Senko colors??

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Parnicky on April 13, 2010 at 10:33pm

I really like the Green Pumpkin/Amber laminate around here. It is a sick color! Green Pumpkin with green and purple fleck #301 is another great color. Green Pumpkin and Watermelonseed work very well also. Sometimes I will go to a smoke or whiter color in clear water if the fish are feeding heavily on baitfish.

Permalink Reply by P.J. Koshi on April 13, 2010 at 11:03pm

For different places I have different favorite colors. 221 is a brown and purple flake very good color anywhere in WA, the watermelon and lime laminate is deadly probably my go to for Largemouth, the solid watermelon is hard to beat my girlfriend refuses to fish any other color Senko. I use the very bright chartruse with heavy gold flake in some situations and the black and blue as well. Like David said the green pumpkins are very consistent producers too. So I guess instead of rambling on I'll just say anything dark and natural will probably work. To be honest any Senko Gary makes will likely catch fish pretty good you really cant go wrong with them little sticks of plastic.

Permalink Reply by David on April 14, 2010 at 6:59am

I found the cinnamon with blue flake to be very good, again the watermelon is good, pumpkin was good last year in the spring only, in the summer it did not produce.

Permalink Reply by Don Hogue on April 14, 2010 at 7:21am

Honestly, I haven't meet a color of senko that didn't work. I went to the Cal Delta a few years back and everyone I met down there told me I had to use a watermelon/red flake senko. I remember thinking that was kind of like telling someone that fish on lake _____ only like black and blue jigs.

Permalink Reply by Dan Johnson on April 14, 2010 at 7:32am

Hi Beth,
i'm a firm believer that the two colors anywhere here in Washington are Green Pumpkin or the Sand color. Maybe, if you want to add contrast, a chartruse tail to the green pumpkin has it's value. But, just to keep from complicating things and spending way to much money on baits that will just clutter ........... it's green pumpkin. Although i am a bait maker i use Yamamoto Senkos but i also have tons of Senkos just sitting around now just because green pumpkin is the best color here. And quite possibly anywhere. I do make a stick bait that is slowly coming into popularity, the Sniper Balistyx. Very similar to the Senko but not machine made and they are scented. They have a great fall rate and they do that little wobble just fine. And they work extremely well. I'm not going to mass produce them but i do have them on the shelf in only a couple places. Like i said e-mail me so i can set you up with the Sniper stuff and go into Auburn and talk with Chris so you can get some personal Washington know how ! dj

Permalink Reply by Aaron Christel on April 14, 2010 at 10:45am

Beth, I like the natural colors like most everyone is saying. Greens and browns work pretty much everywhere. Here is a report I did for my club on colors. Maybe it will help.

Color Selection for Bass Angling

A Bass's Eye

A bass’s eye is similar to a humans, but there are big differences. As best as we can determine, a bass sees colors much like a human. Bass have cones, the color receptor of the eye. But, a bass does not have a pupil to filter amounts of light. So, to adjust to brightness, a bass’s eye adjust the rods (the light sensor) to a position behind the cones. When light dims, the rods move around the cones. This makes a bass in bright light very sensitive to color, and in dim light, almost color blind. But, the very sensitive rods give very good vision in low light. When using the rods primarily, a bass can see very little color.
Also, a bass can see much farther in water than a human. In stained water that an angler can see six inches, a bass can see three to six feet. In water with four feet of vision to a human, a bass can see about sixteen feet. In gin clear water, a bass can see about forty five feet.

1) A bass’s eyesight is much better than a human’s in low light, but it is in black and white.

2) Bass see vivid colors in shallow, clear water.

3) Bass can see 6 to 7 times better than a human, but most of the vision is in low light conditions. (deep water and night)

4) Bass see much farther in water than a human can.

Waters Effect on Light

Light travels through water much different than through air. Colors that we see above water look very different under it. Different shades of colors are filtered out of the light spectrum at different depths. The first color to be filtered is red. In perfectly clear water, red is filtered out of the spectrum at about 17 feet. Bellow that depth, it is seen as black or brown. Next is orange. It is seen as a pale yellow. Next, yellows are filtered, then greens. At great depths, blues and violets are the last colors seen. At these depths, most everything will be seen as blue, purple and black. Beyond these depths, no light exist. The chart shows colors at depth.

1) All colors are visible in shallow water.

2) Only blues and violets are seen in deep water.

How Your Lure’s Colors Look to Fish

Different colors look different to fish than they look to the angler. One of the most deceptive colors is chrome. A chrome blade or crankbait usually looks white, silver, or blue to the human eye. This is because the light that is reflecting off of it is from the sun and our surroundings above the water. A chrome blade running through the water will look blue or silver to the angler because of the sky. But, below the surface the lure looks very different. A chrome blade actually has a camouflage effect. The blade reflects light from its surroundings and the bottom. Near weeds, it will look green to a fish and near a muddy bottom it may appear brown. This is very effective because most all animals use camouflage to survive in nature. The silver blade does a very good job of mimicking its surroundings much like a fish.

Translucent colors can also be very effective in the right situations. They are consistently changing colors underwater. They will be most effective in clearer water conditions. At depth or in stained water, they loose effectiveness because of insufficient light to change the colors of the lure. It becomes too camouflaged. In dingy or muddy water, an opaque color will be more effective. It creates a strong silhouette and is much easier for the fish to detect.

Metal flakes add another dimension to a lure. As a lure moves, metal flakes flash various colors. This enhances the perception that the lure is a living creature. In sunlight, they cause momentary flashes and attract the attention of a bass. In low light conditions, there is no flash, so black flakes are more effective. They tend to add dimension to the appearance of the bait.

1) When in shallow water and clear water, use colors that closely mimic the forage of the bass. The bass can see very well and with vivid colors.

2) Occasionally try vivid colors in clear water to trigger a reaction bite. Bass are very curious animals.

3) Use greens, yellows and olive colors in green water.

4) Use bright metal flakes on sunny days and in shallow water, use pepper flakes in deep water or cloudy days.

5) Use translucent baits in clear water and opaque colors in stained and deep water.

6) When fishing in deep or very stained water, color has little importance. Use dark colors like blacks and blues to crate a silhouette.

Permalink Reply by Beth on April 14, 2010 at 11:00am

Thanks for all the insight, but sorry for the ignorance. What do these 3digit numbers mean?

Thanks in advance.

Have a wonderful day!

Permalink Reply by Aaron Christel on April 14, 2010 at 11:07am

Yamamoto numbers all of their colors. 176 is cinnimon black flake, 301 is watermellon candy flake ect.... It's easier to say 176 than cinnimon black flake, so everyone does.


Beth said:

Thanks for all the insight, but sorry for the ignorance. What do these 3digit numbers mean?

Thanks in advance.

Have a wonderful day!

Permalink Reply by Kimihiko Nakamura on April 14, 2010 at 12:34pm

Just like dj say go see Chris at Auburn. He will take good good care of you.....When I come to WA I am go see Chris at Auburn too!!!! Special sale deal for Japan angler??? ha ha ha ha

Beth said:

Thanks for all the insight, but sorry for the ignorance. What do these 3digit numbers mean?

Thanks in advance.

Have a wonderful day!

Permalink Reply by Spencer Durand on April 14, 2010 at 3:41pm

Alot of people at auburn no what they are talkin about. Todd, Chris. Both are really good fishermen and deffiently know what they are talkin about and never just talk out of their azzz

Permalink Reply by Shawn O'Connell on April 14, 2010 at 6:44pm

I would also take Dan up on his offer. He will probably set you up with some good baits and he pours a mean stick bait!