Everyone has their own opinion on perfect Senko size for smallmouth. 5,4,3. In.

Opinions?

I catch more bass with 4" Senkos. Yellow Perch around me like 3" green pumpkin.

I start with a 5". A trick I learned from this forum (while Texas rigging) is to cut off about a 1/4" of the senko when it gets torn up.. this keeps the hook always in fresh plastic and you would not believe that the bass could care less if the bait is a full 5 inches . You know you're having a good day when you start with a 5"senko and before you get a new one it looks about 3 3/4" . 

This way you can keep the thickness of the 5" and still have a shorter bait.. this is sometimes a big plus. 

39 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

I start with a 5". A trick I learned from this forum (while Texas rigging) is to cut off about a 1/4" of the senko when it gets torn up.. this keeps the hook always in fresh plastic and you would not believe that the bass could care less if the bait is a full 5 inches . You know you're having a good day when you start with a 5"senko and before you get a new one it looks about 3 3/4" . 

This way you can keep the thickness of the 5" and still have a shorter bait.. this is sometimes a big plus. 

Always thought 5inches were a little big for smallies. Thanks for the great tip!

Yeah I go for tubes myself but now I want to give the 3" senkos a try I always see them at bps

3 minutes ago, Fish yeeter said:

Yeah I go for tubes myself but now I want to give the 3" senkos a try I always see them at bps

Never really tried tubes, next year I'll give em a try.

@Drowning A Worm I think these may be a better option than a senko. Rigged skirt up. 

Fishermen seem to prefer 5", fish prefer 4".

15 minutes ago, Fisher-O-men said:

Fishermen seem to prefer 5", fish prefer 4".

I think the 4" gets more fish. But for me they tend to be smaller. Not always.. but usually. I start big(er) and downsize if necessary. 

4" for me as well. I tried 5" but the fish seem to prefer the 4.

I use the 4" on a shakyhead, but I use the 5" a majority of the time. I've caught plenty of smallmouth on a 7" stick worm on a swinging football head though. 

I got my PB smallmouth this year on a 4", first time ever using one. This was using 6lb line on spinning tackle. I tried casting it on my heavier baitcaster stuff and the 5" just works too much better to downsize. That said, I've also done well on torn up 5"ers I bit the end off of. They're still fatter and heavier than a 4" version so they cast decent enough. My best largemouth of the year was on one actually, I remember thinking I was almost done I'd had a pretty crappy day only catching two dinks so didn't want to waste a new Senko when I could get a few more casts out of this one....two casts later caught the one in my avatar with that bit off Senko on my last cast of the day.

i use the 5" a lot, but will go to a 4" too.  the size of fish doesn't seem to change, but some days they want that smaller bait, sometimes the bigger bait.  

12 hours ago, Drowning A Worm said:

Never really tried tubes, next year I'll give em a try.

Yeah they are pretty good They seem to really target smallies 

 

12 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

@Drowning A Worm I think these may be a better option than a senko. Rigged skirt up. 

i want to give these a try I know u can put a nail weight in the front so it falls away from you 

If you rig it skirt up it falls away from you naturally . 

1 minute ago, Yeajray231 said:

If you rig it skirt up it falls away from you naturally . 

Really that's cool I got to grab a pack never really tried them just heard some good stuff about em

I started using 3" senkos and the BPS brand a lot this summer/fall for smallies in narrow/shallow rivers and streams.  I didn't get enough time in with them to have strong opinions about color and brand yet, but they seemed to work well enough that I build a little kit of them and plan to use it to spice up my usual "all Ned, all the time" small river fishing.  I like the idea of having a good weedless option and have found that a 1/0 EWG or 1/0 Roboworm hook both work well and still let them shimmy on the fall.  

 

Yea the fat ika is deadly on all bass . I wish they had more color options but everyone I've tried I used them all up. Just like every other GY plastic I've used. 

4" is far and away the most productive for me

for smallies, when I get the opportunity to fish
for them, same thing...though the Yamamoto
shad-shaped worm at 4" far and away outfishes
the Senko  

I use, 3" and 4" for drop shotting and 5" for everything else.

I don't use Senkos, but I t-rig a 4" YUM Dinger and 4.25" BPS Stik-O quite a bit for smallies.

7 minutes ago, Steveo-1969 said:

I don't use Senkos, but I t-rig a 4" YUM Dinger and 4.25" BPS Stik-O quite a bit for smallies.

I prefer Yum dingers too

I generally use 5".  Sometimes they're finicky on beds or pre-spawn, and I go to the 4"

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

I generally use 5".  Sometimes they're finicky on beds or pre-spawn, and I go to the 4"

That is exactly what I do

I use 3" for Ned rig and 4" for everything else rarely use 5" but always keep a few in the boat 

also use 3"  & 4" on drop shot