senkos: how do you rig em and how to do you fish em?

always read about how productive these are. for me i just don't have the patience to fish em. i've tried wacky rigging them and letting them sit on the bottom with an occasional twitch.

i also tried a weedless rig, no jig head, with the same technique. cast, let it sink and sit, lift up, let it fall back to the bottom, etc.

never got anything on senkos. am i doing something wrong? would rather bounce a tube off the bottom instead.

Nope, u are doing everything right. Keep at it and you won't be disappointed.

Do you use the o-rings? I use the red and black.Sometimes i put two rings on for a little more weight.Its not much more weight but it does effect the way the worm sinks.I use the rings to match the color of the worm.If its a red shad worm,orange color,browns etc.,i use a red o-ring.I use black o-ring on darker colors.I also use the colored walleye hooks.I match the hooks to the color of the worm.
The hooks come in flourescent colors.Chartreuse works good.Pink and
lime green work good too.Just mix and match.Need to be patient to
fish these.They do work.My personal best fish is 7lbs 5oz. caught on a green pumpkin/watermelon senko in two feet of water near shore.
Early in the season two years ago.Ten minutes later off a big stump i got a 6lb 9oz on the same worm.Had a good day with the senkos
that day.

Senkos are my bread and butter. I Texas rig on a 3/0 offset shank hook (I lime the red hooks).

Are you using the Yamamoto senkos? If not, get them. They are twice as productive and cast twice as far as any other brand. Color matters too. Most places around here should be using dark green, black or purple (or some variation).

Before jumping on the senko bandwagon ask yourself this question.... What is more important to you catching fish or learning how to fish . If you just want to catch fish, buy only senkos and wacky rig to your hearts content. If you want to learn how to be a well rounded bass fisherman, able to fish all depths and multiple techniques, forget the senkos. They flat out catch fish but they slow your learning curve on other techniques because they draw you into throwing them and nothing else. You will catch more fish under all conditions and seasons if you learn how to fish top to bottom, on and off shore and in cold water and warm. Now if you already know how to pitch jigs, slow roll spinnerbaits, fish offshore structure, ect then by all means pick up some senkos and add them to your bag of tricks, if not, concentraight on everything else 1st and you wont be one of the guys asking why senkos have stopped working.

Before jumping on the senko bandwagon ask yourself this question.... What is more important to you catching fish or learning how to fish . If you just want to catch fish, buy only senkos and wacky rig to your hearts content. If you want to learn how to be a well rounded bass fisherman, able to fish all depths and multiple techniques, forget the senkos. They flat out catch fish but they slow your learning curve on other techniques because they draw you into throwing them and nothing else. You will catch more fish under all conditions and seasons if you learn how to fish top to bottom, on and off shore and in cold water and warm. Now if you already know how to pitch jigs, slow roll spinnerbaits, fish offshore structure, ect then by all means pick up some senkos and add them to your bag of tricks, if not, concentraight on everything else 1st and you wont be one of the guys asking why senkos have stopped working.

Best response ever! I totally agree. i am 100% guilty of that method. Over the last 2 years i have been trying to break the habit of throwing those things. I want to learn the deep water techniques and stop being a bank beater myself. Thanks stratos for reality check. Post like that help alot.Keep em coming!

Before jumping on the senko bandwagon ask yourself this question.... What is more important to you catching fish or learning how to fish . If you just want to catch fish, buy only senkos and wacky rig to your hearts content. If you want to learn how to be a well rounded bass fisherman, able to fish all depths and multiple techniques, forget the senkos. They flat out catch fish but they slow your learning curve on other techniques because they draw you into throwing them and nothing else. You will catch more fish under all conditions and seasons if you learn how to fish top to bottom, on and off shore and in cold water and warm. Now if you already know how to pitch jigs, slow roll spinnerbaits, fish offshore structure, ect then by all means pick up some senkos and add them to your bag of tricks, if not, concentraight on everything else 1st and you wont be one of the guys asking why senkos have stopped working.

That is excellent advice. I spent some time learning how to fish deep water towards the end of this year. I can't wait to hone my offshore skills next year.

I have bag of them in my bag but currently I have swithced to ochos and Berkley slugs. I all most never wacky rig (maybe 1 or 2 times) and vary between dead stick/drag method or the jerkbait method. Other than the wacky technique I don't get the big deal to me fishing the stickbaits the way I do (which I assume most do) I don't find it much different than worm fishing or even to a degree jig fishing. JMO

After reading some of these responses and getting skunked last few times on senkos, I invested in a few crankbaits at different dive depths. I need to diversify.

I'm probably going to hit the Charles in Millis more often where it gets pretty deep. Any advice you would appreciated.

After reading some of these responses and getting skunked last few times on senkos, I invested in a few crankbaits at different dive depths. I need to diversify.

I'm probably going to hit the Charles in Millis more often where it gets pretty deep. Any advice you would appreciated.

3 baits is all you need at the charles, Frogs, jigs and spinnerbaits. Target wood and bridge abutments and any remaining pad patches. the thing about the charles is you need to keep an eye on the waterflow. 9 times out of 10 it is very slow, then we get rain like we are getting now and the flow increases A LOT. It turns the bite off for a few days until the river returns to "normal" flow.

i just found this old post. it's funny because i've been spending an equal amount of time throwing jigs and senkos. i wish i could say that jiggn has been more productive and produced bigger fish. but senko fishing has got me into some 15-20 inch (maybe 3-5 pounds?) bass at a local pond where they don't seem to like the jigs. i'll still be jigging all season though.

This spring I've been cranking and swimbaiting like crazy. I've got some nice fish. The one day I threw a senko I bagged a 3 pounder on my 3rd or 4th cast. They work but like Rich said earlier, I want to be a well rounded fisherman. I'm still having trouble getting the confidence to fish the first drop or trying to find isolated structure. But I'm determined to not depend on senko's to catch fish. I'm not opposed to them, on the contrary, I love them but I'm getting a better rush catching fish on all my new lures. Especially my slammer

We have a saying find them with the worm killem with the jig. Have most luck fishing senkos in less than 5 feet of water, throw at structure work it very slow, must people I think work them to fast. Black with blue flake is my go to. Again as others of said try different things , was a shore beater for a few years myself hook up with a few guys that have been around a while pick their brain ask questions force yourself to fish structure off shore, get a good fishfinder! Look for humps and depth changes at your favorite pond or lake. If you don't have a fishfinder look at a PDF from mass.gov, I look for the depth changes you'll often find them on those shelves, good luck and great question with alot of positive answers!

admittedly, i fish a lot of senkos.

black with blue, any dark green; june bug. those are the colors of choice. i exclusively texas rig. and always work a slacked line; never reel in the bait, only reel in the slacked line you created with the twich. watch the line, fish with sight, when you go back for the next tip lift watch where your line touches the water and sooner than later will begin to see the difference between nothing, bite, and weed hang up. also, the big fish will eat it and sit there; you will think they are a weed. anytime i get pressure on the line i lift the tip and hold for a second waiting for that secondary bump, if it's a weed you won't get that bump.

stratos is right to a point. often times the fish aren't where senkos are effective. however, come summer and the fish are in deep cover, senkos will outfish anything.

one last thing....i use the kinami brand. i see no difference in their production vs. yamamotos and the plus is that they hold up much better, much more durable.

I use them quite a bit(black w/ blue flake), but try to switch up every other trip to cranks, spinners and jerks. When all else fails, yamamoto's are my go to. I have pulled in some nice bass, trout and the occaisional pick with them.

Cast it out, slow retrieve. While reeling it in, a couple tugs and let it fall. If you feel a bite, but miss the hook set, give your line some slack and give it a few moments then start again. In many cases you'll get the bite again and then fish on.

Good Luck!