Anyone have problems with weightless senko

[ah_long]

I do it either wacky with a weedless widegap hook (Mustad makes a good one) or you can do it T-Rig but you rig the hook closer to the middle of the worm

[NYArcher]

i always seem to have bass grab my senko on the fall when i'm fishing deeper water (7 ft or deeper) and they always just grab it and sit there with it and there is no way for me to tell if there is a fish biting it because they don't run with it or "tink"--"tink" it and when i pull up to twitch the senko i pull it right out of their mouth..i call it "dumping" a fish.

what if any technique do you use to make sure you don't "dump" a fish?
or what tackle could improve the chances of detecting these fish i have tried everything from finger on the line, to watching the slack in my line, to slowly reeling up nothing seems to work?

I`d take a guess here and say you are probably fishing it on a slack line. This is the most common mistake I have seen. You need to follow the bait down with the rod tip to keep it somewhat taught,slack makes it almost impossible to feel a pickup.

[STETSON1B]

thanks guys for all the tips i will have to keep these all to my self and not tell my buddies

[EJP1234]

i always seem to have bass grab my senko on the fall when i'm fishing deeper water (7 ft or deeper) and they always just grab it and sit there with it and there is no way for me to tell if there is a fish biting it because they don't run with it or "tink"--"tink" it and when i pull up to twitch the senko i pull it right out of their mouth..i call it "dumping" a fish.

what if any technique do you use to make sure you don't "dump" a fish?
or what tackle could improve the chances of detecting these fish i have tried everything from finger on the line, to watching the slack in my line, to slowly reeling up nothing seems to work?

I`d take a guess here and say you are probably fishing it on a slack line. This is the most common mistake I have seen. You need to follow the bait down with the rod tip to keep it somewhat taught,slack makes it almost impossible to feel a pickup.

Ding Ding! Exactly, guide the worm down as it falls. You'll feel almost every hit then. Never, ever, and I mean ever give it 100% slack line... when that high pressure system moves in, and senko's is the only way to put together a good limit... if you slack line them, you'll never know you have a bite 90% of the time... Also.. a good flouro is a must when fishing them this way... I choose 10lb halo for wacky rigging on a custom 7'2" STC LE "Senko Slinger".

[bladerunner]

Are you texas rigging it or wacky rigging the senko? I get a better hookup ration by wacky rigging the senko.

I'll second that - but no I do not have any problems either way. I do miss more fish t-rigging. I only t-rig in cover. Otherwise wacky all the way.

[Snyder Rods]

The more slack you have, the less you will feel.

[NextLevelLures]

A great way to hook up on bass with a soft plastic stick bait is the Neko Rig. Not many anglers are fishing this rig and hook-up ratio is pretty good. We have anglers request no-salt sticks to give the baits even more wiggle, and they specifically use this rig. It works with any brand, and I think you'll like it if you're not already fishing it.

1. Stick a nail through the "blunt" end of the stick
2. Wacky rig the bait
3. Maintain bottom contact, and slowly twitch the bait back to the boat. Even throw in a few hops if you like.

Seems so simple, yet not many people fish sticks this way. give it a shot and see how your hook up ratio improves.

Tight Lines,

Adam
NextLevelLures.com

[GARRIGA]

I fish Senko style baits with straight braid and leave a large amount of slack line which will float on the surface and help identify the bite. I also hold the line with my fingers which often transmits the bite before there's any visual detection. My favorite setup is a CI4 2500 with 20 lb Ultracast and a 7 ft medium action rod. I've also caught lots of bass with my Cumara / Core combo and 30 to 50 Ultracast. I've used other rigs as well and have come to the conclusion that straight braid is the main component that shows the bites and the rod and reel doesn't have as much to do with it.

One bit of advise is using a wide gap hook to reduce the number of swallowed hooks. I often let the bait sit motionless on the bottom for over a minute and this could result in an undetected bite that gets gut hooked. The EWG seems to help reduce this. I also prefer 4/0 to 6/0 hooks with my 6" baits.

[Tokugawa]

I use #16 Sunline Sniper FC on a 7'2" XMG50 custom and have no problems feeling a bite on a texposed 5" senko. That's the rig the rod is designed for. I find you get better bite response when using FC instead of braid with semi-slack line presentations. If you pull too much line in after the cast, you'll pull the lure and upset the vertical fall, so it needs a little bit of slack (not too much) to get the fall right and still feel the pick-up.

[STETSON1B]

yupp my gloomis glx 843 is almost done. and ill match it up with florocarbon... and i also found a tackle store that has some old fiberglass lami's for 25 so im getting one of those built. for small cranks should be a good one .......they also had antuique pen reels brand new in the box. kinda cool and old lures such as arbogaust,hotshot,old bass plastics and old fenwick blanks the ones that were made in washington. it was awesome.

[jhnmcgough]

not really, use the falcon hooks (kahle style with a weed guard) 1/0,prefer weightless but are available with 1/32 and 2/32 weighted . Never place the hook directly in the senko. Use a rubber o ring that firmly fits a 5 inch senko. Place the hook betweeen the senko and o ring, so that senko suspends (wacky style) from hook . multiple fish on one senko. When I first started using these things they were about 40 cents apiece. Now they are about 70 cents apiece. I know there are knock offs available ,but even some of the knock off manufactures are expensive, and if the savings is minimal,i'll stick with the Yammamotto's

[spicytuna]

I fish my 5" Senkos T-rigged with a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG hook, on a G. Loomis 843C IMX/GLX (awesome rod by the way) with 10-12 lb. Toray Fluorocarbon. Most of my bites are on the drop, and due to the density and weight of the flourocarbon line, there will be some slack while the lure is sinking. As soon as the worm is sinking I will take up about a foot or two of slack by pulling some line towards me and away from the rod with a finger on my free hand, between the reel and the last guide. It makes it a little bit easier to detect the bite on the fall, especially if you watch your line closely.

Another perk of doing this is that you have a couple extra ways to set the hook depending on the way the fish bites. If the fish is slowly swimming away with the bait but am not confident that the hook is completely in it's mouth, I will slowly give back the slack to the fish by moving my finger back towards the rod and reel. This way the fish will not feel the resistance of your rod tip loading up, giving it a chance to completely suck in the bait and will probably not spit the bait before you get to set the hook. If the fish inhales the bait and I need to set quickly, I will pull the line back towards me quickly while moving the rod tip in the opposite direction, similar to how a fly fishermen will set a hook on a fish. It might seem strange but it works for me.

[revo680]

The biggest tip that I can give you is that the 5" Senko falls a lot faster than you might think. It's a little less than a foot per second. So take that into consideration and count down how many seconds it takes for the lure to hit bottom, and if you feel weightlessness still after it should have hit bottom then that's a fish on.

Also, what rod are you using? Are you using a casting rod or a spinning rod? What type of line are you using?

You might want to try braid with a fluorocarbon leader if you're already using fluorocarbon. It'll give you a little bit more sensitivity.

When I'm fishing a weightless senko I try to take a mental note as to how long its taking the worm to reach the bottom. I time it so I'm tightening up the line to make the 1st raise just after it hits the bottom. Usually if nothing has hit it after the 2nd time dropping to the bottom I'm bringing it in.

Basically I'm line watching, but tightening the line every few seconds or so in case a fish took it w/out me knowing. If its in deeper water I might carefully take up the slack about half way into the drop for a feel without trying to interupt the drop too much.

Thats just my experience and I hope it wasn't too confusing for everyone

[bladerunner]

I catch HUNDREDS of bass every summer wacky-rigging Senkos with a 3/0 Mustad Demon Circle hook. I miss 1 in 5 fish. If I catch 20 bass in a morning - I miss maybe 4. Circle hooks all the way. Just remember NOT to set the hook. Just pull slowly and then reel. You won't miss. If you Texas rig you are going to miss fish with a traditional hookset.