"They're boring"

--more boring than not catching fish?

 

"There are better options"

--Sometimes, sometimes not, surely.  Like everything else. 

 

"They gut-hook fish"
--One of the reasons I don't wacky rig very often. 90% of the time I'm using them on a weightless t-rig.

 

"They're a crutch"

--You can use other lures too!

 

"Too Expensive"

--Fair, but when I buy lures, I'm paying to have a chance of catching fish, and in my experience they provide that experience at a competitive rate.

 

"Too soft/not durable/they come off to easily"

--Fair, but check out @Choporoz's suggestion of owner twistlock hooks.

"They don't require skill"

--They require the same attention to casting location, depth, rate of fall, retrieve style/speed as most any other presentation. Spinnerbaits are arguably no more difficult to use.  Cast, retrieve, repeat. 

 

"No intense hookset satisfaction"

--Lol! Is there a worse reason to chose one lure over another?

 

"don't want to be seen fishing the 'idiot-bait'"

--OK, we have a contender for 'worse reason'...

I’m ashamed to say this is me 95% of the time. ?

idk you all do what you want. maybe its because the lakes i fish are primarily clear and heavily fished but there are lots of days here where you can chuck and wind for hours and ger nothing. out on a wacky senko and put it where a fish lives and your getting bit. if you wanna get casting practice with another bait have at it. i want my pole bent so im fishing what i can get bites on.they cost a little money but i work hard, when i go fishing i want what gives me the best chance to catch fish. if it costs me 2 dollars more a day so be it.if i had to catch a fish like if my life depended on it id take a wacky rig senko no doubt.

If ya throw a Senko the majority of the time guess what the majority of your fish will be caught on?

 

Anyone who has been around this site for some time knows my #1 most productive soft plastic for quantity & quality  was a Gene Larew 7 1/2" Salty Rinworm in cinnamon pepper neon junebug laminate - camouflage. I've caught bass from Brownsville TX to South Central Florida, from the Gulf Coast to Northern Ohio. 

 

What made that worm so productive?

 

Might have been the fact that I threw it 90% of the time!

In the past two weeks I have caught app. 150 bass on a Texas Rigged Dinger with 1/4 oz weight and 3.0 gamakatsu  hook . Then there was the giant musky hooked yesterday on the same rig .I'm not even fishing other worms at the moment . These things get bit.

I didnt know GL made them anymore.  Did the quality go to hell when GL moved production to Guatemala?  Ive bought 5 or 6 packs of biffle bugs and every 1 was bagged before the baits cured, which destroys the baits.

@GetFishorDieTryin 7 1/2" Ringworm was the first lure GL got rid of followed by the 6" Salty Craw. Without those two, ain't no reason for me to hang around. 

You mean the salt flicker?  I had a few in 6", didnt never tried or even saw the 7.5"  I know what you mean.  The biffle bug is the only one I use anymore and once I run out of US made ones Im not buying any new ones.  GL is on the ropes for sure, and would be broke without the bobby garland crappie baits.  They still make a few good baits, but the prices are high and the quality has gone down.  

In the late 90s early 2ks, senkos crushed em.  They took quality fish as they took numbers.  I dont think any 1 bait is responsible for more fish in a similar time period.  I dont think any other bait has been cloned or copied more so then the senko and that speaks to the effectiveness of the bait to catch fish and anglers alike.  

They still catch a lot of fish, but the fish have seen so many stick baits now that senkos aren't the lights out baits they once were IMO.  I still do well with them during certain parts of the year or in certain conditions.  Like them or not they're a legit gamechanger that spawned a whole new type of bait.  

@GetFishorDieTryin

Agreed, Senko ain't what it was due to popularity.

Still throw them but do much better with a finesse worm wacky rigged.

It's an endless cycle trying to figure out what the fish ain't seeing ?

 

Nope, they don’t work for me and aren’t very efficient. I like to fish fairly fast, and if I have to wait that long for a fish to bite I will move and look for more active fish. 

11 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

You mean the salt flicker? 

 

Nope! Ringworm, here's a picture of what they look like. This is not a Gene Larew & it ain't 7 1/2"

 

Skipping a senko under docks on a sunny day still works for me. I don't always fish that way, but I don't see any downturn in their effectiveness. 

I mostly use dingers and the zoom zlinky but I definately use soft stick baits.

 

I generally release all the bass I catch so I smash down the barbs when fishing weightless plastics. Especially in the river current they sometimes have it for a bit before you realize it and they can get hooked deep. They come out much easier without a barb. I do lose a few before getting them in the boat but aside from missing a photo opportunity it doesn't really matter.

 

The baits that I don't use much on the river here are crank baits and spinner baits. That's what everybody is throwing and I do a lot better on some flavor of soft plastic...sometimes a skirted jig. The other problem with the crank baits is that it seems that a pike will cut off just about every one I tie on and I can't afford much more of that. They occasionally take a plastic too but it costs a LOT less than a crank bait.

 

I only have two ponds I can fish but one of those gets a lot of pressure and I find that quiet is what works. The presentation changes based on the weed situation but it often involves a soft stick bait.

 

I love the action of a weightless trick worm or finesse worm. They just don't cast as well.

 

I always like to have one rod rigged with something I can skip and the stick bait is one option.

where can i find this worm @Catt? I've been going down a small curl tail worm rabbit hole as of late and that worm looks like the one i dream about but can't find...

 

The slight pinch near the head makes me think it's a Mr Twister 4" Ringworm.

@Kyle S & @MN Fisher

 

Don't know who made those, I bought them at a store in Hemphill Texas. 

 

I see them labeled Ring Rascal, Bonehead Tackle, & others. I've bought some from Ann's Tackle in Jasper Texas. Miss Ann said she gets hers from someone in Mississippi, wouldn't give me the name, & would only order by the thousands.

 

That worm won me a truck!

 

https://fb.watch/mxPpl8Xtlp/?mibextid=R5ymit

 

 

                               

That was my excuse. 
 

I’ve been called out! ?

Just sayin'!

6 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Nope! Ringworm, here's a picture of what they look like. This is not a Gene Larew & it ain't 7 1/2"

 

Oh wow, they go way go back.  I think I got some of the 4" on my 10th birthday in one of them 20$ 150pc bucket of worms from cabelas. You ever try these out?

 

I always have a pack of Senko’s in my tackle bag.
 

4” Senko rigged weightless on a 2/0 work hook is one of my go to presentations. 
 

 

 

I tend to focus on one or two soft plastics during the course of a season and they're usually not the same from year to year.  This season, I don't think I've thrown a wacky worm or one T-rigged since early pre-spawn.  I got hooked on longer, finesse worms in their place. I always seem to start the season with them though.