Unlocking the Basic Secrets of the
Weightless Yamamoto Senko
by
Chris Woehl
If there is ever an all purpose bait that can assist the
most novice of angler as well as any tournament pro fill their livewell with green backs, it’s the Yamamoto Senko! From its infancy back in the 90’s the
senko has been making fish bite vigorously day to day
regardless of the conditions or season.
One of the amazing aspects of the senko is
it’s ability to be catch fish with a multitude of
techniques. You can texas-rig it, Carolina-rig it,
The Right
Equipment
My preferred setup for
fishing a weightless senko is a Daiwa TD-X 6.3:1 gear ratio reel
spooled with 14lb. Trilene XT on a Kistler LTA 7’ Medium-Heavy casting rod which
has a fast tip, with a 4/0 Eagle
Claw extra wide gap worm hook.
The Daiwa reel is my preference because of its easily adjustable external
brake and spool tension knob which makes small adjustments a cinch in order to
throw a senko into the wind or long distances without
back lashing my reel. Trilene XT is a dependable, stiff monofilament line
sensitive enough to transmit the lightest of bites to my fingers and is tough
enough to haul them out of obstructions. The Kistler rod and its fast tip enhance the sensitive for those
light bites. As for the Eagle Claw
hooks they are a light-wire hook, which can penetrate a fish’s mouth with
minimal resistance and make for an easier hook set with less fish coming
unbuttoned. Now we have the gear
let’s talk about the technique.
The weightless
Senko
Fishing a weightless senko has made my biceps
bigger and my forearms stronger from setting the hook and hauling lunkers to the boat.
Fishing a weightless senko is an easy technique
to master with the right combination of gear and senko
sizes. I mostly fish the 5” senko in most conditions unless the wind is up, then I will switch to a larger senko with more weight or add a nail weight to the senko. The most
productive spots I have found for fishing a weightless senko are areas where the water is very calm with little or
no ripple on the water and depths shallower than 10ft.
The senko is injection molded using synthetic
plastic beads which with the right combination of salt gives it an action in the
water like no other bait.
Therefore, the senko when rigged weightless
flutters down through the water column at a snails pace making it irresistible
to lingering bass. That’s
right, it flutters down on its own, which means you don’t have to do anything
but throw it out and let it work its magic. This a technique called
“Dead-Sticking” (
Line
Watching
Becoming a line watcher can be one of the more difficult of the tasks to
master, but it becomes much easier when you know what you are looking for. The key to watching your line is
pinpointing were the line meets the water.
If you find where the line meets the water you can: watch the rate at
which the line falls, see if your line jumps because a fish bites your lure, or
see if your line swims away because a bass has it in his mouth. If you have a tough time seeing your
line, try switching line colors (clear / green / fluorescent) Flourescent line is the easiest to see in the sunlight, but
keep in mind if you can see the line the fish probably can too, so only use it
until you are comfortable and know what to look for.
Rod
Position
The second key to catching more fish on a weightless senko is correct rod position. After the initial cast, you need to get
your rod tip high into a 10 to 11:30 postion without
reeling in much slack. This will
allow you to “feel” when a fish strikes your bait on the fall, which is when
most bass strike. You will “feel”
even the lightest of bites with your rod high versus being held low. The only time you need to lower you rod
is to reel up the slack after prior to moving the bait or when you are setting
the hook
Moving the
bait
After you have made your cast and moved your rod in the correct 10-11:30
postion you will count to 10 or let the senko go all the way to the bottom, which you can feel when
it hits the bottom if your rod is in the right position. Letting the bait fall in this controlled
slack fashion is referred to as “dead sticking”. Then you will drop your rod tip slowly
while reeling in just enough slack to take the bow out of your line. Next raise the rod to back to the
correct position which will move the senko. This will move the bait anywhere from 10
to 24 inches depending on your rod length.
Then you will count to 10 or let the senko
flutter all the way to bottom again. Repeat these steps until your bait is out
of the strike zone.
The Strike
Zone
The senko is a visual
bait. Meaning if bass see it
they will usually be enticed into biting it because of it’s irresistible fall.
Therefore, a senko can be vicious around cover
or anywhere a bass may be hiding, bedding, stalking, or cruising. Although, I have caught many bass on a
senko casting it into open areas in the backs of coves
or sloughs drawing bass from some distances in clear
water. If you are fishing a senko around cover or isolated targets fancast the area and reel it in when you are half way back
to the boat or have not received a strike away from those targets. Make every cast count and make your bait
be in the most product water the largest amount of time. Don’t waste a moment dead sticking a
senko all the way back to the boat. When you are half way back jerk it
quickly like a soft jerk bait and cast it back in those
productive areas.