Bass Fishing Tackle and Bass Boats: September 2015

Using a Kistler Z-Bone Rod to catch big bass with weightless Senkos

I remember the first time I saw someone fish a Senko. I had heard of them and thought how could a piece of plastic that looks like a Bic pen catch fish. Big mistake.

I got out fished like nobody's business that day. Even then I wasn't totally convinced that they were that good.

A few years ago, I was fishing Amistad in Texas. I was really struggling; then I saw a bag of Senkos in my boat. 'What the heck,' I thought. I put one on. We went back through the same area again and the Senko just clicked.

Now Senkos are my go-to bait. By far, the best fish-catching bait I use.

I have so many Senkos. From 5-inch to 7-inch. My favorite is the 6-inch Senko.

It casts very far and it is heavy enough that I can also pitch it to cover.

(Unfortunately, my favorite color is no longer available in the 6-inch size.)

You can never have too many Senkos.

When I'm struggling to catch fish, I have to fall back to the Senko.

I store my extra Senkos in plastic bins, but the ones that go in the boat are in small laundry bags. The laundry bags can be stuffed into corners so you can really pack plenty of baits onboard. I have bags for each size baits.

Once I settle on the colors that are working, I can pull the packages out of the laundry bags and keep them easily accessible. It is a system that works for me. The laundry bags are very inexpensive at Walmart.

This bass weighed 7.5 pounds.
It was caught on a 6-inch Senko.

This is my biggest bass of 2015. I caught it on a Senko in a bass tournament. I won big bass of that tournament.

I haven't caught any bass weighing more than 10 pounds on a Senko but I sure have caught a lot of 6- to almost 10-pound bass.

I have fine-tuned my gear to make fishing a Senko a breeze. Sometimes I need to make long casts in clearer water and other times I want to pitch near heavy cover.

I don't pitch right into the cover with a Senko. I like to throw it next to some cover and let the Senko fall in its seductive way.

If I was pitching heavy cover. I'd go to heavier set up. But I like to use a lighter medium heavy combination rod and reel.

I use a 7'6" Kistler Z-Bone 3-Power rod. This rod is a dream to cast weightless Senkos ... and even Flukes.

Three Z-Bones LEXF–3MH Rods.

I like the high speed retrieve models better such as the 7.5:1 Lew's Team LITE.

Spooling up my new reel. Kistler, Lew's, and Seaguar combo.

This is the perfect combination for casting Senkos long distances and accurately. Kistler Rods 7'6" 3-power rod, Lew's Team LITE and 15-pound Seaguar InviszX Flourocarbon line.

I know many people are happy using 10- or 12-pound line. I'm not. I know when I'm fishing, always I am prepared to land a big fish. Don't take chances.

I think I'm going to switch the Lew's Tournament LITE to a 2-Power Z-Bone I have, and get more Lew's Team LITEs for the other new Z-Bones.

Search for the Lew's Team LITE on eBay