Here are a few articles with 3-inch Senko info:
http://www.insideline.net/articles/9c-senko.html http://www.insideline.net/articles/9b-bullhead.html http://www.insideline.net/articles/summer-story.html http://www.insideline.net/articles/9b-senko.html Plus here is the text of an article that will be published soon in the
American Bass Fishing News by Marc Marcantonio and me. Please enjoy.
[size=3]Shrunken Senkos[/size]
by Marc Marcantonio and Russ BassdozerWith the American Bass tourney only days away, the river was off-limits. So I was prefishing on my topo map, spread open to the Columbia River on the border of Washington and Oregon. Usually salmon and sturgeon fishermen target this tidal stretch of river, but my map search was for rock piles likely to hold smallmouth bass.
Circling a few promising spots, I walked out to the driveway to stash the map in the glovebox of my Stratos, ready to go. That's when I noticed the mailman had left me a present, a small white box with a splashing bass emblem on it from Yamamoto. Sure enough, the box had that familiar weight of salt-laden soft plastic. The 9B's had arrived! Without waiting, I ripped open the box and was overjoyed to see these miniature Senkos, only three inches long. They looked every bit as good as I had hoped. Before I could forget, the box of 9B’s went into the boat and my partner Bob Sweeney and I headed south for the river and the ABA tournament.
The next morning felt like a typical cool summer morning in the northwest that promised to heat up to the mid-80's by afternoon. Under these conditions, smallmouths can be a real challenge. We figured that we had a chance to win this time of year if we could get a limit of smallies around 12 pounds. We decided to make a 40 mile run from Kalama, Washington to the upper Willamette River above Portland, Oregon.
Within the first few minutes of coming off plane, Bob's single tail grub was hammered by a 3-pounder. A half-hour later, with 3 nice bass in the well, the bite died along with the tidal current. By now the sun had come out, and summer bass fishing seems to always get tougher when that happens. We knew that we had to make a move, so we headed down river to get back into some moving tide.
When current is scarce I usually try to fish the center of the main channel, as water moves more quickly here than along the shallow shorelines. An underwater hump or rock pile in the center of the channel is even better, as the current is pushed around the obstruction and speeds up the velocity. Smallmouths use the rocks to their advantage, quickly darting out from the shadows and grabbing baitfish that pass by in the current. Using my electronics, I was able to find a rock hump out in the main current that topped out at 10 feet, and was surrounded by water that varied from 20 to 30 feet deep, sweetened with a slow-rolling flow.
Swimming grubs all around the hump, I started to think that I needed to slow down my presentation now that the bite had died down. Then I remembered those 9B Senkos! Normally I don't use a new lure for the first time during a tournament situation, but it was hard to ignore that box of 9B's. After all, the other sizes of Senkos had all been winners for me, so why would the 9B be different?
Dropshotting would allow me to make a presentation that covered the structure more slowly under these tough conditions. I rigged my Lamiglas Titanium 1-power with 6-pound McCoy Mean Green line and tied a #2 Gamakatsu Split Shot hook about 8 inches above a 1/8-ounce QuickDrop sinker. I nose-hooked a pearl gold 9B Senko and hurled it on top of the hump. Before it even hit bottom, a feisty 3-pound smallmouth was fast to it!
For the next five casts, I hooked bass so quickly that my partner didn't even grab his rod as he couldn't get the net out of his hands. If a bass didn't hit the 9B on the fall, a couple of shakes of the rod tip was all it took. Wanting to pull the rod out of my hands, Bob demanded that I quit casting long enough to give him a bag of those 9B's. After that we were getting doubles, one after another. The hardest part was deciding whose bass was bigger, so we would know which one to net first.
In an hour the bite slowed, so I went to my bag of tricks and wacky-rigged the 9B Senko on my dropshot rig. This is a tactic to slightly change what had just proven to be an effective rig, and it often will renew some interest. That wacky-rigged 9B started the feeding frenzy all over again. Soon we were both out of breath from racing from the front to the back to net each other's fish.
Only noon, and Bob and I had caught and culled at least 40 smallies. Not wanting to press our luck, we decided to make the long run back to the weigh-in while there was plenty of time to evade sailboats, container ships and barges navigating the river. During the long ride through rough water, I started to ponder if the 9B really was that good? Maybe the bite was wide open on the river? Perhaps our limit wouldn't measure up to the competition?
When we finally arrived in Kalama, we were surprised that very few people were bringing catches to the scales. Maybe they had weighed in early, or maybe the fishing was tougher than we imagined. As everyone commented on our "big bag," I began to realize indeed it must have been tough. ABA weighmaster, Mike McDonnell confirmed it when he voiced our weight of over 13 pounds and declared, "We have a new leader!"
Well, we won the tournament and big fish trophy. While others lamented the tough fishing, Bob and I didn't have the heart to tell them we had released over forty fish.
That tournament was July 2001. The 9B Senko has been catching smallmouth and spotted bass for me ever since! Last October the Lake Shasta spotted bass ate the 9B so greedily, I fancied I was invincible and could catch spots at will. Within one year, the 9B has become one of my "go-to" baits when the going gets tough from the post-spawn through fall periods. I have used the 9B effectively on a Mojo or split-shot rig, but you just can't beat the 9B dropshot with a QuickDrop sinker and Gamakatsu Splitshot hook.
[size=3]ENTER THE 9C SENKO[/size]
Of 9 models of Yamamoto Senkos, the 5-inch 9-Series is markedly the most popular. In an attempt to duplicate the 5-incher's prowess, every dimension of it (only smaller) was downsized by computer to create the miniature 3-inch 9B-Series Senko, a perfect computer-generated clone of the favorite 5-inch model. Shortly thereafter, a second 3-incher, the 9C was built for a bulkier profile. The 9C looks as if you cut three inches off the tail of the 5-incher.
When shad, panfish and crawfish are preferred table fare, I'm confident the stubby 9C profile fits the menu, says Russ Bassdozer. Favorite ways I'll use the 9C are on a darter jig head, weightless wacky, or wacky style on a dropshot rig. I'll use light line, six pound test on spinning gear. A thin wire self-setting hook is required on the darter jig here. For weightless wacky or dropshot wacky, I've had the surest hook-up ratio with the thin wire size #1 Gamakatsu Dropshot/Splitshot hook. Compared to nose-hooking, the wacky (in the middle) hook position gives more anchor (like a windsock) to the 9C when used weightless, and it ends troublesome line twist when you dropshot. Wacky rigging also gives vibration to the two tips of the 9C as it's pulled down to the bottom by the dropshot sinker or when the sinker is repeatedly lifted off bottom, slowly, then falls again.
Light lines, exposed hooks and spinning gear excel on fairly open structure. In snaggy cover, with baitcasting gear and 12 pound test Sugoi fluorocarbon line, I'll trail a 3-inch 9C behind a 1/8 to 3/8-ounce Pro-Jo sinker pegged 18 inches up the line with a rubber Peg-It by Top Brass Tackle. When I find fish don't dig the lively free-moving motion imparted by a Pro-Jo leader, I'll use a Texas bullet sinker and plastic bead right on the 9C's nose. This mutes the action. I use plastic beads rather than glass, which can occasionally cut line. Vivid bead colors allow the same effect as dipping the 9C's tail in color dye. Either Pro-Jo or Texas, I'll use a thin wire wide gap offset bend hook, not exposing the point in snags. About size #1 is right.
"I've been high-fiving Marc all through the season for his continued ABA tournament success with the 9B Senko. Still, I usually go for the chunky 9C Senkos first. They rarely fail me," says Bassdozer.
So when your bass are in "I'm not hungry, I'll just pick" mode? That's when you'll have to pick too - either the 9B or 9C Senko. Which one will it be?
Regards,
Marc Marcantonio and Russ Bassdozer
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