I am a big fan of catching a lot of fish. Recently, I have noticed that my friends were outfishing me by a bit. All of them were fishing weightless trick worms or Roboworms (basically 6" or 7" straight tailed worms),  texas rig, while often catching giants (for Maryland, that is), while I was using a texas rig, weighted, and I just catch dinks. Do you guys think the weightless is more productive? I find that a horiztional fall is what often gets the fish to bite, and it's the case with the weightless texas rig. 

Only the bass know for sure

Sometimes that slow fall of a weightless just kills them, but it's also not always practical to fish a weightless depending how deep the fish are. 

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Only the bass know for sure

Yep! Depends on what the big ones are biting! 

1 hour ago, MassYak85 said:

Sometimes that slow fall of a weightless just kills them, but it's also not always practical to fish a weightless depending how deep the fish are. 

What's the fall rate for a senko? Any idea? 

16 minutes ago, jhc1 said:

What's the fall rate for a senko? Any idea? 

Depends on a lot of things, what line you are using (fluorocarbon will make it fall faster), what size and gauge hook you use, whether you use a weighted hook, and whether or not you are using actual Gary Yamamoto Senko's or another stick bait, since they will all have different material compositions, salt content etc. I just use the Bass pro brand stick-o's and on a 3/0 EWG hook I'd probably guess like a foot every 2 seconds. 

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Only the bass know for sure

^^^ This

Yes

Depends on the day. 

some days they want the slow fall of a weightless rig. some days then want it crawled on bottom. 
if theres a lot of weeds on bottom i would go with a weightless rig. like  fishing near pads a weightless rig is killer.   if theres a sandy bottom then both can and will work. if they feed heavily on craw fish then a texas rig on bottom. but some days in the clear sandy ponds a slow falling weghtless rig will work better then a bottom crawling texas rig! 

let the bass tell you what they want

Yes. Plastic worm presentations work.

My biggest question is the retrieve. Jerk it like a fluke? Jerk it to the surface after it sinks, and let fall? Small bumps along the bottom?

1 hour ago, Anantha Patel said:

My biggest question is the retrieve. Jerk it like a fluke? Jerk it to the surface after it sinks, and let fall? Small bumps along the bottom?

Yes yes yes. Only the bass can tell you what they want. You have to search trying the different methods. 

1 hour ago, Anantha Patel said:

My biggest question is the retrieve. Jerk it like a fluke? Jerk it to the surface after it sinks, and let fall? Small bumps along the bottom?

All of the above!

When to use a weight vs weightless

 

Weighted: Deeper water (To get the bait down to fish faster), Heavier winds, (To feel for bites because its hard to watch the line run off with 10mph winds or so).  For flipping and pitching heavier cover to get that bait in there (Some thicker tulies, some thicker grass matts, anything to help it punch down a little deeper. Finally a faster presentation. You can start your day off with a heavy 3/8th weight on the bottom and hop a craw fast, and if they dont like that fast go to a senko slower if water aint to deep. If the wish will be biting stuff fish something that goes faster ya know.'

 

Weightless presentation. (Colder conditions, post frontal), Shallow water or if you want a slow fall fishing. Slower presentations. if there is a really snaggy bottom you can avoid it with a weightless senko, E.G a ton of wood branches the weight wont get wraped up in that, the bait will sit on top of it. if there is little wind so you can watch your line.

 

hope this helped, and you can always mix it up

 

 

On 7/19/2016 at 6:08 PM, Catt said:

All of the above!

Sometimes on the same cast.

13 hours ago, detroit1 said:

Sometimes on the same cast.

 

Depending on whether I've taken all my meds or not, one might see all those options within a few feet in one cast. lol

I fish shallow water ponds with the standard muck and debris you see in such waters. I find a weightless TR Texposed is much easier to fish. Most catches are in 4’-6’ depths so weight is not normally needed to reach the bass and no weight severely reduces snags and fouling. But sometimes a 3/16 or 1/4 oz weight is called for when short hops on the bottom is what they want on a particular day. Most catches on Zoom Tricks are either on the fall or slowly crawling it on the bottom. 

I prefer weightless in heavy cover and skipping them. 

Both, depends on where they need to go. Through dense cover, or in deep water, I've most likely got weight on. In shallow open water I'm more apt to be weightless; But not always. Lots of space in between those extremes.

I find a fluke style plastic easier to fish weightless than a worm...

 

oe