Imagination Bassin Company Information

At Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, we design over 40 models of soft baits, over 90 colors, custom hooks, jigs, Sugoi fluorocarbon line, custom fishing rods, scent attractant, Sugoi Splash poppers, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits. Best of all, we help teach you bass fishing and how to make our good baits better for you in the pages of the Inside Line Magazine and our free Weekly Ezine.

Web sites:	www.baits.com / www.insideline.net
Toll free:	(800) 645-2248
Email:	RComeau@baits.com

THE INSIDE LINE EZINE
SEPTEMBER 25, 2001 - VOL. 2 NO. 33
This is a FREE fishing ezine. Forward it to your friends!

Here are two quotes from George Welcome, owner of Imagination Bassin' Guide Services on Florida's Stick Marsh/Farm 13:

"You can't go wrong using Senkos, and if you're not using them you are wrong."

"You can't go wrong fishing the Stick Marsh with me and if you haven't booked me yet get busy and call: (772) 532-7440."

George makes no polite attempt to water down his words with political correctness. No pretending here to take a kinder, gentler American approach. I like this guy. Anyway, I think he's right.

Unless you haul off to Mexico, you probably can't do any better in the USA than a warm, sunny trip this winter for big Florida bass on the fabled Stick Marsh/Farm 13 with George.

George is right about the Senko too. I suppose I should "be fair" and give equal airtime in the ezine to crank baits or whatever else. Well, that's not going to happen; At least not this week. Based on feedback coming in from every corner of the country, the best fishing tip I can give you right now is still this:

Each of the modules below is a discrete building block. On any given day or season, I'll string together any one or all of these building blocks to create a successful weightless Senko presentation. You can too.

1) THE SPLASH
Make no mistake, an attractive, life-like splash is as important as anything else you do. The initial splash is an essential part of the presentation. I have often had fish swim away and leave my bait as I tried to entice them to hit it, because my partner cast and splashed his bait 15 feet away, behind the fish. Apparently, an enticing splash is often of more interest to a bass than bait in its face!

Understand this, a bass will come over to investigate a splash, sight unseen. Also understand there is nothing more the bass would like to do when he gets there than to bite your bait as soon as he sees it. I call this phenomenon "love at first sight" and it is purely instinctive. Upon getting near enough to eyeball the bait closely however, many bass will turn away from it, and slink back down to the bottom.
This is an indication that the bass rejected something. If bass come up but turn away, change color or size of your Senko. Change hooks weight or line weight. What you want is to get them to come up on the splash and quickly engulf it or at least keep from turning away and losing interest in the bait as it falls.

2) THE DROP
Ever drop a live earthworm in the water? Their bodies roll in slow motion and both tips squiggle as the worm half-swims, half-glides itself down to the bottom. The worm tries to maintain a semi-controlled fall and keep some sort of horizontal equilibrium. A weightless Senko swims and glides itself down into the water just like a live earthworm, with the body rocking and both tips twitching. Like an earthworm, a weightless Senko also "controls" its fall by maintaining a horizontal equilibrium. The Senko maintains this control over itself whether it is nose-rigged, Texas-rigged or wacky-rigged.

Crayfish do this too. Have you ever seen them free-fall to bottom by spreading their legs out like a parachute to slow their fall and maintain equilibrium? Injured baitfish does this too. Injured though they may be, they often seem intent on maintaining some degree of controlled fall and horizontal equilibrium.

Senkos imitate all this, the parachute-like fall, the horizontal controlled glide, and many fish hit them on the drop. To most people, this is the heart and soul of Senko fishing. If you don't do anything else discussed in this article (the splash, the tip, the twitch, etc.), concentrate on the drop.

Hook weight and line weight are both variables that affect just how much action the Senko has as it swims and glides on the drop. Take some time out from fishing. Experiment with different hook sizes, weights and models. Use different line weights in a swimming pool, off a dock or whatever. You will learn so much about what makes a Senko tick. You cannot easily learn this while you are trying to catch fish at the same time. If you do this in a pool for an hour every so often, you will have far more confidence and far better Senko presentation skills when it comes to actual fishing. Ironically, you will catch more fish because you took time out from fishing!

3) THE TWITCH
Many anglers say you should NOT twitch your Senkos. I think the mistake many anglers make is in the definition of what's a "twitch". It's not a Herculean jerk you know! Think of what we mean by a "twitchy trigger finger" or when we say somebody twitches his or her nose. In either of those examples, a "twitch" is a small, hardly noticeable movement. Twitching Senkos does not need to be much more than that either.

Make no mistake; a flinching, flickering Senko is OFTEN highly desirable to fish. I've often had bass lose interest in an unadulterated drop with the Senko. This happens more in hot water than cold. At times, fish would watch it and follow it down for a few seconds as it dropped, then lose interest and swim away. But twitch it a bit, and those disinterested departing fish make a beeline straight back to
the Senko! If they start swimming away again, twitch it...they're back again!

In clear water, twitching is easier to pattern than in dingy or dark water. In clear water, you can observe what the fish do, how they respond, and adjust the twitch accordingly. You need to uncover whatever kind of twitching action works according to what the fish want to hit on any given day.

The visual feedback you get in clear water WORKS WONDERS for unlocking a twitching pattern. You can also figure out the twitch pattern in dingy or dirty water, but it is best to study the nuances of what the fish want in clear water. Then replicate that when you fish a dingy lake. This works because there's usually a seasonal aspect to twitching, rather than a clear vs. dingy distinction.

Personally, I would practice learning all the ins and outs of the bait's twitch movements in that pool again (which seems to be a common theme running through this article). Then you will know how to twitch it, and how the bait reacts to a twitch, even when you cannot see it.

4) THE TIP
Most people tip waiters or waitresses (if the service is good). I've heard that country boys tip cows, and they may have heard that city slickers tip taxi drivers. I also tip Senkos.

The reason I tip them is that sometimes for some unknown reason (line drag or it just starts to fall wrong), the wriggly double tip-swimming action of a Senko does not get started on the drop. In clear water, I can see the action's not started. In dingy water, I'll just tip them when the rod and line are in a good position to do it.

How I tip them is to sort of roll the rod under and up in an effort to toss a loop down the line above the surface. This does not move the Senko forward at all, but causes it to merely raise its head where the line is tied to it, effectively standing on its tail. When the tip is done, the Senko will then shoot backwards like an arrow tail-first, swing forward and backward like a pendulum a few times, then regain its equilibrium and exhibit strong tip-swimming action.

Yes, you can maneuver the Senko in under submerged tree branches, into a rock cut or weed edge like this. So, the tip can get the Senko a bit back into a hidey-hole, rock it, then exhibit strong tip-swimming action (just what the bass doctor ordered). Once you learn how to do it properly (in
the pool again), you'll find situations to tip your Senkos all the time.

5) THE BOTTOM
You may have attracted a fish with the splash. A fish may have eyeballed the Senko greedily, rushed it and turned away on the drop, its heart may have jumped when you twitched it or tipped it to stimulate better swimming action. You would have hoped a fish would rush up and smack it before it hits bottom, and often that's true. Many fish do hit Senkos on the drop, and there's even a theory that fish should prefer to do that before descending bait reaches protection of the bottom.

However, the bottom is often where everything comes together. Let your Senko settle down here without moving it. Unlike jigs or weighted rigs, the weightless Senko's horizontal posture and its long, stiff body keep it from delving deeply into snags. If a fish has been eyeballing the Senko as it dropped, there is no such thing as leaving it lay motionless too long. The fish knows the Senko is there and will come over and eat it...sooner or later. A bass cannot stand this temptation. However, if the fish eventually turns away from the Senko, guess what? Twitch it!

Can't see the fish because it's hidden in cover or the water's dingy? It doesn't matter. Let it lay there for the longest, then shake the rod tip sideways to make the bait quiver without moving forward...then let it lay there for the longest again. Often fish will just sit motionless and watch the Senko in front of them on the bottom for a long time before inhaling it.

6) THE LIFT
So long as you want to keep the Senko coming out and over the bottom, simply raise the rod tip slowly and lower it slowly. The Senko will tip up towards you, rising up off bottom as you raise the rod tip. The "raise" is only like raising a flag so the bass can see it. Then simply hold it so the Senko regains horizontal equilibrium and tip-swims back down to bottom as you follow it down with the rod tip. On the horizontal drop they eat it. Pause for a pick-up (no such thing as too long) when you make bottom contact again. Repeat for as long as you want to keep the Senko coming out and over the bottom.

7) THE RETRIEVE
Now, those were the slow parts of the presentation - the splash, the drop, the bottom, etc. If there have been no takers; reel in the Senko at a pace that draws fish up to follow it. This could be slow or moderate pace in cold water, but more often it's semi-fast reeling with sporadic twitches in hot water, and always a few long pauses to let the bait glide or drop back down deeper along the way!

Fish will usually come up to follow the bait as it's reeled in, then break off the chase and sink deeper when you pause it. There are two reliable ways to trigger bites (both require twitching).

First, twitch it when the fish is behind it during the reeling phase. Second, let it fall to a depth somewhat deeper, and twitch it a few times before it fades into the murkiness. A following fish will often lurk below, stalking it on the fall, and the twitching triggers the reaction bite. Keep in mind, twitching Senkos does not need to be much more than that of a rabbit's nose.

That's all there is to it. Just use them. Don't rack your brain trying to find something better. You'll only take some of the fun out of it, and as George Welcome says, you'll probably be wrong anyway. :)