Hi all,

The swim senko is by far my biggest confidence bait and best producing bait right now.  My only question with it is, i will feel 1 or 2 hard hits on it, and i will reel down and set the hook, but i wont hook them up.  I feel even when i try to do a quick hookset, nothing will be there.

My thoughts are that they are only hitting the end of the worm, as often times the paddle on the swim senko will be bitten off.  

Should i let them nibble on it a little longer before i set the hook?  Should i be setting the hook sooner?

I am also catching many fish with the bait, but i am trying to figure out ways to turn nibbles into more fish.

Any advice is appreciated!

yes you will feel a difference with them hitting the end and hitting it where they are hookable. but please dont wait to long if they swallow the worm. it will usually kill them unless u cut the line.

I don't set the hook with swim senkos like I do with traditional plastics. Often times when I'm retrieving the bait there is simply a sudden weight on the line and the fish is on and hooked. I loose very few fish. BTW, I usually fish them weightless or with a 1/8 pegged bullet weight rigged on a Gamakatsu 3/0 EWG hook.

As far as nibbles go, I think that just comes with the territory. I get them too, but I don't loose many tails. If you are setting the hook too hard on a swimming bait, you may be yanking the bait out of the fishes mouth.  

George Welcome is the expert on Swim Senkos.  Maybe he'll chime in.  

I too use swim senkos with alot of success.

I was having alot of trouble with hookups untill I switched rods.  I now use a Loomis 783 and the difference in hookup rate is huge.  This rod is listed by loomis as medium heavy but is closer to medium.  I believe the difference to be that the tip "gives" a little more than a typical MH.  My bass aren't feeling the rod and dropping the lure.  I have never had the tail bitten off.  Try a rod with a softer tip but with enough power to set the hook.

This is what Gary Yamamoto has to say:

http://www.insideline.net/articles/swim_senko.html

8-)

I have the "nibble" problem as well. It's usually small fish. My senkos are ALWAYS getting nailed by sunnies and pumpkinseeds  

Bluegils are ususally the fish that take the tails off of plastics. Very small bass will too.

In looking at those pictures on the GYCB link, I'm wondering how the line

is fed through the bait since the eye of the hook is well down the from the top.  Is he threading the hook through the worm that far down?  I've always kept the eye of the hook exposed.  Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

In looking at those pictures on the GYCB link, I'm wondering how the line

is fed through the bait since the eye of the hook is well down the from the top. Is he threading the hook through the worm that far down? I've always kept the eye of the hook exposed. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

I think hes just threading the worm that far, thats what i do. I think that helps with hookups as well because the hook is farther back in the bait.

What Avid said is good advice, too.  I fish mine on a "spinnerbait" rod, a MH/F rod, that has a little more softer tip than my worm rods.  It works well.

I tried fishing the SS with the hook set far back as depicted on that website.   I didn't find it particularly effective, and did find that the front of the SS would work backwards causing the worm to kink throwing off its action.  Not all the time, but a lot more than traditionally hooked with the eye of the hook nearer the nose of the bait.

After reading RWs link, it seems like they were saying to fish this with a steady retrieve.  So far, i have only been fishing it similar to a worm, just faster.  i will give the rod a few pops, let it fall for a second or 2, then reel the slack and repeat.  Am i better off to just give it a slow and steady retrieve?

I've had alot of luck with swim senkos too and I usually reel in with a steady retrieve.  Normally I fish them with 1/8oz - 1/4oz bullet weight and when a fish is on, like Micro said, I'll just feel the ss stop dead like it got snagged or pressure, but in my case I still need to set the hook.

Gent's do you thread the screw on sinker first & then tie on the hook.  Or is the bullet just screwed onto the swim bait.

but in my case I still need to set the hook.

I do too.  I just find that I don't need to like when I am fishing a worm.   I can set it more like a spinner bait.  I fish mine texposed as opposed to t-rigged.  

Gent's do you thread the screw on sinker first & then tie on the hook.  Or is the bullet just screwed onto the swim bait.

I just use a typical bullet weight that you thread onto the line.  Then I tie the hook on, put the bait on, peg the sinker with a toothpick tip, then slide the sinker down to the bait.

but in my case I still need to set the hook.

I do too. I just find that I don't need to like when I am fishing a worm. I can set it more like a spinner bait. I fish mine texposed as opposed to t-rigged.

Ahh I see, I fish them t-rigged...I should try exposed out, never thought to.

Try the Swim Senko on an Evolution Shake2 jighead. Thread the bait on the jig just like you would a grub, using the barbs on the hook shank, not the post. This leaves the hook point totally exposed.

The Shake2 head gives an extra dimension to the action. I fish this both with a steady retrieve, and as a bottom bouncer. This rig has a very lively action on the drop. It is effective both ways.

When I'm going to swim this rig, I use one of my crankbait rods. I missed a lot of fish initially with this bait. When I went to the crank rod, my hookup percentage went way up. I don't set when I feel the bite. I wait for the rod to load up, then do a sweep set.

I use one of my stiffer plastics/jig rods for bottom bouncing. A normal. plastics style hook set applies here. Drop the tip, reel up the slack, and stick it to "em.