senko fishing

walleye- sometimes it's just a small twitch of the line, sometimes it will start slowly moving to the side, and sometimes you might not see any movement at all. i count the bait down 10-15 seconds and slowly raise the rod until i feel the lure. like scummy said, if there's weight, set the hook. if not, twitch it a few times, wait a second, and check again.

i like green pumpkin and watermelon in clear water, and baby bass in stained water. texas rigged in weeds, wacky for pitching docks or around rocks or gravel.

i like all of them (lake fork ring fry, yum dinger, yammamoto, strike king, gander mountain, slugo)(Green pumpkin, watermelon, young bass) whatever's cheap i like to use o rings to keep them attached i'll catch like 10 on one try it. i like to use flour carbon and a small split shot wacky. I think the texas rig moves way to fast i've fished it in 10 ft and under docks clear water of course but it'll work in stained i like to put a worm rattle in it when it's stained. You get a lot of bream biting it but let them bite it a bass will see that and it'll piss them off so much that they'll eat it themselves i've seen it before it's pretty cool. If you are using the o ring style a baitcaster works awesome farther casts but if you feel comfortable with a spinning rod that's cool too. 8 to 15 lb test depending on the conditions and where you want to fish. I like to softly twitch my line not move it but to see if anything has it you'll feel the tension and see them swimming off with it and if not set it anyways hook sets are free. i don't like to jerk it up i like a good firm side sweep. Try it in open patches of weed lines i fished it a lot last year in my tournaments and i placed 4th out of 30. My bigger fish were caught on it so it produces. The slow fall and subtle action drives them nuts.

When you are letting a weightless senko fall on a slack line, what do you watch for when you are watching your line? A jerk? A pause?

Yum Dingers in green pumkin or black are my go to wacky rig.

The garlic & salt chompers are a must have have, I still like yamamoto's too.

I use stick baits from www.hawgpours.com a Wisconsin company. Hawg Pours hand pours you just about any color you want, at 1/2 the price of Yamamoto or less. Even some what I thought would be hard colors to pour from Yamamotos color list.

Pro Tour Baits trick sticks... Protourbaits.com Small WI company have soft plastcs in every shape and color you want and you can get the senko style trick sticks in 50 packs for like 15 bucks or less

Can you use a bait casting reel to fish senkos. If so, what kind of rod and reel?

I use the gander mountain brand ones mostly, cuz i am cheap. sometimes i find out yamamoto's in the bargain bin and i grab them up fast. I have a 7' mf spinning reel with 12lb flouro. I almost always make short casts/pitches and if i dont get a bite after it hits the bottom i twitch it once and reel it back in. almost always get bit as it's sinking down for the first time. I like green pumpkin seed and blue with silver flecks. I also texas rig them and run it across lilys and let it sink right at the edge of the lilys, had a lot of success like that.

Green Pumpkin 5" Garys will work just about anywhere anytime. Sure they are expensive but they get the job done. I Texas rig it, never usually wacky rig it, unless in shallow water.

I used to throw whacky rigged senkos alot. I found dingers work also but real senkos have the best action. I found that pretty well all bites happen on the fall so I started fishing it with short to medium range casts/pitches, let it fall all the way to the bottom on a semi-slack line (VERY important - there can't be any resistance on the bait or it won't wiggle properly). Watch the line constantly as it falls (Hi-Vis Power-Pro with a 4'-6' flouro leader works best for line watching). If you don't get a bite reel it back as quickly as possible and make another short cast to another fishy looking target.

I found this to be the most efficient and effective way to work an otherwise very slow/inefficient presentation.

I use the yum f2 dingers usually in the 5 in, but sometimes in the 6 in. I love skipping dock with the weightless rig wacky style. i hook them as close as can to middle as possible. some people of set it but im not a big fan of that. I use a size 2 lazer sharp red octopus hook with 8 pound berkly trilene monofilament on a 6 ft medium light spinning rod and fast action.I skip it to spcific point under the dock and then i let it sink i twitch anyware from 1-4 times and then let it sink. I also drop shot them wacky style again as close to middle as i can with a size 2 lazer sharp red octopus hook with 12 pound berkly vanish flourolcarbon on a 7 ft medium spinning rod and fast action. I fish this rig on drop offs, points, rock piles, and deep structure. i cast it out jig 2-3 time with out moving the weight and then take one full rod length swipe and jig it another 2-3 times. lastly i texas rig them with the same exact set up it do when i drop shot them. I use this rig when fishing shallow structure such as fallen trees, and shallow rocks. when fishing fallen trees i throw it into a certian part of the tree jig it 4-6 time and then pull it out and pitch a new spot. when i fish shallow rock i just jig it in with pauses every 2-6 jigs. Hope this helps

Gary Yamamoto are the best. They are a little expensive, but they last the longest and have the best feel/action in my opinion.

Stickbaits are an amazing thing even the most novice angler can catch fish with them. I typically try to stay away from em but when I'm skipping docks a 4" Gary with a oring and a octopus hook always gets the job done. The oring will save you tons of cash btw instead of 1-2 fish per senko you can get in upwards of 5-8 per bait sometimes.

For colors I use darker and more natural colors in clear water and brighter colors in darker or stained water. I might have to get some o rings and try that trick.