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Say What?! Senko Jigs
By Pat Xiques

SAY WHAT?!? For those of you who may be wondering, listen to what Northeast pro staffer Pat Xiques has to say. He's a Senko jig pioneer! You can be one too!

I was really getting frustrated last fall. Worse yet, it was even on my own home lake! Via my electronics, I saw lots of what I assumed were big smallmouth - they were suspended high in the water column but would not bite. And my attempts at finessing the apparently "lethargic" bass were futile, at best. They wouldn’t eat anything I offered but what I did get, day after day, were big smallies following the bait to the surface.

I tried grubs, tubes, crankbaits, jerkbaits – you name it, I threw it. All to no avail, just big boils on the surface and a flash of bronze as the big bass turned back to the depths after spotting the boat. I had some success with a Senko, both wacky style and Texas-rigged, but I noticed the fish I was connecting with were much smaller than the behemoths that teased me at the surface.

That’s when it hit me . . . don’t slow down and finesse, speed it up to agitate ‘em into biting! After thinking about it I rigged a four-inch (9S) Senko on a 1/4-ounce jighead. I was hoping the speed of the fall might trigger a bite as the bait was spiraling toward bottom. The rest is history; it was the birth of the Senko Jig!

I couldn’t wait to share the news. I called my friend and tournament partner, Mike DelVisco, right there from the casting deck on my cell phone, "Mike, you have to be here tomorrow, I finally figured them out!" Of course, he thought I was nuts, at least he did until I described the afternoon’s events - a dozen four-pounders and two over five, all smallmouth!

Mike showed up that same evening, rods in hand, a duffel bag full of Senkos, and all he asked was "What time are we getting up?" He was as excited as I was; we’d both spent way too many hours watching those "no-bite" bass on the electronics. Now, we’d have our day.

The Senko jig is nothing more than a four-inch Senko, either a 9J or a 9S-Series, rigged on a leadhead. That’s it. How could it be any simpler? I think that the simplicity is a big part of its appeal.

As long as the bass continue to "stack" I start each morning by looking for bait, cruising slowly in likely areas, closely watching the console-mount depth finder. Once I locate the huge schools of bait the trolling motor goes down and I stay on top of them with the bow mount unit. The schools are alewives (herring), and are always roaming here on my home lake in Mahopac, New York, but alewives or herring are also common on waters throughout the East.

They don’t set up relative to structure, like bait does in other impoundments around the nation. I’m told it’s the nature of this local forage – they’re an open water fish and move from area to area based on the amount of micro algae that’s available. Knowing their prey, the smallmouth bass follow along just below the schools, picking off the weak or sick baitfish as they fall out of the ranks. By mimicking that "thinning of the herd" scenario, the Senko Jig seems to be just what the doctor ordered.

Most of the time I throw natural baitfish colors. My favorites include Daiquiri (237), Blue Pearl with hologram flake (239), Blue Pearl with Silver (031), the experimental Watermelon Senko Shiner (907) and Cream White (036). Although I’ve experimented with darker colors like black and red, I’ve found the more natural-looking shades perform better since we are trying to mimic an injured baitfish.

I’ve also played with the Senko Jig, to change its appearance or fall rate. For instance, we found that by thermo-welding an 11-Series Yamamoto Skirt to the front of the Senko (with a lighter or a candle) you can change the fall rate and the color scheme. I think adding the skirt also helps when faced with stained water conditions; the added bulk moves more water.

Obviously, it’s a winner if you’re trying to "match the hatch" more closely. By playing with color combinations you can closely mimic a variety of baitfish such as yellow perch, bluegill (bream), shad, or any other local food varieties your bass are keying on.

Moment of Truth

The strike on this technique is as special as the rig itself. It can range from a stunning thud, much the same as one feels as a Texas-style worm falls toward bottom, and is intercepted on the way down, to a barely perceptible tick on the line. The key here is to maintain complete bait awareness.

I found line watching closely to be very helpful. Most strikes come without a noticeable sensation – the jig just starts falling more quickly. This is usually a sure sign that a smallmouth has inhaled the bait on its way down. These smallies are feeding in the mid water column, moving through it at about mach one – at least that’s what it feels like.

When they decide your offering is one of the sick or dying from the school they just slurp it up on the way through. When you detect the hit reel as quickly as possible. There’s usually a tremendous amount of slack in the line; most of it generated as the bait free-falls before being eaten. The key is to gather that slack as fast as possible, and get a tight line between you and the bass.

I cannot stress too much how important it is to turn that handle as quickly as possible once a strike is detected. Once they eat the bait and realize that something’s wrong, I’ve found that most of these smallmouth head straight for the top, or right at the boat. Either way, getting your line tightened up quickly sets the odds in your favor and decreases the chances of a big bronzeback throwing the bait as he tail-walks across the surface in a fit of fury.

On the other hand, most largemouth strikes that I’ve experienced have come once the bait hits bottom. If your Senko Jig actually gets to the bottom, start working it in rather large hops, but on a controlled tight line. This should entice any fish that didn’t hit it on the way down. An occasional, violent shake of the rod tip seems to help here, as well. Try to make the jig look like a baitfish that’s in real trouble, and is falling to the bottom to die.

I also experienced a phenomenon that seems to be equally true of black bass, as well as striped bass. If your Senko Jig makes it to the bottom hop it as soon as it gets there – do not let it lie there lifelessly. I’m betting that 75% of the time you’ll get hit on that first large hop.

My theory is the bass that haven’t eaten the jig on the way down will follow the bait to the bottom in hopes of pinning it against something, much like a boxer when he tries to get his opponent into a corner. I think it’s the sudden change of direction that draws the strike.

For most of my Senko Jig fishing I prefer a seven-foot, light-action baitcaster spooled with 10 to 12-pound Sugoi fluorocarbon line. The light action rod allows you to throw the relatively light jig a long distance – it will "load up" properly with just a 1/4-ounce jighead. The low-stretch fluorocarbon line helps in detecting strikes, and allows you to make a strong hookset once the hit occurs.

Fluorocarbon also sinks quicker than mono, which aids a proper presentation. Using 10 to 12-pound line also allows the bait to fall quicker than when using heavier tests, due mainly to the thinner diameter. The thinner the line, the straighter and quicker the bait falls.

Although you may be successful with extremely light tackle (I experimented with six-pound while trying to perfect this presentation), remember that lighter line stretches more, decreasing the odds of a proper hookset.

I prefer the Yamamoto Hula Grub head (35-Series) for fishing these suspended fish, or fish feeding "up" in the water column. This style head allows the Senko Jig to wobble its way to the bottom – mimicking a struggling baitfish. For fishing on the bottom I prefer a darter-style head. I experimented with ball head jigs, but found the above two styles to be superior in action and results.

When you think about it, the Senko Jig is just a hybrid between fishing a tube and a worm. I have had people tell me that the Senko Jig isn’t much different than the traditional "jig worm" technique. Trust me, it’s very different. The key here is in the inherent free-falling action of the Senko, perfected and proven by Gary Yamamoto, just accentuating that action by the weight of the leadhead.

The hot ticket is going after suspending fish with the Senko Jig. That is the Senko Jig payday. Play with various weights for different conditions – I’ve used as light as 1/8-ounce up to as heavy as 1/2-ounce, depending on where the fish showed up on my electronics.

Make no mistake; it’s the fall that gets ‘em every time. Give it a try. Your smallies won’t be happy you did!

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