Shryock Takes the "Power" Approach to Fishing a Senko - Major League Fishing
Shryock Takes the “Power” Approach to Fishing a Senko
4y • Mason Prince • Major League Lessons
Getting a feel for sight-fishing the old-fashioned way with Keith Carson
2d • Tyler Brinks • Bass Pro Tour
Shryock has a new favorite bait for skipping into hard-to-reach places (and fish like it, too)
3m • Major League Lessons
Mrazek’s favorites for the start of the season in Texas
3m • Jody White • Invitationals
Jonathon VanDam always has a vibrating jig on his deck. Here’s why you should, too
3m • Bass Pro Tour
Morrison’s winter smallmouth recipe
3m • Jody White • Major League Lessons
Get the most out of your Garmin mapping with water level adjustments and depth highlights
4m • Major League Lessons
How and why to add color shading on your Lowrance graphs
4m • Invitationals
Getting to know the new(ish) kid on the block: the Yamamoto Yamatanuki
4m • Justin Onslow • Bass Pro Tour
Bill Me – No two crankbait bills are built alike
5m • Sean Ostruszka • Major League Lessons
Color Blindness – When is color important … and when is it not?
5m • Sean Ostruszka • Major League Lessons
The newest twist on the Damiki rig: mid-strolling
5m • Tyler Brinks • Major League Lessons
Clausen shares simple approach for catching cold-water smallmouth
5m • Mitchell Forde • Major League Lessons
Hot tips to take your froggin’ to the next level
5m • Mike Pehanich • Major League Lessons
Probing docks for fall bass
5m • Justin Onslow • Major League Lessons

Shryock Takes the “Power” Approach to Fishing a Senko

Image for Shryock Takes the “Power” Approach to Fishing a Senko
Fletcher Shryock fished near plenty of docks during Stage Eight in Neenah, Wisconsin. Photo by Phoenix Moore
August 8, 2019 • Mason Prince • Major League Lessons

I gave MLF pro Fletcher Shryock a call to talk to him about the benefits of using a Senko because he had mentioned in the past how much he enjoyed fishing the popular stick worm. Lucky for me, I caught him at the perfect time.

“I’m actually flipping a Senko right now on Lake Guntersville in Alabama,” Shryock said with a laugh as he searched for an early-afternoon bite.

Easy to Eat, Easy Bites

Shryock knows just how versatile a Senko can be, not only when competing on the Bass Pro Tour, but even when he’s just having fun on a lake close to home.

“A Senko works east to west, north to south all across the country,” Shryock explained. “I don’t really know what the fish think it looks like, but they eat it no matter what.”

The Ohio native prefers to use a Senko when the bite is tough because it doesn’t resemble a crawfish or another creature-style bait. Shryock knows from experience just how much effort can go into eating a crawfish for a bass.

“I’ve had problems when using a craw bait or a creature-style bait that the fish bite off the pinchers of the bait before they actually eat the bait,” Shryock detailed. “I’ve seen fish in tanks tear off the appendages of a crawfish before they eat it. Maybe a crawfish is too much to take on with its pinchers and everything, that’s why they go after a Senko because it looks so easy to eat.”

Bass Backwards

Shryock likes to rig his 5-inch Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Senkos either weightless and wacky or Texas-rigged, paired with a variety of different weights. His standard weight is a 5/16-ounce but he has moved all the way up to a 1-ounce weight if he is flipping through matted vegetation. When it comes to pitching his worm however, he gets a little more creative with his setup.

Fletcher Shryock rigs his 5-inch Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Green Pumpkin Senko backwards and adds a weight to the head for easy pitching under docks.

“I do something different when I Texas-rig a Senko when I’m pitching,” Shryock revealed. “I use nail weights and I weight one end of the Senko, usually the head. When I weight it that way, I rig it backwards. It makes it a lot easier to skip it under docks – I call it ‘shooting docks.’ As long as you keep the bait straight, it will take off away from you and get under floating docks.”

The Spiderwire pro says that he actually catches more fish when he power fishes a Senko rather than when he finesse fishes one. Shryock says he prefers using a 5-inch green pumpkin Senko with purple flake as his universal go-to. Add a fairly heavy weight on to that rig and you have a great tool to shoot under docks, according to Shryock.

“I use a baitcaster when shooting under docks and I can cover a lot of water that way,” he said. “Yes, it’s kind of finesse fishing, but I’m getting the bait into places where no other bait can get to. That’s what makes the Senko so versatile.”