve so that they can feel subtle bites). Do not hesitate and don't be shy, immediately reel the slack out of the line and hammer that bass! The weightless Senko takes a fair amount of feel, but once you have mastered it, it is deadly.
Wacky Style
Carolina Rigging If you are fishing humps, flats, or other areas that are perfect for Carolina rig applications, try tying on a Senko to your standard Carolina rig to get a nice finesse touch. As the Carolina rig is hopped over bottom structure the Senko will fall each time, taunting the bass with it's subtle wiggle.
Other Add-Ons Senkos are very versatile lures. In addition to the approaches mentioned above, you can add color to a Senko by spiking the tail with a splash of chartruese, red, or other color. You can also add a rattle to the tail of the Senko to give it some audio attraction. The rattles are great to use when fishing muddy water or when bass are tight to cover. If the fish are particularly slow to bite you can also downsize to a smaller 4" Senko or if you are going for larger bass, there are 7" models available as well.
There are many different duplications of the Senko by different companies and each have a slight variation. The Gary Yamamoto brand Senko has the most fluid action of any we have tried to date but seem to break easily after a bite or two. On the other hand, the Strike King brand Senko is very durable due to the material used, but lacks some fo the fluid action of the Yamamoto brand. Other brands offer different textures, scents, etc and may be worth exploring as well. If money is no objact, the Yamamoto brand is in our opinion the choice selection for the Senko. We'd rather get a few more strikes and sacrifice a few Senkos in the process than take the risk.
Posted June 8, 2008 |
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If you are looking for a little heavier action with your Senko, try rigging it Wacky Style. By doing this you will be able to enhance the action and pop the Senko as you retieve it, giving off powerful vibrations that attract the bass. This technique is particularly effective in calling out bass frm cover or in stained water. It is important to have the right hook setup with fishing wacky style. The preferred choice by many anglers is to use the Falcon Lures "K" Wacky Hook. This hook is particularly effective for Wacky Style Senko fishing because the hook is weedless, the shape of the hook gives it a higher probability of hooking the bass in the corner of the mouth, and you can utilize the weighted hooks for different fishing situations. Other hook types ay be preferred for non-standard fishing applications. 