I'm new to the Smallmouth game. Are there any baits out there comparible to the Senko? I was at BPS and Cabelas and there seem to be so many like them but for a third of the cost. Do the salted or any other work anything like them?

Yum Dinger is the knockoff I use

 

Jeff

x2 on the yum dinger. 3bucks at walmart. Good lures.

I used the Yum Dinger, had some success, but actually have had more with Bass Pro Stik-o knock-offs. Dingers are great, though, this has just been my experience.

On a vacation up north, smallies we caught were in a stocked pond and pretty favorable to any Senko-style worm, but mostly loved the Zoom Finesse worms.

Stankxbaitco myself.  transitioned form GYCB to yum dingers to now the stankx.

Yum Dinger is the knockoff I use

 

Jeff

Yum dinger is a good substitution, my Son of 3 went fishing with me and I put on a Yum Dinger, I cast it and he reels it in, well he was watching me do something I and I look over and his rod is bent over.  He had a spiderman rod/rell combo and it had a heck of a time reeling this fish in but the bass could have been on the line for at least 3 minutes and luckily I was using circle hooks and the fish hooked itself, but the point is the fish didn't let go so they liked what it had.  I have used them as well with great success, however I still like the senkos better.

You can read about this argument until the cows come home. 

 

 

River Rock Baits Standard Stick, this is the only Stick work I would say is comparable to Yamamoto as the fall rate is almost right on and they catch fish. For the big manufaturers I got to go with the Yum Dinger, it doesn't fall like the Senko but there is something about that bait that the fish like but I've had more succsee with GYCB and River Rock Baits.

I say buy a few packs of different brands and toss them out you never know what is going to work best in your neck of the woods...or I guess river/lake. 

Kvd perfect plastics

In before the lock!

 

But seriously, I like the Strike King Shimme Stix. 3.00 a pack at Wal-Mart. I actually purchased 4 of the 52 worm kits at about 5.50 a kit on clearance at Academy. Awesome little baits.

I have talked to a few more experienced fisherman than me about this. They said no comparison with a Senko when wacky worming. Nothing else has that flutter. But if your pulling the bait throught the weeds it doesn't matter anything will do.

I have killed them with the Strike King shim e stick. $3 at WalMart

Well, I really don't understand why you would want a knockoff. Is there a problem with the originals? Their ability to catch fish is for certain. And isn't that the name of the game? I suppose the knockoffs work (maybe even as well), but I like the original Senko. Folks claim they are too expensive, but there are many ways to extend their life in use. Just do a search here and you'll learn about many of these methods previously posted here. As far as cost goes, Overstock.com had been offering them for about $4.00/bag. Can't beat that, even with a knockoff.

I have killed them with the Strike King shim e stick. $3 at WalMart

X2

Roadwarrior hit the nail on the head.

 

If you search around you can find "stick baits" without salt and they will float.

 

Just use any brand you want. The bass don't care.

*** used to be big here

ive tried gulp and powerbait worms also yum, nothing beats yamamato in my book if your worried about saving money just start out fishing texas rigged then when your lure is beat to crap switch over to wacky, i save all my broken soft plastic worms all season in a bag so i can always rig one up wacky if i run out of fresh lures, 

Last trip out in 2012, it was a cold slow day .... tried many different baits from the top to bottom. By the end of day I was fishing Yamamoto Senko's and a friend fished the BPS version, I caught 7 to his 0.  We were both fishing watermelon with red flake, the shad of color was noticeably different with the BPS being a lighter shade of green....we were in dark water.  Not saying it was the brand of Senko or the color difference but the catch rate was different.

 

- Tate

For smallmouth I use finesse worms like a zoom trick worm, more than the senko style

In before the lock!

 

But seriously, I like the Strike King Shimme Stix. 3.00 a pack at Wal-Mart. I actually purchased 4 of the 52 worm kits at about 5.50 a kit on clearance at Academy. Awesome little baits.

 

Another vote for the Shim-E-Sticks.  I get them here at Wally World too.  If you can get a hold of the BPS sticks they work well too.  They sell a variety pack of 100 in a box for something like $18.

Of course there are alternatives and they will all catch fish. Fishing unweighted lures is a system of fishing. It has been around forever. I started pitching unweighted Creme plastic worms into pockets and eddies on Ozark's streams at least 50 yrs ago.

Hey guys, there's about a billion threads on this here:

 

Enjoy!