Rivers and Senkos 2024

jrk reply :

For all of you that like to fish Senkos while river fishing (read slight to moderate current), what style has been more sucessful for you, wacky or weightless TR? Very much appreciate your time in response.

riverfisher reply :

Neither style works in rivers!! Please bag them up and send them directly to my attention for proper disposal!! ;D

dixieboysles reply :

When my and my buddy fish with senkos, he rigs them wacky, I rig them Weightless TR and I flat wear him out every time. plus im not getting snagged as much so my cast to catch ratio is much better.

jrk reply :

Thanks for the replies...keep them coming.

Aluma-Bass reply :

both styles work great...for swift water i would go with weightless or t-rig bounce off bottom. In still or slack water wacky rig would do good! Cant go wrong either way...wacky rig will get hung up more of course but ive slayed'em of both ways.

also if senkos are working well for ya try a fluke! James river smallies eatem up!

Copen1822 reply :

Fish wacky rigged in slower/deeper pools. If current is a bigger factor I'm more likely to fish a T-rigged fluke.

If I do fish a wacky rig in swifter current I find it works well to cast straight downstream a few feet and then let the current take the bait down while keeping slight contact with the bait. When the bait hangs up I can pull up and back and generally get it to pop over whatever it's hung up on. Much less likely to get hung up then when casting upstream and drifting back to me.

RandySBreth reply :

I fish them both ways, but the wacky rig gets the nod for behind current breaks or anywhere I want to fish a little more thoroughly. Oh, for wacky rigging in the river, you could use a weedless hook you know...

Crestliner2008 reply :

Quote
I fish them both ways, but the wacky rig gets the nod for behind current breaks or anywhere I want to fish a little more thoroughly. Oh, for wacky rigging in the river, you could use a weedless hook you know...

Hey! Same hook I use whenever I fish snaggly, timber strewn river banks, when wacky rigging. Good hook, but the wire guards are not very sturdy.

BTW....do not limit yourself to Senkos - same applies to the Fat Ika. In my opinion, even more effective!

jrk reply :

Quote

Quote
I fish them both ways, but the wacky rig gets the nod for behind current breaks or anywhere I want to fish a little more thoroughly. Oh, for wacky rigging in the river, you could use a weedless hook you know...

Hey! Same hook I use whenever I fish snaggly, timber strewn river banks, when wacky rigging. Good hook, but the wire guards are not very sturdy.

BTW....do not limit yourself to Senkos - same applies to the Fat Ika. In my opinion, even more effective!

Interesting. So you use Fat Ikas with good results in river fishing? I was under the impression these were better for still water application, but not sure why I had that notion now that I think about it.

Crestliner2008 reply :

Very effective in rivers. Rig them reversed on an EWG 4/0 worm hook. Green pumpkin color. Cast quartering upstream, ahead of an eddy and hold on! You won't regret that you did.

Scorpio reply :

I do very well fishing senkos wacky with a jig head in the Susky.

IwillChooseFreeWill reply :

For the local Shoal and Blackwater River which is a bit faster, shallow, usually stained and some side pools. If it is in the river itself which has almost no vegetation in the main current and sandy bottom, I prefer wacky or carolina, and for the eddys and side pools, I prefer TR as they have more vegetation. Also on the wide sweeping bends, topwater hard baits like Devils Horse and topwater or very shallow spinners work very well.

NOTE: this is primarily for largemouth as smallies do not tend to come this far south or in these rivers (usually)

MNGeorge reply :

We often times fish both Wacky and TR simultaneously in the upper Mississippi. TR produces more bites for sure, but the average size is noticeably bigger on the Wacky rig. If you prefer TR, try a swimming Senko, we've had excellent results on them also.

Eternal Angler reply :

I'm all for wacky!

iceintheveins reply :

Senkos work best in slackwater areas of rivers IMO but I have caught them in swift water too. I usually do better on tubes and grubs in rivers though honestly. But in deep, slack areas, senkos rule.

grimlin reply :

Quote
Very effective in rivers. Rig them reversed on an EWG 4/0 worm hook. Green pumpkin color. Cast quartering upstream, ahead of an eddy and hold on! You won't regret that you did.

I don't fish senkos in any type of current.I'm Dead Serious.I never do well with them in current for whatever reason.I only break them out when the water is pretty much dead calm.

Fat Ika however....Got a little more action and the fish around here seem to like it. Same reason why i fish a lot of tube baits in the river systems.

cax1 reply :

i never have much luck with senkos i like to use zoom 4in lizards with gamagatch(sp) skip gap hooks

tntitans21399 reply :

I know this is a old post but I was curious what size hooks did you prefer for rigging a 4" senko?

Sam reply :

On 3/30/2018 at 11:43 AM, tntitans21399 said:

I know this is a old post but I was curious what size hooks did you prefer for rigging a 4" senko?

On 2/5/2010 at 12:19 AM, jrk said:

For all of you that like to fish Senkos while river fishing (read slight to moderate current), what style has been more successful for you, wacky or weightless TR? Very much appreciate your time in response.

Wacky

12poundbass reply :

5" senko 2/0 hook TR

roadwarrior reply :

SWEET!

All about da bass reply :

Neko rig.

TOXIC reply :

It's really great to see so many Senko fishermen and the different rigs. To the OP, I can relate to the current via a super tide swing in Florida. When the tide is moving it rivals a swift river. Other than fishing the breaks and eddys, when I was in Florida, I learned to use a Bullet screw in weight in the nose of the Senko. You have to rig it a little different to get enough plastic forward of the hook eye to grab with the weight but it is very effective. I also use that method here on the Potomac. I use a 1/4 oz football head jig, hook exposed, to drift fish in Michigan on St Clair. Deadly technique. I use a 3.0 EWG in a 4 inch Senko and a 4.0 in a 5 inch. That helps in keeping them from gut hooking. Gamakatsu makes a weighted wacky hook as well.

FryDog62 reply :

For smallmouth in rivers I use primarily wacky rigged Senkos on 1/16 oz VMC wacky hook with weed guard.

Fairtax4me reply :

Anybody have color suggestions for stained/murky water vs clear water?

FryDog62 reply :

For stained river water I’ve had great luck with Yamamoto “Blue Pearl Silver Fleck” which is basically white with flecks. Also try Kalin’s in “Baby Bass” it’s mostly green but has a white underside on it. I have found that worm to work really well in both clear and murky water. The white stripe is subtle enough in clear, but really shows up in stained water. Great garlic smell and salty taste (goes great with beer;)...less expensive and more durable than Yamasenkos too.

Probably 90% of the hundreds of smallmouth I’ve caught in the rivers in the past 5 years have been on those two colors... the biggest fish too.

Wurming67 reply :

Senkos bass fishermen best friend,thank you Gary Yamamoto

Sam reply :

On 3/31/2018 at 6:34 AM, Fairtax4me said:

Anybody have color suggestions for stained/murky water vs clear water?

Junebug for stained/murky water is an option.

LCG reply :

I don't fish a senko much, plan to do it more this year, but when I do it's usually wacky rigged on a pond and the Junebug colour works well.

InFishingWeTrust reply :

Last year I had good success rigged both ways on the Shenandoah. Even got a buddy fishing them.

TnRiver46 reply :

I've been throwing a black knock off senko for the last year or two regardless of water color. They like it in clear or muddy water, from fast current to dead still water

FryDog62 reply :

On 3/31/2018 at 6:34 AM, Fairtax4me said:

Anybody have color suggestions for stained/murky water vs clear water?

I’ve had every bit as good of luck with Berkley Maxscent General and Kalin’s WAC-O-Worms... except they are more scented, less expensive and last longer than Yamamotos.

Lord Castlereagh reply :

Hi, All:

I'm going Potomac River fishing tomorrow for smallmouth.

What is "weightless TR"?

Have to know this before heading out tomorrow.

Thanks

Choporoz reply :

Can't speak for OP, but I assumed he meant Texas Rigged, when he wrote 'TR'...though there are nitpickers out there who might say that there's no such thing as weightless TR....so, I further assume that he meant that the hook enters the 'head' and rigged so as to be 'texposed'...but without any additional weight

Fairtax4me reply :

Good advice on colors and alternative stick baits! I'll try to put some of that to use in the next few weeks.

Only thing I don't like about Yamasenkos is they tear up too easily. If I'm careful with them I can usually get 3-4 fish on one but then they're trashed. But I cut the chewed up parts off and use the rest on a ned rig or weightless on ponds.

bowhunter63 reply :

Rig them both ways,Wacky and Texas Rig.I started using the o rings and saves alot of baits.Smallie killers

Graham reply :

On 3/31/2018 at 6:34 AM, Fairtax4me said:

Anybody have color suggestions for stained/murky water vs clear water?

I really like dark pumpkin with purple black and emerald flake

wacky style with 1/8oz hook

FryDog62 reply :

Use these, they work way better than o-rings... the worms last much longer, easier to put on, don’t need to mess with a tool to put them on either.

http://cadmansjigs.weebly.com/wacky-worm-sleeves.html

Or if you want to Texas Rig and have the Senko last longer, use screw lock hooks like these. They are actually what Gary Yamamoto uses himself (yes, another company's Hooks). 5/0 balances a 5 inch worm for a perfect horizontal fall:

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Twistlock_Light_Hook/descpage-OTLL.html

Or same thing only weighted:

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Weighted_Twistlock_Light_3pk/descpage-OWTL.html

Bronzeback23 reply :

Wacky all the way

charliepff reply :

Wacky is always my fallback on rivers. The first time I used it the water was low and super clear. There were huge grass grow fields in the slower current with pockets on them. The first cast into a pocket I caught a 3 lb. fish. It works amazing. Just make sure to pay attention to your type of hook to avoid gut hooking fish.

MikeInWyandotte reply :

Here's another twist for wacky that I use in the Detroit River... which moves a massive amount of water with a very strong current. Because of this, weightless simply doesn't work, just can't get down quick enough in the strong flow... especially when most of the smallies being targeted are in 8 to 16 feet if water in most places. Rig it wacky on a drop shot. For me, I'm generally using a 3/16 to 1/8 oz dropper set anywhere from 6 to 24 inches beneath the hook. Depends upon where the fish are in the water column. Always cast 20-30 feet upstream of my target area. By the time the current brings the bait into the target area my dropper is bumping along the bottom.

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Rivers and Senkos 2024

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