The wacky rig senko is one of the most popular bass fishing lures of all time. While I personally prefer to throw a senko on a texas rig most of the time, so many people have caught a bass with this lure that I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it on this site and include it in the lure finder. This thing has done so well that it’s probably the most imitated lure on the market and it basically created an entire category of bass lures. Having said that while there are a ton of different stickbaits on the market I can assure you they are not all created equal and especially if you are going to throw one on a weightless wacky rig like the one pictured above. The reason for this is the whole point of this setup is to get the ends of the lure to twitch while it falls, and the Yamamoto Senko is still the king when it comes to getting this type of action out of a stickbait.
Some companies make stickbaits that do not do well at all on a weightless wacky rig, so if you are going to stray from the Yamamoto Senko please keep this in mind. I’m not going to name any of the ones I wouldn’t recommend, but if you really want to go with a different brand there are a few others out there with a stickbait that I’ve tried and can say will give you a similar action and perform well on this type of a setup. There might be others so please don’t be offended if you know of one and I didn’t mention it here, these are just the ones that I’ve tried and found can actually produce a similar action on a wacky rig. Here they are (in no particular order):
- Bass Pro Shops Stik-O
- 6th Sense Clout
- Berkley Powerbait Maxscent The General
- Strike King Ocho
I personally prefer to use the Yamamoto Senko. Yes they are a little more expensive and you can go through them quickly, but you can also find them on sale every once in a while and using an o-ring can also help the bait last a little longer. The other thing I’ve noticed is that when you use an o-ring and have the hook on top of the lure that can help a little bit in terms of preventing it from getting hung up around grass and cover, but in my case I personally just texas rig it most of the time anyway. Another thing that’s nice about a wacky rig is you can keep some nail weights on you and easily convert it into a neko rig if you want to fish the lure on the bottom instead.
Lure Summary – Wacky Rig Senko
Suggested Rod Length: 6’10” – 7’3″
Suggested Rod Power: Medium or Medium Heavy
Suggested Rod Action: Fast or Moderate Fast
Suggested Reel Type: Spinning Reel
Suggested Reel Size: 3000
Lure Weight (est.): .35oz
Tackle Required
- 1/0 Gamakatsu B10 S Stinger Finesse Hook
- 20lb Sufix 832 Braided Line
- 12lb Sunline FC Fluorocarbon Leader
- O-Ring Tool
- Rubber O-Rings
Suggested Soft Plastic Baits
- 5″ Yamamoto Senko