"All other plastic baits are oil based,” said John. “As such, these oil based worms mask many of the very scents fish detect as food. But with Gulp we use only water soluble natural ingredients and more of the scents and flavors we’ve found in our research that are favored by game fish. These are included in the formula when we make Gulp! products.”
“Since Gulp! is water soluble, these scents and flavors are released into the water 400 times faster than oil based plastic baits. This generates a much broader zone of influence for the bait and we’ve proven that more fish are caught using Gulp! than the other plastic baits on the market.”
And because Gulp! is made from all natural ingredients the bait is 100 percent biodegradable. Anglers get the shape, action and color advantages of plastic baits with the super intense scent of the chemicals fish desire in a bait that totally dissolves in just 9 months or less. “But don’t let the biodegradable feature be misleading,” added Prochnow. “Gulp sinking minnows baits are extremely durable and last fish after fish.”
Magic Bait or a Co-Anglers Dream
Every year, I get the same question from friends, show patrons and fisherman alike: "Is there anything new" or "What was the HOT bait on the trail this year"? I usually always answer this by saying its hard to beat the ole stand by's. But over the last couple years, there has been a clear or proven bait out there that is or has changed the playing field. Call it new, or hot, or just a fade perhaps. I call it a Magic bait and a Co-Anglers dream come true! What is it? Its the plastic stick bait style lures.
Now I have to admit, I am one of the few who has not jumped on the plastic stick bait craze. Its just too slow or not my style I guess. But I have to also admit, I've had my butt kicked a many time from the back of the boat by someone who has. The number one question I used to get from my co-angler partner before we go fishing or when we first meet is, "Are you catching fish"? Now the number one question is "Are you catching fish I can throw a Senko"?
The word 'Senko' has now become famous as a fishing technique or a particular bait style. Baits like the orginal GY Senko, Gulp Sinking Minnow, Gambler Ace, Zoom Z-Nail, and Tiki Stick, and the list goes on and on with just about every major soft plastic company jumping on the band wagon. It is a bait that has not only added to the language of bass fishing, but one that has changed the way we fish.
Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I have begun to change my thinking about the stick bait by being more open minded with my arsenal. Already having been up close and personal with the results these baits can give in certain situations, courtesy of my back deck partners, some good and some bad, which I say with a chuckle. The truth of the matter is, these crazy, cast' em out and do nothing lures will catch fish in just about any fishing situation or any body of water. If you can cast this bait, you can catch fish. If you try and fish it, give it some action like fishing a regular Texas rig worm, well.... you are simple over exerting yourself! This is one bait that "Less is Better"! Having said that, lets go into some ways that I have seen this bait fished and been very successful. Sometimes, the co-angler can teach the old dog pro a few new tricks !!
By far, the most popular way to fish this bait, is just throw it out, let it fall, sit there awhile, then bring it back in. What most refer to Wacky style. This is a technique that has exploded not only on the national tournament scene, but in our own back yard at Harris Lake. No technique has proven more successful on Harris Lake. I remember the floating worm craze on Harris, but I think that is best described as a craze. The senko is not a craze, it is a pattern, a type bait and technique all in one. I remember my first trip to Harris to try this new way to fish. Everyone I talked to said, "You better be throwing a senko on Harris". So, when my good friends Dennis Reedy and Buddy Dowd offered me a free "on the water" seminar one day, I jumped at the opportunity. I can still remember the same words Buddy kept saying all day, "You're over fishing it"! Course, he could say that while sitting there puffing on his cigarette patiently while I felt more like I was watching the hydrilla grow rather than fishing. The key here was allowing the bait to slowly fall down the edges of the grass lines. Pain stakingly slow for this cast and reel fisherman.
Welcome to the World of Wacky !! What is wacky? Its basically in the way the worm is rigged. First, lets exam the worm. The worm itself has no action, no swimming tail, just a plastic stick. I like to take a straight shank 4/0 hook, running the point thru the lure just off center (see photos). The hook will be exposed and the worm is weightless except the hook. When you rig the worm wacky, it has several key factors that I think makes it work. One, when rigged correctly, the bait falls vertcially. This is a key factor when you compare it to a conventional Texas straight rigged worm, the straight rigged worm will fall more horizontally, more toward the boat from the line tension. The Wacky rig makes a different presentation that will fall vertical, something new to the bass.
Another bonus in the wacky rig is that it will displace more water and give off more vibes. As the bait falls, it twitches and sways in a spasmic manner. I think this gives off more vibration than a conventional rigged worm as it falls. With this setup, you are able to keep the bait in the target zone longer. A good example is at Harris, where you are working down a vertical grass line. A wacky rigged sinking minnow will fall straight down the grass edge, where a texas rigged will move toward the boat. Though I am still experimenting, braided line may allow for a more vertical fall compared to mono. The reasoning behind this is that the weight of mono makes the line sink, which drags the bait back toward the boat horizontally. Compared to braid, there is no tension or resistance, and the sinking minnow will freefall straight down.
I've seen the magic of vertical drops work on docks, laydowns, cypress trees and grass patches. At Okeechobee, my co-angler would cast his senko out into the holes in the grass. The wacky rig is a killer technique around docks. The weight of the rig makes it easy to skip the sinking minnow under the dock, and the straight vertical presentation next to a piling is irrsistable.
At Lake Champlain, I've seen this rig catch ghost smallie from no where. The co-angler will simply cast the rig out into the gin clear water, where you would think if there was a fish, you could see it. But like a ghost, he will catch one.
During cold front conditions, I've seen the wacky rig catch them when all other methods fail. This usually is even more painstakenly slow since most are incorporating the deadsticking approach. This is were one cast out the wacky rig, allow the worm to slowly fall, and then just let it set there while I've already made 12 cast. No other bait has given more confidence to the back seat angler than the senko lures. Its become the co-anglers dream bait, their limit finder and their crutch.
There doesn't seem to be much difference in the different brands of senko style baits, other than the amount of salt in them. The one I like is the new Gulp sinking minnow, which adds a new twist to the senko style worm. This is a new revolution in plastic baits. The Gulp sinking minnow not only offers the great vertically falling action, but it gives off scent. In fact, the minnow actually is dissolving slowly in the water, creating a scent trail more powerful than any spray on scent. I ask Berkley how this works, and Berkley Chemical Engineer John Prochnow explained it.
This can be a problem with the more expensive brand senko style baits. I've seen a many back seat angler watch his senko fly off the hook in the cast, or lose the bait on a false alarm hook set.
I've been using the Gulp sinking minnow Texas rigged with a small weight, flipping it behind other anglers, catching fish that a jig or regular worm will not. I think in cold front conditions, a straight tail worm will out perform a bait such as a creature bait that gives off more vibration. But nothing seems to compare to the success of the basic wacky rig.
If you've never tired the wacky rigged senko or sinking minnow, try it. Harris is a great place to experiment with it, but it will work any where. Wacky rigging used to be a technique that I laughed at, but not no more. Give it a try, its something different that everyone else may not be using, your action might get slower with casting, but alot more action with catching.
I can still hear my buddy now, "You're over fishing it"! Words of wisdom.
