I just started fishing again after a long long layoff. I have no trouble getting bites and fish with a Texas rig and ribbon tail worm and various senkos. Catch a bass almost every time out that way. Whenever I try a wacky rig I get nothing. I’ve tried yum dingers, Yamamoto senkos, even 4 inch senkos on a drop shot with an ultra light rod. Nothing a bite on either. I’m using a 1/0 hook. Any tips to help get the bite going? 

That’s one technique that has never worked for me.  I have tried it on several different lakes in different seasons.  I have completed quit trying it.

Are you fishing weightless or with a jighead? I've found that there are days when they prefer one or the other and there are days when they prefer neither. 

I’ve tried weightless, jig head, dropshot, not even a nibble. I’ve tried 4 inch and 5 inch yum dingers and other senko type plastics. 

After just getting back from a family trip to Wisconsin where my adult nephews (who are not regular fishermen) used my gear and my baits, I got to see again how important technique is with a Senko.  I was limited on my advice offerings because they know I’m a pro staffer for Yamamoto and I risk coming off as a “know it all”.  I wasn’t fishing so I did more watching than advising but my old saying “there’s no wrong way to fish a Senko” kinda held true.  Yes, they caught fish but they would have caught a lot more if their technique was better.  Long story long, explain your preferred technique with both the Texas rig and the wacky rig including cast length, retrieve style, gear used, and water fished.  I’ll bet you get some helpful comments.  😉 

I’ll echo @TOXIC, technique is hugely important with a wacky rig. Although it’s great for beginners because it will just get bit and you don’t even really need to set the hook, it’s so much better when you’re using it correctly.

 

Equipment is also a big factor IMO, so maybe list your gear using and we can see if maybe that is part of the problem.

Fished a wacky senko pretty much all day this past weekend. I caught 7 like the one below and a bunch of small ones. If it was a tournament I would had around 16lbs+.

 

When the bite slows down or conditions are tough, a 5in wacky, black and blue tip Senko or a BFS crankbait are my go to's.

 

It is alive by the way. It had one bad eye.

The wacky rig is stupid simple. You don't need any special techniques or specific gear. Hook a worm in the middle, throw it near fish. Tada! LMAO! If nothing happens, pop it a few times and let it sink again. I'll wacky rig almost any soft plastic (stick, trick, and ribbon tail worms, creatures, flukes, paddle tails etc.)

Here’s my gear:

ultra light rod 6lb test flouro 

1/0 wacky rig hook

4” or 5” yum dinger junebug or green pumpkin 

weightless I’ll cast it out wait on the fall for bites and then twitch it or just lift and let it fall

 

baitcast rod- 6’6 medium action 10lb mono

Basically same technique as above. I will try it on a jig head also. 

Wacky is dynamite around here in the clear water.

I like throwing it on the steep banks and grass edge with 90% of the hits happening on the fall.

My preferred gear:

6'10 MF rod with 1/16 VMC weedless wacky head using a crossover ring.

15 lb braid to 8lb flouro leader.

It's a very dependable technique for catching bass.

 

 

1 hour ago, JRD_fishing said:

Here’s my gear:

ultra light rod 6lb test flouro 

1/0 wacky rig hook

4” or 5” yum dinger junebug or green pumpkin 

weightless I’ll cast it out wait on the fall for bites and then twitch it or just lift and let it fall

 

baitcast rod- 6’6 medium action 10lb mono

Basically same technique as above. I will try it on a jig head also. 

How close are you putting it to cover? 90% of my wacky fish come from a cast that is within inches of the cover if not in/under it. 

I always found the wacky senko/stickworm to be feast or famine, and it leaned a lot heavier toward famine.  
 

I quit them completely and fish a Cover Scat or Imo Kemushi in the situations where I would have thrown a senko before, with much more consistent results.

My (current) dedicated weightless wacky Senko rig:

• Daiwa Elite spinning rod: 7'6" ML-M/F 
• Daiwa Caldia LT 2500S-XH spinning reel
• 10 lbs hi-vis braid (8 carrier)
• Daiwa Samurai Camo Fluorocarbon leader (anywhere from 5 to 12 feet): 6, 7, or 8 lbs test
• 5" Senko, some shade of green, and several other more natural colors
• Gamakatsu Wide Gap Finesse: Size 4 or size 2, hooked lengthwise under the o-ring from the skinny end toward the fat end of the Senko; probably not that critical, just the way I do it.
• #11 o-ring placed two rings below the egg sack on a 5" Senko
• I use scent (hot sauce gel)

There are none of the bullet points above that couldn't be altered anywhere from a little to a lot.

 

Senkos get bit in myriad ways. Anytime from dead sticking to while you're retrieving them when you think the cast is over, and everything in between. With that said, "on the fall" is what they built their reputation on, and that reputation is not unfounded. 

 

Default: I like to give them a slack line to fall on so they fall kind of straight down with no action imparted by me at least until they hit bottom. I often feel the bite, even on pretty slack line. Or, I see the line jump or moving in a way it wouldn't when something hasn't tried to carry it away. But you do have to pay attention to maximize your chances.

 

I get bites from the absolute water's edge to thirty feet deep, and everywhere in between. Casting 100' away from the boat and bounce it off of a rock and fall into the water, or lazily fling it fifteen feet in front of the boat and wait for it to slowly do the "wooba-wooba" all the way to the (deep) bottom. I can skip it under branches easily, I can drag it across a "cheese mat" and bass will come up through it to inhale a Senko (I LOVE doing this in the spring when the water is high in the back of coves). I have had a pattern where I would throw it into a small stream as it entered the lake and let it wash in by the force of the current. I've had countless bites where it gets slammed when it pulls free from some sort of structure or cover.

 

It's an incredibly versatile rig, but the bottom line is that I would try to cast it to places where it will fall NATURALLY and UNIMPEDED into an area literally ANYWHERE the fish are lurking below. When you have determined that a fish may have inhaled the bait, point the rod down, reel in at a medium rate until you feel some weight. Then keep reeling as you FIRMLY lift upward Lift, don't swing, or you may pull the relatively small hook through their lips before it has a chance to sink in.

 

One last thing that I highly recommend is a pair of long needle nose pliers. My favorites are the Booms F05. They have an especially effective bend to them that makes them incredibly good at removing small finesse hooks that are deeper in their mouth. Sometimes I can carefully go through the gills to grab onto them and greatly minimize the negative impact. 

Excellent dissertation @Big Hands

I too am a Texas-rig guy and struggle with the wacky rig. I most certainly have the gear but the technique has mostly eluded me.

Edge 7’ ML/f spinning rod

Shimano Vanford 3000 reel

15# Seaguar Smackdown hi-viz braid

8# Seaguar Gold Label floro 6-12’ leader

 

I know how @TOXIC would answer but let me ask. Everyone describes the bait as a “Senko” which has become the generic term for a stickbait.  Is it actually the Senko or just any stickbait used in this setup?

I typically use a Berkley General and don’t believe I have actually used a Yamamoto Senko for a wacky rig.

Does it actually make that big of a difference?

26 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

I know how @TOXIC would answer but let me ask. Everyone describes the bait as a “Senko” which has become the generic term for a stickbait.  Is it actually the Senko or just any stickbait used in this setup?

I typically use a Berkley General and don’t believe I have actually used a Yamamoto Senko for a wacky rig.

Does it actually make that big of a difference?

 

I have tried other "stick baits' a handful of times. None that I have tried have the same characteristics as the Yamamoto Senko. . . . For better or worse, they are what they are. I'm absolutely sure there are times others work as well, or dare I say better for some folks. I just haven't been one of them. For the record, I have not tried the Berkley General, but have heard generally good things about them. For me, I value my time on the water, and I have a lot of confidence in the original 5" Senko, so that's what I use most of the time. Your mileage may vary.

 

34 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

I too am a Texas-rig guy and struggle with the wacky rig. I most certainly have the gear but the technique has mostly eluded me.

Edge 7’ ML/f spinning rod

Shimano Vanford 3000 reel

15# Seaguar Smackdown hi-viz braid

8# Seaguar Gold Label floro 6-12’ leader

 

I'm sure that setup would do just fine where I fish.

 

One of my bass fishing mentors told me about weightless wacky rigging plastic worms back in the mid-80's and I kinda wrote it off as more fantasy than reality. I don't even know if the Senko existed at that point in time.

 

Once the Senko came out and got popular I tried it, and I too struggled with it until I was out night fishing and saw a friend on the lake that told me to pull up and get in on the action. I'm not even sure what could have been different, but I am often a 'monkey-see-monkey-do' type of learner and I did just that. I have been off to the Senko races ever since. Confidence from that experience got me to invest more time in the bait.

I am convinced, now more than ever, that some baits, techniques and even colors simply don't work consistently regardless of what you do in some parts of the country..or even certain bodies of water.

 

I say you're doing nothing wrong (wacky fishing isn't rocket science). The fish just have zero interest in a wacky where you're fishing.

Wait for the day when they are biting your texas rigs on the way down or on the first contact with the bottom and try it then. Last time I saw this this wacky bite was way way better than the t-rig bite.

 

Fish picking up or tracking the lure down means they are probably feeding up and I think thats where it might shine for you. 

 

Lots of good suggestions here! Thanks everyone for the replies. I’m gonna try again on Thursday when I get back out there. 

99% of the time I’m wacky rigging a trick worm!  I fish it primarily higher in the water column and fairly fast and fish targets with it - I don’t really cover water with it.  I cast it at good stuff and kinda pop it a few times and let it fall and maybe pop it a few times and let it fall and try to keep the work just in sight.  Rod tip high.  You can catch some nice fish doing this in the early summer.

9 hours ago, Motoboss said:

Excellent dissertation @Big Hands

I too am a Texas-rig guy and struggle with the wacky rig. I most certainly have the gear but the technique has mostly eluded me.

Edge 7’ ML/f spinning rod

Shimano Vanford 3000 reel

15# Seaguar Smackdown hi-viz braid

8# Seaguar Gold Label floro 6-12’ leader

 

I know how @TOXIC would answer but let me ask. Everyone describes the bait as a “Senko” which has become the generic term for a stickbait.  Is it actually the Senko or just any stickbait used in this setup?

I typically use a Berkley General and don’t believe I have actually used a Yamamoto Senko for a wacky rig.

Does it actually make that big of a difference?

Every one of them has subtle differences on the fall. Even the pre-GSM Senkos are subtly different from the new ones. On occasion, it can make the difference between getting bit and not, especially in clear water.
 

For the record, the closest in action and fall speed that I have found to a straight up, OG Gary Senko is oddly the cheapest - The BPS Stik-O.

 

Yea we’ve talked about that for years on here, concerning the BPS Stik-O and its effectiveness. I’m heavy on those over Yamamoto brand. 

Lots of info here, some I agree with and some I don’t.  I’m just 1 person who has been fishing Yamamoto Senkos ever since they were introduced.  It seems we cover the same issues over and over but I write that off to new members or just some who decide to join in.  A search or just reading Glenn’s articles will give you lots of information.  I sometimes have to remind myself that I am so tuned into Senko fishing (I even notice different fall rates and actions by color and flake content) that some of my suggestions come off as nonsensical but I can assure you they have all been proven over and over.  I can assure you there are techniques and rigging options that do make a difference and some of them are way beyond just wacky or Texas rigged.  

20 hours ago, JRD_fishing said:

Here’s my gear:

ultra light rod 6lb test flouro 

1/0 wacky rig hook

4” or 5” yum dinger junebug or green pumpkin 

weightless I’ll cast it out wait on the fall for bites and then twitch it or just lift and let it fall

 

baitcast rod- 6’6 medium action 10lb mono

Basically same technique as above. I will try it on a jig head also. 

 

I wouldn't want to fish a wacky worm on an UL rod for starters.

 

But if what you say is true, you aren't even getting a "bite", that isn't your main issue.

 

Something is just off.

 

If you took a poll of bass fisherman, the wacky might be at the top of the list for "Not getting skunked lures". Ned rig might be #1 followed closely by the wacky.

 

How deep of water are you fishing?

 

Water clarity?

 

Fishing from shore?

Also have to ask what color(s) were you throwing? There’s times when a darker/less translucent color like a green pumpkin will present enough silhouette to spook them - especially when the sun is high. 

13 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

I wouldn't want to fish a wacky 

 

If you took a poll of bass fisherman, the wacky might be at the top of the list for "Not getting skunked lures". Ned rig might be #1 followed closely by the wacky.

 

 

I know at a local pond that's the reason a wacky does NOT get bit.

 

Because it's been thrown a bazillion times there. I know this because I watch it happen in real time.

 

I effortlessly out fish the guys throwing wacky there.