I've never been much on a t rig, but I've never fished a lot of lily pads either until today. Caught loads of smaller ones with this being the biggest on a t rigged senko. Pulled her up with about 3 lily pads as well. 22" long, 13" girth, 6.16 pounds according to the fish weight calculator. I really need to get some good scales.

Sweet!

Nice! Looks like I'll be trying a t-rigged senko next time I'm out.

It's funny because this one and the one the same size that followed her showed no signs of carrying eggs or that they had been on beds. I know the water temps have been around 60 degrees for a good while. Before I caught this one, I was trying to sight fish a 3 lber with no luck. The 3 lber acted like it was guarding fry, but I couldn't see a bed or any fry around it anywhere. I'd toss a bait to it, and it would either ignore it or take off and come back instantly just like a fish on a bed. I guess it's possible that those two fish haven't mated with a male yet or that they will not mate at all. The pond is just starting to bloom. The grass on the shoreline is getting greener,and small lily pads are starting to pop up around all of the large dead ones. I'm going to guess they are just getting in the swing of things and haven't started mating yet.

I know it's probably just semantics, and it might not matter, but bass don't, technically, "mate". The females drop eggs and those are later fertilized by the males, usually multiple males.

I know it's probably just semantics, and it might not matter, but bass don't, technically, "mate". The females drop eggs and those are later fertilized by the males, usually multiple males.

Ha. You're right. My mistake. Either way, no eggs. No fat bellies. Just a bunch of long, skinny pond bass.

Good job!

Senkos are the bomb, man. My favorite way to fish. That is a beautiful, chunky fish! Nice job! I dig the combo, too.

Great pics!

I've never been much on a t rig, but I've never fished a lot of lily pads either until today. Caught loads of smaller ones with this being the biggest on a t rigged senko. Pulled her up with about 3 lily pads as well. 22" long, 13" girth, 6.16 pounds according to the fish weight calculator. I really need to get some good scales.

What rod is that?

nice bass!!!

What rod is that?

It's a custom build I did myself. North Fork Composites HM 709 is the blank. The components are pretty much all from Alps except for the guides are Fuji.

It's a custom build I did myself. North Fork Composites HM 709 is the blank. The components are pretty much all from Alps except for the guides are Fuji.

Nice, It's pretty cool looking.

I fish senko type baits 80% of the time in Florida. I use the 4" size they have a better hook up rate. I use a thin wire gama 3.0 EWG hook. I get more hookups and have not had problems with the hook bending. The watermelon colors especially watermelon red, and Blue/Blacks like Junebug and Okeechobee are excellent too. I catch thousands of bass each year on these little baits. They are great in heavy cover, open water , deep, shallow, in wood and cypress trees, dead sticking, walked along the bottom, wacky rigged and Carolina rigged. A great versatile bait.

I fish senko type baits 80% of the time in Florida. I use the 4" size they have a better hook up rate. I use a thin wire gama 3.0 EWG hook. I get more hookups and have not had problems with the hook bending. The watermelon colors especially watermelon red, and Blue/Blacks like Junebug and Okeechobee are excellent too. I catch thousands of bass each year on these little baits. They are great in heavy cover, open water , deep, shallow, in wood and cypress trees, dead sticking, walked along the bottom, wacky rigged and Carolina rigged. A great versatile bait.

I've fished them here and there along with a Texas rig, but I've never really had a reason to fish any other bottom contact bait other than a jig or shakey head. We have very little grass around here. It can only be found in ponds. Same goes for lily pads. I've recently gained access to a good size pond that is probably 40 % lily pads. I have yet to find a better approach to probing those pads than a t rig senko or other slender baits like brush hogs and worms. The frog bite is okay so far. I expect it to get better as it warms up.

I fished that senko (really it's made by yum) on a 4/0 owner ewg with a 3/8 oz slip sinker on 65# braid with a 16# sniper fc leader and a stout rod. I'm glad I had that beefy tackle or he would have owned me in those pads, probably could have gotten away with a little less stout of tackle though.

Outstanding!

 

Way to go.

 

One of many future big ones I am sure.

 

And don't forget to rig the Senko wacky to note how it produces for you.

Senkos have always been a solid performer for me especially T-Rigged.