What to try when the reports say "Senko"

[David Lee]

Anyone need some crappy fly gear?

I'll take all of your rod-building stuff .

I'm headed out tomorrow for the 'wrong' side of the lake - Change your mind and meet me at Mormon Island (bring a tube) .

David

P.S. - Nice Largemouth , looks almost 5 lbs. ??

[Darian]

Mike, great looking Bass..... Never underestimate the power of the dark side....

Of course, a combo (fly/gear) trip is fun, too. Sort of the twilight side. I'm headed for the delta tomorrow in the afternoon. Hope to have something to report in the evening.

[MSP]

David, I was guessing it to be between 6 and 7 pounds. Had a hell of a time trying to stretch out my arm far enough for a photo. Darian believe it or not I did have my 9wt with me but it was a little bit too breezy today for that. Good luck tomorrow guys looking forward to your reports. David that fish came off a steep shore with some very large boulders, probably 15' deep.

I'll take all of your rod-building stuff. Change your mind and meet me at Mormon Island (bring a tube) .

Do you plan on building that new rod in your tube? Now that might be a challenge!

[Hairstacker]

Mike, that' a GREAT bass, congratulations!!

Jerry, I find it very interesting when you say,

"The secret is to strip it in using the absolute minimum of line allowing the closest thing to free fall but still maintaining contact with the fly."

because that's exactly what you're trying to achieve with the Senko. The closer you can locate yourself to the fish without spooking them and allowing the Senko to free-fall on a semi-slack line the better. Makes me wonder if you've been fishing them. . . .

Actually, I agree the line aspect is problematic, but I still believe imitating the Senko is equally problematic. When fished weightless, the thing sinks horizontally at a rapid rate of descent with its tips wiggling at BOTH ends. It is also very heavily impregnated with salt, which seems to affect its sink rate and also seems to cause fish to hang on to it much longer than they would with non-similarly-treated artificials. Sometimes when it's tossed, it will pitch back and forth as it sinks. Other times, when pitched to the edge of cover, it will angle away from the angler to go underneath the cover as it sinks. Don't see how these characteristics can be imitated with a fly.

Some may ask why you would want to imitate a Senko at the vise? For one thing, I'm not sure what a Senko itself imitates. For another, over the last few years, it has been the overall most effective artificial in mass production for catching bass that I'm aware of. And lastly, these things catch big bass. Its only negatives that I'm aware of are that (1) it is more likely to hook a fish deeply that would normally be the case with flies, and (2) it's not fly fishing.

[JerryInLodi]

(2) it's not fly fishing.

Hairstacker, to a dry fly purist, a nymph is not fly fishing. To a "naturals" man, any synthetic tying material is not fly fishing. To some, the use of anything other than a floating line is not fly fishing.

To a traditional steelhead man, anything but a brindlebug on a swing is not steelhead fishing!

TOO MANY RULES!!!

I read a book, Bassin' with a FLY ROD, Ellis, Jack. Lyons Press. Guilfold Connecticut. 2003. 197 pages.

Jack went over to the dark side and tried rubber worms. He stated the bass found them irrestible. OK, I admit, after his book I tried them. Now I didn't buy the big time, big bucks worms. I used the four inch ones I had in sealed bags from (Oh, my God!) 25 years ago! Because they were in sealed bags in a dark tackle box, they looked and felt brand new. And you know what, they caught fish. But when I tossed the super buggers they seemed to catch more fish consistently. I was fishing both a la the dead sink.

I did find two things about the rubber worms. First, they were ABSOLUTELY weedless. With the hook threaded through the top of the worm and then the tip re-buried in the worm with no weight, they cast as easily as a clouser and were long lasting. The bad thing was that it took LOTS of power to drive the hook through the worm and into the fish once there was a take. I had to use a combination of a strip set and a rod set to do so. These things were made to fish with a stiff level wind, not some wimpy fly rod.

I had used the worms before I started tying the giant woolly buggers. Previous to that I was using stuff tied with zonker strips. The worms definitely outfished the zonkers. Then I tried some fairly good sized woolly buggers after my brother-in-law came fishing with me and caught lots of fish using a trout sized bugger. The buggers outfished the rubber worms. Then I just scaled up. That's where I am now.

The one big obstacle to the whole thing is stripers. Every time I get down to the boat with the intention of fishing for LMB I give my striper rod a few casts in the water close by and wham, I start sticking fish and can't put the striper rod down.

Maybe next month I'll get more serious. In fact a board member, name left unmentioned, is coming over today and we're planning to go and do some dental work on some LMB. He's bringing some new, fresh, rubber worms. I'll try my buggers. That is if the stripers don't lure us away!!!

Oh, by the way, the clerk at the little store at Russo's says the guy that won the million and a quarter Duel on the Delta was fishing worms (Senkos?) in a dead sink. His four day total bag was about 120 pounds or a six pound fish average!

[David Lee]

(2) it's not fly fishing.

Hairstacker, to a dry fly purist, a nymph is not fly fishing. To a "naturals" man, any synthetic tying material is not fly fishing. To some, the use of anything other than a floating line is not fly fishing.

To a traditional steelhead man, anything but a brindlebug on a swing is not steelhead fishing!

TOO MANY RULES!!!

Jerry -

If God himself fished a plastic worm on a flyrod ..... it wouldn't make it a fly . A bead melted to a hook isn't a fly . A sheet of silicone w/ glue on one side , folded over the hook isn't a fly .

Do what you want to do . Fish what you want to fish . But a fly is a fly , not a hotdog (or a plastic worm ...) super-glued onto a hook .

Hope this clears up the confusion .

David

[kokaneejr]

You guys are all alright in my book. I felt like I was going backwards a little in my book as I ventured to the dark side last week and wasn't even going to post as I fished with a S---O last week up at Lake Sonoma again.
Hairstacker I am enjoying my kayak as I seem to catch a bigger fish every time I take it out. This time I got pulled around pretty good and am in the process of buying a good scale as I am not sure about this one although I know the feeling of trying to get you hand and fish far enough away.... ....Craig.

[Hairstacker]

I read a book, Bassin' with a FLY ROD, Ellis, Jack. Lyons Press. Guilfold Connecticut. 2003. 197 pages.

Jerry, I own that heretical book. Started reading it and felt all dirty inside and had to put it away. By the way, for your experimentation, you should pick up some real Senkos, not some plastic worms you've had holed away for 25 years. May I recommend the 5" size in watermelon with black flake?

And for the record, I personally have yet to string up a Senko on a fly rod.

Craig, glad to hear you're enjoying your inflatable kayak. You're probably finding you're spending less time futzing with the kayak and more time fishing as you get used to it. (Unless it's God-awful windy of course.) That's a really nice bass too!

[Hairstacker]

Jerry, pulled out the Jack Ellis book again and re-read the chapter he wrote on "bassin with a fly rod." Thought it was interesting he became so discouraged by conventional fly fishing on those large Texas reservoirs that he resorted to fly casting 4" plastic worms (with great success I might add).

Makes me think we have something different and unique with the Delta in the way we are able to target bass on top throughout the day during the warm season. In other words, I wonder if he would have become as discouraged if he had been fishing the Delta instead. . . .

[JerryInLodi]

If God himself fished a plastic worm on a flyrod ..... it wouldn't make it a fly . A bead melted to a hook isn't a fly . A sheet of silicone w/ glue on one side , folded over the hook isn't a fly .

Do what you want to do . Fish what you want to fish . But a fly is a fly , not a hotdog (or a plastic worm ...) super-glued onto a hook .

David, then what is a fly? How about the lifelike stoneflies made with plastic strips, and plastic wings? They are "tied" in a pattern rather than molded. It that what makes them a fly? A sheet of silicone? You must be refering to a Crease fly. It that a fly? What about the tube flies? What about the flies tied with deer hair and then coated with silicone?

I remember in my youth, 1950's, that flies were thrown with small spinners, simillar to what the bassin' guys throw but minature. I think the bassin' guys call them spinner baits. I remember these along with bamboo rods, Pfluger automatic reels and varnished silk lines.

What defines "fly" fishing. It it the rod, reel, line, presentation, the attractor at the end of the terminal gear? Is throwing 30 feet of T-14 and 90 feet of Amnesia fly casting or just spin fishing without a reel?

Is a foam ant a fly but a rubber worm not? I just can't figure it out. Where are we at?

Need your help.