Two Things I'm Not Sure I Get

[D.W. Verts]

I will tell you that I'm not scared to change, at least when it comes to bass fishing. I fully understand that there are always better ways to do things and ways to improve. I'm open-minded. I'm versatile. And while I have ways and techniques I prefer (who doesn't?) I have no "comfort zone". I'll do whatever it takes.

I quit semi-pro fishing in March of 2001. I fished some over the next sixteen years, but nothing like I had in the past. I quit following tournament fishing all together and read NOTHING on the current state of affairs in the fishing industry So when I decided to start fishing a little more seriously in 2017 I was a little shocked at all of the new ideas, techniques, and concepts that had evolved since my retirement.

The Senko came out towards the end of my career. But I never tried one- in fact I don't remember if I even knew exactly what they were. And I understand that they are tremendous fish-catching weapons. Except, not so much for me.

Hey, I get it. Kind of. They look crazy natural. They're easy to fish with several methods. Except for me. I've tried them wacky-rigged and Texas rigged, and I just don't get it. I've even tried them in some of my lunker ponds where you would think they would get eaten up. Huh. Not for me.

I'm not done with them. They are obviously a viable way to catch bass. I'll work on it. But right now, not so much.

And then there are all of the these advances with fishing line. Braid has come so far since I first used it (Dupont "Kevlar", remember that?) in about 1994. I've embraced some of these new braids and have been mostly thrilled by their performance.

But what about this "fluorocarbon" stuff. Really. Everyone says that it's spectacularly better than monofilament. Really. So of course I bought some to try, an frankly, I didn't get all warm and fuzzy.

So someone said "you need to fish with PREMIUM fluorocarbon line." Of course, why would the cheap (cheap? the brand I tried was twice the price of mono) be any good? So now I'm using the "good" stuff. At least it has "premium" and "elite" in the name, so it must be great, right?

Still not feeling warm and fuzzy. I have it in 12# on two crankbait rods, 14# on an "anything" pole, and I have one of my new Dobyns flippin' sticks loaded up with some 20#.

Now it's still early in the game. And I haven't given it a fair shake. But it's going up against years and years of me using Stren mono, and even more years of almost exclusive use of Trilene's Big Game mono (gasp, the cheap stuff!) with really good results and thousands of bass caught.

So what am I looking for? Abrasion resistance? Knot strength? What? I'm still going to re-tie, and often. Is it more sensitive? Not to me, not yet. Maybe time will tell, but if I was fishing a tournament this weekend that included the need for a non-braided line (and don't they all?) I would have everything strung up with mono. You bet.

I fished a tournament last month using floro on a wobble-head with a creature bait, While lifting a keeper out of the net, the line broke near the knot. Just let go with little resistance. Then I broke one of the baits off on the cast, then another stuck in a rock that broke on maybe a five-pound pull. What?

So I've had to learn to tie a new knot, because apparently my Palomar that has worked for about thirty-nine years isn't good enough for fluorocarbon (it's what Randy Blaukat and Aaron Martens says). Really.

I'm not giving up on the line thing. Nor am I quitting on the Senkos. And someday I'm sure that I'll post a picture of a "Great Old Big One" that I caught on a Senko and ya'll can say "See! We told you!"

Next time out I'm going to throw a Senko on fluorocarbon line. Just to show that I can give it my best effort. We'll see.

Dale

[Princeton_Man]

Dale, anyone will tell you, you have to hold your mouth just right for the Senko to work. 

Unfortunately for me, I've come to realize I do have "comfort zones" It's my biggest stumbling block out on the water. I love fishing jigs and T-rigs, and if I could put the dang things down or even leave them at home, I'm sure I could make the other 50 different baits and techniques work just fine.

[Wizard]

I'm giving up NOTHING. No, nada, zilch! It took too long to buy 60,000 foot of mono not to use it.

Wizard

[coldfront]

couple of my thoughts.  and to be clear:  they're worth exactly what you paid me for them.
I use mono for c-rig leaders and for topwater baits (popR's, walking baits, floating rogues, etc).

I have moved to using a lot of flouro.  primarily in the 10# and 12# ranges.  on some of my 'meat sticks' I'm up to 14#/15#.  the memory issue starts to increase at this level and at times over-run the 'education level' of my thumb.  Trilene 100% fluoro.  in low-vis green (guess I don't buy into the whole 'invisible in water' piece).  what I do like about it? 

seems to have much better abrasion resistance around all these rocks and shell beds.

no-stretch?  that's not true.  does it 'sink' more than mono?  yes.  so I suspect it keeps a little more 'tension' on the line during a retrieve which should allow better detection of changes.

senkos were great.  are great.  but the sleeper for me Dale?  I ran across a Yamamoto product a few years back (Kinami Palm Trees by Brian Yamamoto).   Looks like a solid-body tube.the magic is when you rig it backwards with a texposed EWG.  casts like a rocket (weightless)... but skips even better.  drops into brushpiles (pad fields?).  has a natural look that mimics craws or bluegills.
favorite colors:baby bass (kinami baits; since discontinued)greenpumpkin/watermelon (Kinami baits; since discontinued)green pumpkin
been having a 'fun' time educating my thumb for past few weeks working on dock-skipping technique.

[big g]

couple of my thoughts.  and to be clear:  they're worth exactly what you paid me for them.
I use mono for c-rig leaders and for topwater baits (popR's, walking baits, floating rogues, etc).

I have moved to using a lot of flouro.  primarily in the 10# and 12# ranges.  on some of my 'meat sticks' I'm up to 14#/15#.  the memory issue starts to increase at this level and at times over-run the 'education level' of my thumb.  Trilene 100% fluoro.  in low-vis green (guess I don't buy into the whole 'invisible in water' piece).  what I do like about it? 

seems to have much better abrasion resistance around all these rocks and shell beds.

no-stretch?  that's not true.  does it 'sink' more than mono?  yes.  so I suspect it keeps a little more 'tension' on the line during a retrieve which should allow better detection of changes.

senkos were great.  are great.  but the sleeper for me Dale?  I ran across a Yamamoto product a few years back (Kinami Palm Trees by Brian Yamamoto).   Looks like a solid-body tube.the magic is when you rig it backwards with a texposed EWG.  casts like a rocket (weightless)... but skips even better.  drops into brushpiles (pad fields?).  has a natural look that mimics craws or bluegills.
favorite colors:baby bass (kinami baits; since discontinued)greenpumpkin/watermelon (Kinami baits; since discontinued)green pumpkin
been having a 'fun' time educating my thumb for past few weeks working on dock-skipping technique.

I too am sold on Trilene 100% Floro for my plastics and have been for about 5 years.  So sensitive, and abrasive resistant.  I use at least 15lb and have little trouble with the line as long as you keep it tight on the spool before retrieve.  Use Mono for all top water, and braid for flipping and frogging.  Trilene 100% is good stuff!

[apenland01]

I have never caught a bass using a straight weightless senko, but I have lots of friends who have.  It's just not my technique to fish, as I have other choices I'm more confident in most of the time.

As to fluoro, I use it in 6-8 pounds on spinning rigs and 12-15 on my baitcasting jig and Texas rigs rods.  The biggest advantage to me other than sinking, is the vibration transfer with fluoro on slack line.  It transmits subtle vibrations better than mono or slack braid.  That can be the subtle peck you feel when the bass closes its lips on your line after inhaling the bait.

I use mono for topwater baits and some jerkbaits.  Fluoro for any bottom contact bait, most crankbaits and finesse techniques.  I only use braid in gnarly cover where I might need some help....

[Oldfart9999]

One day when I was out on a strange lake and ducked behind an island to get out of the wind, about 15 or so years ago, maybe 20. I couldn't get bit on my go to, didn't matter how I tried it. Another boat pulled up and we started chatting, turned he was doing ok, he asked me what I was using, a tube, my go to at the time. He asked me if I had tried senkos, when I said I hadn't heard of them he gave me a few and quick primer on their use. After digging around and finding a hook that would work I tied it on and doing what he said, started catching fish, I'm sure I was missing quite a few that didn't know about but I was finally putting them in the boat'
I've found that if I'm not catching with senko style baits the biggest thing I'm doing is just plain wrong, I'm working them, yep, I'm not giving them a chance to do their thing, the enticing shimmy they do so well. Most of the talk is about line, how to not lose them so soon, the rod used and the line, I can tell you that even more important is to let them do what they do, don't work them quickly, let them work their way down through the water column then pull them up and let them fall again, don't rush it, sometimes they'll get bit on the way back, specially if you do it slowly, let them do their thing, they do it far better than when can make them do it.
Rodney