About 5 minutes after putting in the boat at the swamp pond, a 4 lber picked up my Swimming Senko near the boat.  Didn't realize she was that big until I got her mouth out of the water. Partly cloudy, in the 80s, some wind, and only about 1 foot of water clarity there today.  Caught three dinks; two on the SS and one on a Spit-n-Image t/w.

After 2 hours, I went to the farm pond and only caught 1 dink.

4 lbs, 4 ozs--22"

Gut shot

Left click on the pic for better resolution.

Dan

Nice!

She is pretty skinny though.

How you fishing the Swim Senko? I have a pack but I heard your suppose to peg a bullet weight on it, and just steadily retreive it in like a spinnerbait? I don't know for sure though, haven't had the guts to rig one up. The color I have is Watermelon/red.

good fish

Dan,  I love that swamp pond ya got.  Haven't seen any pics from there in a while.  I guess you had to wait for the water to cool off.

Thanks y'all and yes, she was skinny.  

Jim:  No, warm water is fine with me as I caught a couple of 4-5 lbers there back in the summer heat.  I've just been lazy and have gone to the farm ponds most of the time instead of struggling to get to the swamp pond :-?.

BFM:  95% of the time, I fish the SS weightless(as I did with that 4 lber), either T-rigged with a 4/0 GY Sugoi hook or wacky-rigged with a 3/0, weedless Gammy hook.  Weightless, is for shallow(1-5') water for me.  For deeper water, I have T-rigged it with a weight and caught a 6 lber doing it that way.  The last half of the SS makes a great Chatterbait or jig trailer too.

Dan

Nice fish Dan!

I need to get out and try to find some like that one........it's been a while.... :'(

hats off, i'm also a fan of the weightless technique with senkos, seems like it treated ya well!

I'm not arguing with success, but the bait is designed to be fished with a weight. The weight causes more energy to be transferred to the tail, thus more action and vibration.

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

Roadwarrior, upon reading the article you referred us to. Nowhere does it state that the SS was designed to be fished with a weight. Although it was on of the recommended methods. Most of the guys I know fish it weightless T-rigged as Mr. Gary Yamamoto suggests in the article with great success. I'm not trying argue with you but if you look at the first line under "Weightless Texas Rig". "First and foremost, it can be used weightless. As the name says, this is a Swim Senko. When rigged weightless, just cast and swim it along... steadily... in shallow water from one to a few feet deep. Shallow water swimming is what the Swim Senko is designed for," says Gary Yamamoto. I hope this clears it up a bit.

All I'm saying is SS can be fished different methods and it is not solely designed to be fished with a weight as you stated.

Well, I understand, but the action is somewhat muted weightless and the bait has a tendency to twirl. I initially fished it weightless but found it more "user-friendly" weighted.

The article does not explicitly say "designed to be fished with a weight" but that is what is implied:

"Actually, a screw-in bullet weight works better than weightless...With a screw-in sinker, the weight holds the nose steady and all the wiggle comes from the swimming tail."

Went to the farm pond for a couple of hours this afternoon;  cloudy, some wind, low sunlight, 80s temp, with rain approaching.  Right after I got there, I started throwing the BD Spit-n-Image and got a hookup on a 3 lber.  Just one bite after that, a dink on a T-rigged Swimming Senko.

3/14--23"

Same Bass

Dan

Dan you are the man.   Great fish as usual. Thanks for sharing.

I feel the need to chime in here. I have been fishing the swim senkos exclusively for the last month and have had my best days when fishing weightless. I have caught as many as 10 LMBs in just a couple of hours with the swim senkos. You can get the full action of the swim senko by technique you do not have to use weights. I do see a need for weights if you are fishing in fast moving water, otherwise the swim senko will sink down pretty deep on it's own and with the right retreival technique you can catch some nice LMBs. Just my two cents worth.

I feel the need to chime in here.  I have been fishing the swim senkos exclusively for the last month and have had my best days when fishing weightless.   I have caught as many as 10 LMBs in just a couple of hours with the swim senkos.  You can get the full action of the swim senko by technique you do not have to use weights.  I do see a need for weights if you are fishing in fast moving water, otherwise the swim senko will sink down pretty deep on it's own and with the right retreival technique you can catch some nice LMBs.  Just my two cents worth.

I agree.  The SS's slender design and length allow for a very active tail-wagging, side-to-side action at a very slow retrieve.  It works(weightless) for me .

Dan

And you just fish it with a steady retrieve like a spinnerbait? No pauses like you would a regular senko?

No I do not fish them like a spinner bait, I cast the swim senko out, let it sink for a few seconds, give it a small tug with the rod, reel in a little slack and then let it sink again. I repeat this over and over until I have retreived the swim senko. The LMBs usually hit the swim senko when it is sinking. I have had a lot of good days fishing the swim senko this way. Since I started using the swim senko exclusively and I followed this technique I always end up catching multiple LMBs. Before this I would have days where I would get skunked. That is why I continue fishing the swim senkos (pumkinseed and watermelon) they work great every time I use them. Don't get me wrong it took me a little bit to perfect the technique and it was frustrating at first but I can tell you I am now catching LMBs where others have tried and failed. I have been asked numerous times lately (by other bass fisherman on the water) what I am doing because I am pulling fish into the boat in the same spot where they were unable to catch them. I always offer to show others what I am using but I don't show them the technique I use. I am going back out on my boat later this morning and tomorrow morning and will use the swim senkos again because I know that I will catch LMBs this way.

On another note, I have also learned the behavoir of the LMBs where I fish. I fish in tidal waters and the LMBs always bite best at high tide and for about 3 hours after, as the tide is receding. I have learned where the LMBs are during this time and that I can catch them with the swim senko. I still need to determine where to find them at low tide when the bite dies down. My guess is I am going to have to learn to perfect the jigs or try some crank baits in the deep water. I may even try a screw in bullet weight on the swim senko to go into the deep water (10 feet and below), I just need to find some of them and see if they really help the swim senko as roadwarrior claims. I can see how it may help in deep or fast moving water.

And you just fish it with a steady retrieve like a spinnerbait? No pauses like you would a regular senko?

Oh no, I didn't mean to imply that.  I do pause, twitch(the tail thumps then), and reel the SS in slowly, trying to mimic an injured/dying forage fish.

Dan

The last half of the SS makes a great Chatterbait or jig trailer too.

Dan, did you ever try using the entire bait as a chatterbait trailer?

I had a dry spell with the cb untill I added a white sparkle swimsenko.

hooooweeeeeeee. them bassies loved it.

I was using a spinnerbait type retrieve with a little yo-yo once in awhile.

I never tried it weightless as I had read the the article that RW was referring to.

But it seems that fishing it like a jerk bait is purdy effective.

Never tried that Avid.  Sounds good .

Two(they could have been twins) KVD spinnerbait Bass from the swamp pond today:

3 lbs even--19"

2 lbs, 15 ozs--19"

Dan

I had another good day with the swim senkos.  I caught three LMBs fishing them weightless.

There are numerous ways to fish every bait.

I did NOT mean to imply that any way was wrong,

only how the bait is designed to be fished.

I am going to say that they are designed to be fished multiple ways, not just rigged or weighted.

Nice looking fish. The swimming senko has been one of my go to baits this year. It's a great lure.

I caught four more LMBs this morning using swim senkos weightless.  They are my go to bait and have worked great for me fishing this way.