SOFT STICK BAITS

The Gary Yamamoto "SENKO" is considered to be one of the most famous soft stick baits.

Before Becoming a B.A.S.S. club member and fishing tournaments. I would pick up a pack of these cigar shaped worms at the local store, look at the price and shake my head! Then put them right back where I found them! Why in the world should I to pay that price for only a few worms, while on the next peg over there's a better value? Answer… THEY WORK!

It was my very first tournament with the Umpqua Valley Bassmasters. My partner shared a bunch of SENKOS with me and showed me how to use them.

First, the manufacture had spent a lot of R&D time on this magnificent bait. Second, fish them weightless, using from a 2/0 up to a 4/0, offset, wide-gap worm hook. Depending upon the size of stick bait you choose. Weightless, because the bait contains so much salt they sink naturally with an enticing wiggle as they descend. With that extra salt, fish really seem to hang on longer. Which allows the opportunity for a better hook set?

Other manufactures products may say "LOADED WITH SALT" on their packaging. But nothing comes close to the Gary Yamamoto SENKO, other than Outlaw Baits. Bite into one yourself! You'll see what I mean!

This bait has been so successful that most all other bait companies are making some kind of clone. The unique ones are the "Yum Dinger" with its built in LPT flavoring and Outlaw Baits "Limp Stick."

The Limp Stick Is actually a hollow version of this type of bait and in my opinion contains the same salt ratio as YAMAMOTO products. Enough about salt. Let's go fishing.

Rig them "Texas Style" with no weight. Cast them out and let them fall vertically in the water. My favorite water to fish is in the springtime, pre-spawn. From the shore out. To about 10 feet deep. In areas where the vegetation is starting to grow up in patches. This provides a channel for fish to cruise.

Count them down and let it set for just a moment. If no bite, reel up and cast just a few feet over into a new spot. The key is to make the bait fall vertically through the water. It's easier for some of us to use a spinning reel, leaving the bail open through the descent. With a bait caster reel, you can strip out some extra line to allow for that vertical fall.

Watch your line! If it moves off to the side or anything unusual happens, set the hook! Any of these methods will work. The soft stick bait is so simple to use a cave man can to it. Its one of today's best DO NOTHING BAITS.

Oh, by the way, we won that tournament!

See the video
How to fish a Soft Stick Bait