I've heard a lot of people say that when fishing senkos, fat ikas, etc. the majority of strikes comes on the fall.  So by "on the fall" do you mean after the bait hits the water but before it hits bottom?  Or does that include sitting on the bottom but before you start any kind of retrieve?

If on the fall includes sitting on the bottom I'll agree that most hits come on the fall.  But if it's before it hits bottom I disagree.  I get a lot fo my fish on senkos after it sits on the bottom for a bit with maybe a very slight shake of the rod tip.

On the fall: 1. the time between impact with the water and contact with the bottom. 2. Time between impact with water and biggining of retreival (w/ swimming lures: ie spinners & lippless cranks not meant to get all the way to the bottom)

hope this helps

-J

I look at it 2 different ways.

1) Initial Fall (Cast, bait hits the water and falls. Bass strikes before bait hits bottom)

2) Fall (Bait is already in the water and is falling, from say 3 feet to 6 feet...or a to

Senerio 2 has produced more bites for me. But there are days when they take it on the inital fall all the time (with well placed casts).

I think on the fall means as the bait if falling to the bottom.  Whether it be on the initial cast or after you pull it a couple of times.  That is when you will get 95% of your Senko bites, because when the bait is falling it makes a side to side "wobble", that is if you're rigging it weightless.

I think on the fall could only mean while it's falling to the bottom, if it meant on the bottom then it would b called on the bottom. For me the biggest bass i've caught have all bin on the fall or just before bringing my lure out of the watter, thats because those times are the slowest point of my retrievel and the big bass are slow.

In order to notice fish that bite on the fall keep your finger on the line, imagine the bait falling, and watch your line to do anything unusual, if that happens set the hook!

On the fall means on the fall.  Not a complicated phrase.  The majority of my bass have come from the senko "on the fall".  I've also caught some while the base was laying on the bottom.  I've come some when I twitch the rod tip.  But remember, when you to twitch the rod tip, the baits comes up a few inches most of the time.

When I read "on the fall", I relate the phrase to the initial cast. In this post and an earlier post about fishing Senkos, most guys reported catching their fish "on the fall" or lifting the bait well off the bottom for another long "fall". I don't fish that way at all.

For me, bass caught "on the fall" are usually small bass or occasionally a better bass that I happen to hit on the head! The vast majority of my bigger bass caught on a Senko, Fat Ika or tube have been caught either dead sticking on the bottom or on the initial movement after the bait has set on the bottom for a minute or so. When I move the bait I do so with a short (6-12") horizantal sweep, letting the bait fall on slack line. The movement is slow and subtle with a significant pause between moves. In some situations I will use longer, vertical hops with a tube, but never with a Senko or Fat Ika.

I would call on the fall, on the initial fall.

For those that get most bites after working the bait, could it be as simple as you are casting beyond the target and working to it? As opposed to pitching/casting directly to your target? When fishing baits like that, I get the majority of bites on the initial fall, but I'm targeting very specific places, and expect it to happen on the fall. Example: I'll pitch or cast to a bush or stump (and actually go into the bush or hit the stump) where as you may cast beyond it and work a bait by that target.

When target fishing, most of my bites are on the fall... when fishing an "area" they are normally during the retrieve. We are probably getting similar results, just saying it in different ways. Make sense?

OK, on the fall means literally on the fall.  Just wanted to make sure since as I said most of my catches don't come that way.  After the bait hits the bottom I dead stick it for several seconds.  Then usually give a little shake of the rod tip and let it sit again.  Sometimes the bass will hit right after the shake.  If not I move it a little, sometimes slow sometimes with a slight pop.  Then let it set, shake, repeat.  The length of the pause depends on how I think the fish want it and my patience level on a particular day.  Sounds like I do it more like RW's way than some of the others I've read.  

Ah well.  To each his own...as long as we're all catching fish.  

"On the fall" to me is when the lure hits the water and starts "falling" to the bottom.  Most of my hits with Senko's and other plastics have been on the fall.  Have gotten several on the retrieive, but, probably 3:1 are on the fall.

Same with fly fishing.  Most of my really good hits are right after presentation.  It seems like to the uglier the presentation, the better the hit and fish - go figure???

Eddie

Thanks for the info roadwarrior. I ll try ur technique.

I also think the answer to your question depends on how you're rigging the Senkos. If I'm wacky rigging, the hit almost always comes on the initial fall, because that's where all the action is. In fact, I think most people cast, let it fall, lift it once, then reel it in. If the Senko is t-rigged, I use various retrieves, from a series of quick lifts or hops to twitching it along the bottom, depending on what's working that day in that body of water. This more prolonged action creates more opportunities for the fish to hit.

I try to fish soft plastics parallel to structure or cover or up/ down a slope. I work the bait as long as I feel that I am "in the zone". A single cast can take four or five minutes. I fish them slow and deliberate. I fish Senkos and Fat Ika, weightless only; tubes, worms and Kreatures with a weight. I never fish "wacky", traditional T-rig (with or without a weight) only.