Hey guys been reading through the site a few days now and have been reading and reading. I just started fishing again after giving it up for about five years. I use to fish a lot but I guess life got in the way and I set it a side. Well about a month ago I had a chance to go trout fishing. I cought some bluegil and a small trout. Im now hooked again! My real love in fishing is Bass, I use to fish some ponds near a lake for bass and did pretty well back in the day. That was about ten years ago. Well Ive been fishing about twice a week for that last month. I hit the ponds a use to fish and Im getting no hits from bass. Cought a couple perch but thats it!

This morning I took a ride to folsom lake in Folsom Ca. Ive never fished this lake but Ive heard its great for bass. After reading about senko's on this site I ran out last night and bought a couple packs. I rigged it up weedless and made a cast, notta. Its hard for me to fish this slow, but I stuck with it for about a hour. I would cast out let her sink then raise the tip and let her sink again, nothing! I swapped to a robo worm. Second cast I hooked one but it got off and the bank,fug! I fished more with it and got skunked! I tried a few more worms and notta! I then tied a rattle trap on and cought a 11in that went maybe 2lbs. This was my first bass in ten years! Lol I was pretty happy! I fished that lure for about a hour longer and got skunked! Im sooo hooked but I dunno what Im not doing right! Seems like Im putting in a lot of time not to be catching more! If anyone has any tips it would be great! I soo glad I found this site. I hope to learn a lot from it!!

I'm not familiar with the lake your fishing, so some details about it would be helpful for us to steer you right.

In general, the senko is a great place to start.  fish it near the bank in the cuts and pockets and irregularities you see there.  color can matter some days, I always recommend any of the colors with pumpkin or watermelon in the name, and junebug.  Robo worms are excellent

The ratltrap is also a good choice.  It is a good fish finder.

Your starting off in the right direction.  I can't help but think that you are missing strikes on the senko and the worm.  Learn to be a line watcher.  Any twitch, or unnatural movement means "fish on"

At this stage of the game I would add a minnow type bait, like a rattlin rogue, a spinnerbait, a popper, and a ribbon tail worm like a culprit.  These are all available at Wal-Mart.

Some days are slow dude, it comes with the territory.  But you have the dedication, and you came to BassResource.com

I gotta feeling one day soon your going to posting pix in the "my outing" forum.

good luck and have fun.

avid

Thanks for the reply! I also think Im missing some of the bites. Its really hard for me to get a feel for the senko. I went out today and gave it another shot. I bought a pack of watermelon senko's. I T rigged it on my 3rd cast I got a bite. This fish hit it like a normal worm,hard. He was a small one though but it was nice to catch a fish on one of these new worms. I saw twi BIG bass near the rocks today. I tried everything to get em to hit but notta. The rest of the day I worked on learning to fish the senko better. I think Im getting a better feel for it now.

Ill head to walmart and try some of the baits you suggested. Thanks again for the help! Steve

I only fish Senko's two ways, C-Rig with about a 3' leader or as the jerk bait they are designed for with no weight. When fishing it without a weight, watch the line, THAT"S A MUST. I seldom feel the bite fishing it as a jeck bait.

Fishing it C-Rigged, as with any other plastic bait, a very good, light (light in weight, not in backbone), well balanced rod/reel combo is critical. I also prefer the low stretch, sensitive lines but don't care for braids. With a bait caster, palm the reel, and don't let the butt of the rod touch your body, you want a setup that has the reel/rod combo perfectly balance in your hand while palming it and working it with your wrist. Learn to work this setup and you can darn near feel the fish looking at it. The main thing is you will be able to tell even the lightest bite from the casual bottom/structure bumps. Now, I'm not talking about one of those $50/$75 wally world rods or those weighted pool sticks that BPS sells with their name on them. You gotta go better than that.

Oh, beware also, if you break a rod, it's always going to the be best, most expensive rod you have so keep that in mind when buying one, maybe that will help you decide what kind to get.  I don't think it's possilbe to break cheap rod if there's a high dollar rod next to it.