Are most of you using a med-heavy baitcast setup or a lighter spinning rod for this application?  I've got a 6'3" Abu Garcia Vendetta spinning rod, medium action/MF taper.  I planned to use it for more "finesse" type setups like a Ned Rig or Drop Shot.  I was hoping to be able to use it for the weightless Senko's as well but not sure how that will work.

I was using a MH/F baitcasting rod for wacky, mainly because I don't fish that style much.

I recently bought a Dobyns Fury ML/Fast spinning rod for that and dropshot.  I like it but boy am I bad at accurately casting a spinning combo at the moment!   

7 minutes ago, ajschn06 said:

Are most of you using a med-heavy baitcast setup or a lighter spinning rod for this application?  I've got a 6'3" Abu Garcia Vendetta spinning rod, medium action/MF taper.  I planned to use it for more "finesse" type setups like a Ned Rig or Drop Shot.  I was hoping to be able to use it for the weightless Senko's as well but not sure how that will work.

The spinning rig will be fine. I would suggest #6 line.

 

Medium spinning rod works great for weightless plastics, including a senko.

I use a MH/F baitcaster. 
A spinning combo will work fine in the right conditions. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

I do weightless Senko either on my M/F spinning rig with 10# Mono or my ML/F finesse rig with 6# mono.

Wacky and other finesse techniques I use a 6'8 M-XF spinning rod. 

 

Texas rigged weightless and weighted go on  MH-XF casting rod. 

Medium Power, 7' spinning rod, 15# yellow braid to an 8 or 10 pound mono leader.  I can not skip a baitcaster.  

Weightless senko works great on a m/f or m/mf spinning rod. That's a good setup for tubes as well.

I use a stiffer than usual spinning rod with 20# braid.  If I need a leader, I use 6-10# Seaguar Blue Label.

I like a 7’ medium spinning rod with 15 lb power pro mainline to a 10 lb flouro leader. This setup works for a lot of other baits too.

Do you plan to buy a new setup? Why don’t you just try with whatever you have to see it it work as you hope or what you don’t like and we can go from there. You already have rod and reel all you need just a bag of senko and a bag of 4/0 Gamakatsu Ewg hook.

20 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

Do you plan to buy a new setup? Why don’t you just try with whatever you have to see it it work as you hope or what you don’t like and we can go from there. You already have rod and reel all you need just a bag of senko and a bag of 4/0 Gamakatsu Ewg hook.

No, the setup above is one I already have.  That's what I would hope to use for this purpose- it's not something I'll be doing enough to have a dedicated setup for.  I could wait until I have a chance to get out and try, and not start a thread, but I get bored at work and was curious what others use...

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

I use a stiffer than usual spinning rod with 20# braid.  If I need a leader, I use 6-10# Seaguar Blue Label.

Me as well...medium 6'6" spinning rod with 20lb braid.

I do know that the generally, normally accepted way to fish a weightless Senko is on medium, spinning gear, but I have always used a MH bait caster with 15 lb invizx on a a really fast bait cast reel and that is because I have to deal with really thick Hydrilla beds.  Even off the edges of a big bed there is a layer of the stuff from which you have to fight to retrieve your bait.

7' Medium Fast Daiwa Tatula XT Spinning with a Daiwa Fuego LT 2500D-XH.  I learned to fish weightless sticks on a spinning rod long ago when I lurked here and have been using one for the technique ever since.

Spinning - Medium/Fast, 15lb braid to 10lb leader, regular wire hook 3/0

 

Casting - MH/Fast, 50lb braid to 15lb leader or straight braid, superline hook 3/0

 

Yamamoto Senkos weighs enough to be casted with both. 

 

Your setup will work fine, just make sure to use lighter wire hooks and it will penetrates just fine. I find when I fish weightless senkos with spinning combo, a strong smooth pull upward and it hooks up fine. just make sure hooks are sharp. 

I just got done an evaluation of weightless stick baits on M/F spinning set-ups with finesse reels. Weighed all 5 brands of stickbaits I use along with weightless 3/0 EWG hooks. stickbaits went from 8.5gr. to 11.4gr. Hook and screwloc added just over 1gr. with 6 1/2ft-7ft. M/F rods casts were 30-35 yds.....then with guide and spool sprayed with KVD conditioner distance jumped to 40-43yds. Rattlesnake stickbaits with deep rings on them lost 5-7yds on average. Lure weight averaged about 3/16oz and line was .010 dia. 10# tatsu flurocarbon line. Pretty much windless however into the wind and with the wind would add or detract some. I was surprised at the distance with an unweighted plastic bait myself. Its my most fished lure and I was interested in weight and casting distance, with my digital scales it was pretty easy. Senko's were the second heaviest behind ocho's then followed by tricksticks ,dingers, and last was XZone true centers.

5 hours ago, J Francho said:

I use a stiffer than usual spinning rod with 20# braid.  If I need a leader, I use 6-10# Seaguar Blue Label.

My exact setup. 

I use a 6'9" ML/F spinning setup with 15lb braid to a 8lb leader for wacky rigs, weightless stickbaits and flukes, ned rigs, all kinds of stuff.

For me it depends on cover. I’ll t-rig and toss them on a mh exfast bait caster when fishing in heavy cover. And I’ll finesse them on a spinning rod or ml baitcaster in more open water and pressured fish.  

M/F spinning 4&5”

 

ML/Xf spinning for 3”

 

mh/f casting 5”> over pads or if cover dictates 

9 hours ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

Medium Power, 7' spinning rod, 15# yellow braid to an 8 or 10 pound mono leader.  I can not skip a baitcaster.  

This is my exact set-up, except with a 10# fluoro leader. 

5 hours ago, Tatsu Dave said:

I just got done an evaluation of weightless stick baits on M/F spinning set-ups with finesse reels. Weighed all 5 brands of stickbaits I use along with weightless 3/0 EWG hooks. stickbaits went from 8.5gr. to 11.4gr. Hook and screwloc added just over 1gr. with 6 1/2ft-7ft. M/F rods casts were 30-35 yds.....then with guide and spool sprayed with KVD conditioner distance jumped to 40-43yds. Rattlesnake stickbaits with deep rings on them lost 5-7yds on average. Lure weight averaged about 3/16oz and line was .010 dia. 10# tatsu flurocarbon line. Pretty much windless however into the wind and with the wind would add or detract some. I was surprised at the distance with an unweighted plastic bait myself. Its my most fished lure and I was interested in weight and casting distance, with my digital scales it was pretty easy. Senko's were the second heaviest behind ocho's then followed by tricksticks ,dingers, and last was XZone true centers.

The thing for me is, being in a kayak, when I'm fishing a wacky rig I only need to cast it  between 10 and 20 feet so distance is not an issue.  

Similar to some others, I use a ML/F or M/F spinning set up for wacky rig (or neko, anything with exposed hook). I use a MH/F baitcaster for weightless t-rig. I prefer the baitcasting set up for setting the buried hook.