Fishing last week I was casting wacky rigged Senkos under docks and in the course of 2 hours got 3 bite cleanly in 1/2. My first guess was a musky or northern but you'd think those normally swallow the Senko whole, even a small one. To have 2 musky or northern bite it in half and not swallow it whole is rare. Getting a lot of tugs from sunfish, small bass, and rockbass, but never heard of them cutting Senkos cleanly in 1/2.

 

Could it be a bass or something else?

1 hour ago, tcbass said:

Fishing last week I was casting wacky rigged Senkos under docks and in the course of 2 hours got 3 bite cleanly in 1/2. My first guess was a musky or northern but you'd think those normally swallow the Senko whole, even a small one. To have 2 musky or northern bite it in half and not swallow it whole is rare. Getting a lot of tugs from sunfish, small bass, and rockbass, but never heard of them cutting Senkos cleanly in 1/2.

 

Could it be a bass or something else?

Turtles maybe?

Good one, never actually thought of turtles.

We have pickerel here in the south which are pretty bad in a lake that use to be a nice place to bass fish. Aggressive and will hit about anything....fwiw

Could be spawning bass guarding a nest. They will grab the end of it to move it, when you set the hook you get half and the fish has half. I have also experienced this with small walleye.

Dock skipping puts lots of strain on a stick bait where the hook is located. It's ez for small fish to pull it apart at the middle. Try texas rigging it or try a jig to eliminate the small fish.

if it is a clean bite through it is probably a turtle.  I have seen it happen on more than one occasion.  

Are you using wacky rings?  The rings could be too tight, or if you're not using rings, the hook could be creating a weak point in the middle for anything really to rip it in half.  

It was me under the docks with a pair of scissors messing with you! 

1 hour ago, DINK WHISPERER said:

It was me under the docks with a pair of scissors messing with you! 

 

 

Dang you!!! lol. 

 

 

Wacky rigging like this, not too tight. 

 

 

Baby pike?

Can only be the work of the lockness monster.

That happened to me on Saturday to two of my senko at the local lake. It's known to have some large turtles there

 

True story (more than 6 years ago): Threw my rattle trap and was reeling fast. Bam, rod bend like I have never seen before. I was thinking that I finally caught a 15 lbs bass at the local lake until I saw the body. I was so dumbfound & my eyes just dropped on the dock, had to pick it up and put them back in place to finish the job.  Man, it was a struggle to get it off his mouth. Thank god I had long pliers with me otherwise I wouldn't know what to do .  

If the line gets wrapped around the worm, it can slice a Senko in two on a hookset.

I agree with most of what other people are saying but honestly it could just be a bass. Senkos are so soft that even with fishing wacky rigs with o-rings you can still sometimes only get 1 fish per bait.

I'm surprised nobody told @tcbass about Bigfoot yet. See he hides under docks with toenail clippers and beef jerky just waiting for senkos to land near him and then....BAM. 

1 minute ago, Gundog said:

I'm surprised nobody told @tcbass about Bigfoot yet. See he hides under docks with toenail clippers and beef jerky just waiting for senkos to land near him and then....BAM. 

 

 

Don't tell anyone but I already shot Bigfoot and have him mounted in my mancave.

21 minutes ago, tcbass said:

 

 

Don't tell anyone but I already shot Bigfoot and have him mounted in my mancave.

I don't doubt you shot "A Bigfoot" but as we all know, where there is one there is bound to be more. 

Pike don't gulp prey like a bass, they swipe and trap it in their toothy mouth.  Then they flip the bait around and swallow it head first.  What happens to bass fisherman is we feel the initial swipe, and set the hook, and get 1/2  plastic worm back.

Mostly just a bass or large crappie. It happened to me last week, couple times. Then I switched to a short tube and got them landed, 3 bass, one is over 2 lb, and 2 crappie each over 1 lb.

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Pike don't gulp prey like a bass, they swipe and trap it in their toothy mouth.  Then they flip the bait around and swallow it head first.  What happens to bass fisherman is we feel the initial swipe, and set the hook, and get 1/2  plastic worm back.

 

 

So what do you think it is?

Bowfin?

59 minutes ago, anderb54 said:

Bowfin?

 

 

Have never seen them in that lake although they are probably there. 

 

These are pretty shallow docks too. 

5 hours ago, tcbass said:

 

 

So what do you think it is?

My vote, small pike or pickerel. 

Did you feel a bite or did you just reel in half a Senko? If you just reeled it in like that, I'd guess it actually happened while the bait was skipping back and hit a corner and cut in half or something. 

 

I've caught more than one snapping turtle on a senko so that suggestion isn't unimaginable either.