Good Day at St Mary's

[UnkleRob2020]

I went to St Mary's on Saturday with the goal of learning to fish a Senko. I stopped at the Tackle Box and asked Joe to show me how to rig one. He likes wacky style, so that is what I learned. I began to get frustrated at not catching fish as my buddy had already caught a few fish on a spinnerbait. Then, as I stopped to grab something and the line sank and sat for longer than I had been allowing it, the line started to peel off of the reel. It was a beautiful bass. I caught quite a few bass on Saturday and missed even more. I also lost a lot of Senko's...but it was worth it. Thank you to everyone for your advice, support and encouragement.

Is wacky rigging the best way to rig a Senko? I definitely had a good day, but I lost six of them, I think.

Thank you,

Rob

[Big Mike]

You will lose a lot of Senko’s no matter what if it’s the Yamamoto. I don’t fish other brands because I feel the softness keeps the bass holding on longer. Whacky rigged probably has the shortest life. I usually fish it using a wide gap worm hook in 3/0 or 4/0 size, rigged “regular”. Some days whacky is what they want, but most days I don’t discern a difference. Regular rigging also glides through trees and weeds without hanging up.

As you found, letting the bait sit on first drop can induce a bite, it’s hard for many of us to let it sit 30 seconds or so but worth the effort. Glad you had a good day and starting to see how to fish plastic.

[dsaavedra]

Sounds like a fun day. I'll be visiting my parents in St. Mary's this weekend so I may hit the lake on Sunday, I've been reading reports saying the fishing is on fire there!

Wacky rigging is an excellent way to fish a senko. When hooked in the middle the senko does this enticing little wiggle as it falls through the water. I consider it a mostly vertical presentation - what I mean by this is I will cast it tight to likely fish holding cover (branches of a fallen tree, openings in lily pads, weed edges, etc.) and let it fall, expecting a bite on the initial fall. If I don't get a bite on the initial fall I'll pull it back up to the surface and let it fall again. I might do this 1 or 2 more times and if I don't get a bite I reel in to make another cast. I don't work the wacky rig all the way back to the boat like you might with other presentations.

Wacky rigs are notorious for their lack of durability, as you found out. This is especially true if you use the Yamamoto brand senkos since they are the softest, supplest brand so they tear easily (this is also what makes some people swear up and down that they work better than other brands). I usually use a different brand like Yum Dingers, they are a bit more durable and they are also cheaper. One thing that can improve the durability of the wacky rig is to use an O-ring around the worm and put your hook under the O-ring, but not through the worm. This way the hook doesn't rip the worm in half after every fish. They even sell kits that make it easier to get the O-ring on the worm, like this: https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass...ck-rigger-tool You slide the worm in the tube, then slide the O-rings off the tube onto the worm.

Another way I like to fish senkos is on a weightless texas rig. I'll cast this close to fish holding cover just like a wacky rig but this one I'll actually work all the way back to the boat. I always let it fall all the way to the bottom (and still, a lot of hits come on the fall). Sometimes I'll even just let it sit on the bottom for an extended time, fish will grab it while it's sitting still like you experienced. Then I'll give it a series of twitches to move it a couple feet and let it fall and sit again. Repeat all the way back to the boat. This is a good presentation for weedy areas because the shape of the senko is great for getting through weeds, combined with the weedless presentation of the texas rig. You can also work it in kind of quickly, with a steady retrieve and a series of short jerks or twitches on your rod and the texas rigged senko will behave like a jerkbait with a very erratic darting motion. Mixing in some long pauses followed by erratic retrieves like this can be effective.

[ronaultmtd]

Time on the water...experience is the greatest teacher...go fishing!

[bassguy84]

I'm not sure if they still make them but I could use one bait almost the whole day. They were called strike king zeros. They are like zman where they can stretch a mile. If u need something more weedless and are just learning and want to hook up with bass a zoom weightless finesse worm texes rigged is a great start as well. It will help u learn how to glide and move baits underwater. Also u can use extremely light gear, and to me that's some of the most fun in fishing. Good luck.

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