I was throwing a junebug spiderjig and had a couple light hits around submerged rocks in 6-8 ft of water, but nothing would stay on. Brian was throwing a candy corn colored senko type bait made by bass pro shops. With no success in the deeper water we decided to try something a little more shallow.

On our way to the north end of the lake brian saw some rocks in 4 ft of water we had never seen before (the lake is down 2 ft). We stopped and brian threw his candy corn stick bait at the rocks. He instantly hooked into something big. His rod doubled up and the fight was on. After 10 seconds it was over and we never saw the fish.

After a brief cursing session brian threw right back in the place he had hooked up, and instantly the fight was on again. This time he landed it. It was about 24 inches and 6.5 lbs. Sometimes things just work out I guess.

We kept fishing for another hour, but the wind had picked up and the temp dropped. In all we landed one smallmouth and 4 largemouth. Not a bad first trip if I say so myself!

Just for you Brian, here is the profile.

As an angler that has fished with senkos and other soft jerk baits for almost 10 years now, I can tell you that I have tried almost every kind of imitation and knockoff lure out there in hopes of finding one that outperforms the original senko made by the yamamoto bait company. After all this “research” I can honestly tell you that not all stick baits are created equal.

First lets list a few of the senko imitators, and then we will go through the some the advantages and disadvantages of each. The list below is by no means a complete list of the generic / imitation senkos available on the market today, but merely a collection of some of the most popular brands.

Net Bait Salt Lick Worm
Strike King Ocho Soft Baits
Bass Pro Shops Tournament Series Stik-O
Berkley Gulp Sinking Minnow
Chompers Salty Sinker Worms
Kinami Flash
Luck “E” Strike Salty Elite Series Jogger Worm
Yum Dinger Worms
Strike King 3x Plastic Zero
Berkley Gulp Alive Jerk Shad

Now that we have a nice list lets go through some of the general advantages and disadvantages of the original yamamoto senko versus the list. The first advantage that we see with the yamamoto senko is its weight. Right out of the package you will feel that the senko is heavier than all of the baits in the list above. This heaviness gives the bait greater castability and lets it sink fast for fish in deeper water. The yamamoto senko also comes loaded with salt which some of the knockoffs do not have. As far as color and size selection is concerned yamamoto baits by far has the edge.

Now for some of the downfalls of the original senko. Even though these baits feel heavier and more rugged than some of the other baits, it has been my experience that they are easily torn and usually only last two or three fish. Some of the other baits like the Stick-O from Bass Pro and and the Berkley Gulp Sinking Minnow tend to hold up much better. I have caught 15 bass on a single Stick-O Lure. A second negative to the original senko is the cost. At roughly $6.99 for a bag of 10 baits, senkos are by far the most costly, giving you less bait for the buck. For a cheap alternative try the Kinami Flash which is also made by Yamamoto baits, but it is labeled under the Kinami name. For an even better value the Stick-O is about half the price for double the baits, and has a great selection of colors and sizes. I highly recommend giving them a try if you have a bass pro shops close by, or you can order them online.

One differentiating feature of some imitators versus the original senko is smell. This can be a positive or a negative depending on the situation. Obviously when the fish are feeding they can be triggered to strike solely on movement, vibration and sight, but when the fish are fickle an attractant may improve you chances of hooking up. If you aren’t catching fish with a scented bait you still get stink hand for your efforts, especially with the berkley baits.

The moral of the story is that with all of the baits listed in this article you will catch fish, but under certain circumstances one will work better than the other. I still feel that the original senko reigns supreme, but, if you want an all around good soft jerk bait without the price tag on the yamamoto baits, the Stick-O by bass pro shops is my number one choice. If you can’t get your hands on a package of Stick-O’s the Kinami flash is your next best option since they are sold locally at almost every sporting good store and walmart.

Number 4: Yozuri Banana Boat

I have found that the Yozuri banana boat is one of the best lures to use when fish are active and you are looking to cover alot of water in a little amount of time. The following features and characteristics are what set this bait apart from the rest and make it a must have in any bass angler’s tackle box.

• Castability – The banana boat is very aerodynamic and casts like a bullet. Being able to cast this bait a long way makes it a better choice over a conventional popper or topwater walking bait. Make a nice long cast parallel to structure and start working the bait back and forth and the fish won’t be able to resist striking.
• Unique Action – Like most other floating topwater baits, the banana boat is fished with a “walk the dog” presentation, however the action produced while “walking” the banana boat is very unique and that is what will trigger more hard hitting strikes over a conventional topwater bait.
• Fast Retrieve – Since a banana boat is best used when fishing for active fish feeding on the surface, a fast retrieve becomes a plus for this bait since you can cover alot of water very quickly.  This is helpful in finding fish, as well developing a pattern for the rest of the day.
• Treble Hooks – With 6 treble hooks on a small bait like the banana boat, you will notice a good ratio of strikes to hookups versus a bait that only has a single hook or 3 treble hooks.  The design of the bait also allows for the bait to sit upright in the water in between twitches, which increases the chances of hooking up.

Now that we have seen the positives of this bait, I would like to touch on some of the negatives that come along with the banana boat, and most topwater baits in general.

The first negative is the amount of work expended walking this bait. A constant twitch retrieve is required for maximum action on this bait, and a few hours of this can really be a workout… The good news is that you don’t notice how much your arms hurt when you get a bunch of explosive strikes.

The second negative is that many times after a cast or during the retrieve your line will get caught on the front treble hook, or even on both sets of hooks, which costs valuable time in the strike zone.  Although this happens with the banana boat, it tends to happen more so with other similar topwater baits, and mostly with poppers in my experience.

The third negative has to do seasonality. This bait only produces fish when the conditions are right.  The bass must be actively feeding and willing to chase a bait.  This limits how many fish you can catch on a banana boat, and is ultimately why this bait is near the end of our top 5 list.

The baits come in 7 different colors, including: Blue/Silver, Clown, Gold/Black, Trout, Tennessee Shad, Black/Redhead, Red Head. My personal favorite is the Tennessee Shad.

So the next time the fish are chasing bait, try the Yozuri Banana Boat, you won’t be disappointed!

Up Next is the Wiggle Wart Crankbait Coming Soon

Previous Segments:

Number 1: The Senko

Number 2: The Spinnerbait

Number 3: The Spider Grub

Number 3: The Spider Grub

I have ranked the spider grub number 3 in the list because of its extraordinary fish catching ability, ease of use and broad range of fishing techniques available. The following characteristics are what make the spider grub a great tool to help you land more bass on a consistent basis.

• Castability – The spider grub is a jig based lure meant to be fished along the bottom and is therefore heavier than most artificial baits. The heavier a bait is, the farther you can cast it, allowing you to be far enough from your target structure so you don’t spook the typically skittish cold water bass.
• Versatility – A spider jig can be fished a number of different ways. The most common is a jig and stop retrieve in which you cast towards the structure you want to fish (rocks, submerged stumps, knocked down trees, etc) and let the bait fall to the bottom. Once on the bottom, reel the slack out of your line, and wait a few seconds. Most of the strikes come on the initial drop so be ready to set the hook. If you don’t get a hit on the initial drop give the lure a jig by giving an easy controlled jerk of the rod upward, and reel in the slack, wait a few seconds and repeat. Don’t waste time jigging all the way back to the boat, if a fish doesn’t hit within 10 feet of your target structure, you likely wont get one on that cast, so reel in and recast. Another common retireve is a “swimming” retrieve, in which you keep a steady slow retrieve, keeping the bait swimming horizontal along the bottom. This is most effective when fish are more active, mostly the end of spring and beginning of fall. I have personally found the swim method to produce less fish and most fish I do catch seem to be from drop offs where the horizontal motion becomes vertical. If you had to choose a technique stay with the vertical jigging, it will produce more fish.
• Ease of use – The spider jig is easy to use; simply cast it out, reel in the slack, and give it a jig. The difficult part for beginners is the hookset. My advice is to not react too quickly when throwing a spider jig. Typically a fish will grab the bait and hold onto it, allowing you enough time to reel in your slack and get a solid hookset. With no slack in the line (especially when using braided line), your hook to bite ratio will go up substantially.
• Variety – With more manufacturers jumping on the spider grub band wagon, there is are is an abundent assortment of styles, colors, shapes, and sizes to choose from. Here are a few of my favorites:

Cabin Creek Salty Spider Jig

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Chompers Hula Grub (smells like garlic)

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Yamamoto Double Tail Hula Grub

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The Cabin creek salty spider jig is great if you want the jighead included, but they get expensive since bass tear them apart, but they also sell just the “spider jig parts” at online retailers. The other two listed above perform equally well if you use a 1/4 to 3/8 ounce jighead, and are a better value as you get more baits per dollar. If you could only buy 2 colors I would get a black with blue fleck, and a pumpkinseed color. Those two colors will cover 90% of your fishing environments well.

I would have ranked the spider grub higher in the list if it wasn’t for the fact that it is a “seasonal” bait, having most if not all of it’s success in the colder months of the fishing season (here in the Northeast those months are March-May and October-December), when the fish are tight to the bottom and are feeding only if presented with an easy meal. So what are you waiting for, get out and buy some spider grubs for this Fall!

Up Next is the Yozuri Banana Boat CLICK HERE to keep reading…

Previous Segments:

Number 1: The Senko

Number 2: The Spinnerbait

Number 2: The Spinnerbait

As an all purpose bait much like the senko, spinnerbaits give you the freedom and flexibility to fish almost any body of water or weather condition with great success. Matching one of the following retrieve methods to your particular fishing conditions will help you land more fish.

• Topwater Retrieve – For more agressive fishing conditions such as early morning or at dusk, a spinnerbait can be retrieved quickly along the surface of a shallow shoreline resulting in explosive topwater strikes. The key to this technique is keeping your retrieve at a steady speed producing a ripple effect on the top of the water.
• Deep Retrieve – In cold weather conditions, when fish are tight to deep structure, a spinnerbait can be retrieved slowly. Allowing the bait to bump the structure will entice even the most dormant bass to strike. Don’t worry about snags. Unlike jigs, fishing a deep water structure with a spinnerbait almost never results in a lost bait since the hook point is always upwards and guarded by the head of the lure.
• Start and Stop – When fishing submerged grass mats in 5-10 feet of water, a combination of the previous two techniques seems to provide the best results. A moderate speed retrieve interrupted by momentary pauses will produce a fluttering effect in your bait which will catch the attention of even the most finicky bass by simulating a dying baitfish and enticing a primal instinct to feed.
• Jigging – During the spring spawn, jigging a spinnerbait on beds will bring defensive strikes from protective females. I would recommend using a jig for this situation, but if you’re in a pinch and you see a trophy bass on a bed, give the spinnerbait a try.

Along with it’s versatility in retrieves, a spinnerbait will allow you to “customize” your fishing experience. If you want a noisy bait you can use large colorado or willow blades. If you want something more flashy, you can use silver or gold blades. You can add a trailer for accent color or to provide more action to the bait. A trailer hook can be attached, and will likely improve your odds of keeping a fish on after their initial jump.

Now that you’ve got your spinnerbait all rigged up, the best way to ensure success is persistance. Most fishermen lack confidence in the bait and are quick to put it back in their tackle box if they don’t have a hit on their first three casts. Give it time, be patient, and try the techniques above and you will catch fish!

Up Next is the Spider Grub… Click Here To Continue Reading

Previous Segments:

Number 1: The Senko

Many novice fishermen and fisherwomen ask me how I always know how and where to catch fish. In this series of articles I will attempt to address the first question by giving you my top 5 lures that I always have in my tackle box and would never want to be on the water without.

Number 1: The Senko

This lure is an absolute must have. It has completely revolutionized the artificial bait industry, and has made the old fashioned rubber worm obsolete. The senko was originally created by the Yamamoto bait company, but has been cloned by almost all major lure manufacturing companies. Here are the names of some of the senko knock-offs: Stick-O by Bass Pro Shops, Kinami Flash, Wave Tiki Worms, Mann’s Hard Nose Freefall Worms, Berkley Gulp Sinking Minnow, Chompers Salty Sinker Worms, Netbait Salt Lick Worm, Strike King 3x Plastic Zero Worm, Yum Dinger Worms, and the list goes on and on!

The characteristics that set this bait apart from the rest are its fishability, durability, and multitude of rigging options.

• Fishability – This lure is extremely easy to fish, casts like a bullet, and is an appropriate bait choice for almost any weather condition, season, or body of water. Most of the time you will get a hit simply by throwing it around cover or structure and letting it sink. All you have to do is set the hook and bring in your catch. Sometimes it requires a twitch or two, but even that is a simple way to catch fish.
• Durability – Built to last, you can easily land 5-10 fish on a single bait depending on your rigging method and brand of choice. The Mann’s Hard Nose Free Fall Worms tend to hold up the best since the tip of the bait is made of a harder material. Even if the top of a senko type bait gets torn, you can snip it off and the bait functions as normal, and continues to catch fish. Try that with a normal rubber worm!
• Rigging Options – The senko is possibly the most versatile bait on the market today. It can be rigged texas style, wacky rigged, carolina rigged, or jigged. Whether it’s shallow shoreline, under docks (you can easily skip a texas rigged senko), deep structure, or around fallen trees, the number of rigging options with a senko allows you to fish any conditions you are faced with.

If you haven’t tried a senko yet, you don’t know what you are missing! Here’s a couple tips if you are going to try one of these baits for the first time:

Fish it slow and keep you line tight so you can feel when a fish picks up the bait. Set the hook if you are texas rigging, jigging, or carolina rigging. DO NOT set the hook if you are wacky rigging with a circle hook. If you don’t get a hit within the 10 feet of the structure you are fishing, reel it in and cast again (most fish are caught on the initial drop). Now get out there and catch some fish!

Up Next is the Spinnerbait… Click Here to Continue Reading!

Two weeks ago we were in the midst of a heatwave and there was not a cloud in the sky, but today the fog was so thick we only had about 20 feet of visibility when we launched the boat (see photos below). The last time we fished together all of our fish were found on structure and in shaded areas, but today there was not much to be found on structure or under docks (we went 1 for 6 on the fish we had hooked up).  I decided to fish the same weed beds that we fished last night with my parents and Erik, and it turned out to be a very good choice.

We immediately started catching fish off the grass.  After catching 4 or 5 smaller fish in a couple minutes, Brian got a strong hit and a nice bass came flipping out of the water. I put my pole down to give him a hand landing the fish.  This bass was strong and Brian could barely budge it in the weeds, he jumped 3 more times over the next 2 minutes and I finally got a hand on him and brought it into the boat. It weighed roughly 5lbs and was about 22.5 inches. We snapped a pic with Brian’s cell and released her to fight another day.

Check out that hog in the fog… (Click To Enlarge)

The fun didn’t stop there though.  Right after Brian caught that fish, the area lit up with bass busting on schools of bait all around us.  Everytime we cast to a school of baitfish we caught a bass sitting under them.  This went on for about 30 minutes, and it didn’t matter what we were throwing.  We got them on senkos (texas and wacky rigged), yozuri banana boats, and spinnerbaits. We landed about 20 keepers, including one smallmouth, and then they turned off just as quick as they turned on.

We fished until about 1130a and then a rain storm came through so we went back to my house to play some mariokart wii. We went back out around 230p and fished for another 90 minutes before a nasty super cell went over the lake dropping the temp 15 degrees and bringing torrential downpours prompting us to call it a night. We did manage another 8-10 fish before the rains came, but nothing overly note worthy, but i did catch a huge red eyed rockbass.

MEATY LITTLE GUY (Click to enlarge)

Despite the weather we had a great time, and its always fun spending some time on the water with friends (it sure beats working)… Looking forward to doing it again soon…

Conditions:

Foggy, rainy, windy, water temp 74 degrees

After eating way too many pancakes we went to stew leonards and did some grocery shopping. By the time were done the weather cleared and me and my buddy Erik decided to take the boat out and do a little fishing. Right around that time my mom and dad had called and asked if they could come up and fish from shore so I invited them to come out with us and they agreed.

We got out on the water around 530p and the wind was ripping from the south at about 20-25mph so fishing docks and shallow structure would be tough since our ski boat doesn’t have a trolling motor. I decided that anchoring south of submerged weed beds (6ft of water) and casting into the with senkos would be our best bet. It was a good choice. I landed a nice bass on my first cast and then everyone on the boat followed close there after. We stayed out for about 2 hours and landed about 25 fish in total. Most fish were 1-2lbs with a couple over 2 pounds.

Here are a few pics from our trip:

We didn’t get anything real big, but at least we had fun and the weather stayed nice…

Conditions:

Windy, partly cloudy, water temp 75 degrees, evening.

The first 45 minutes was slow with my dad landing 2 rock bass and losing two nice largemouth by the boat (~2lbs each). I started with three or four keeper largemouths (biggest about 2.5lbs) and then the bite died down. I started throwing everything and anything I could find in my bag (spinnerbait, superfluke, red eye minnow, etc.) with no luck, meanwhile my father stayed with his wacky rigged senko since I thought it would give him the best chance of landing a large fish.

I decided to move to an area that had a large grass mat in about 6 feet of water next to a submerged rock pile. I tied on a yozuri banana boat, and just as we started fishing this area a couple of yahoos come flying in pulling up right next to us and start casting on top of our lures. To me this is unacceptable even on the river when fly fishing, let alone on a private lake and you are the only 2 boats out there. I bit my tongue and continued to “walk the dog” over the grass mats. On my 4th cast I had a huge strike that splashed water 3 feet in the air and the fight was on. I landed a 3lb laremouth right in front of the honey hole poachers.

My dad contiues to throw his senko around the submerged grass despite the ruckas being made by our neighboring fumbling fisherman getting their heavy jigs stuck in the weeds. I hear the scream of his drag as he says I’ve got something on here and it’s big. I jokingly tell him he’s stuck in the weeds, but put my rod down to give him a hand landing the fish. At that moment I see his fish flop right next to the offending boat and hear a muttered “holy sh*t” from one of the men on the boat.

The fight lasted about 2 minutes with a couple of close calls as the powerful bass made a few last runs under the boat and into the weeds. Finally I lipped it and brought it into the boat for a photo shoot. OOPS I forgot the camera… So you can all just imagine what a 24in 6+lb largemouth looks like. we released the fish to fight another day, and overheard the other fishermen say “Oh man they let it go”. Lucky for us and our lake that we caught that fish not the other guys fishing our territory, since it would probably be in a cooler or in the garbage right now.

We took a couple more casts in that area and then moved on as the other boat was encroaching even closer on us. We fished for another 20 minutes with no fish of note, and returned home under the setting sun and a cool breeze.

What a great night and a very good example of the fishing gods being friendly to those who fish infrequently. I’m looking forward to my next time out with my dad.

The fishing is definately getting tougher the last couple evenings, hopefully the break in the heat wave will stimulate the next big bite this week.