By Stan Fagerstrom
Product Review Editor
May 18, 2011
Click here for parts One and Two
I can tell you one of the subjects anglers who fish smallmouth on the Columbia River talk about whenever they sit down to share a cold one.
No, it’s not that pretty gal with the big brown eyes who is waiting on tables. And it isn’t what the stock market has been doing while they were out there on the water. So what is it? When the conversation gets down to who caught what you can bet you’ll hear about Gary Yamamoto’s Senkos sooner than later.
The talented guy I’ve written about in my past two columns would be one of the first to agree with that comment. I’m talking about my friend Bruce Holt. Bruce lives in the community of Kalama right on the Washington side of the big river. He’s also an executive with G.Loomis Rods. Senkos are one of the baits he uses for Columbia River bass fishing.
“I use Senkos for a couple of different approaches for fishing the Columbia,” Bruce says. “Early in the spring and summer I often fish 3 and 4-inch Senkos.”
As you might expect where an expert angler like Holt is concerned, he doesn’t limit his approach with Senkos to just one approach. He might start out drop shotting. If that doesn’t get action, he may switch to fishing Wacky Style.
“It all depends on what the fish are telling me,” Bruce says. “I might wind up just head hooking my Senkos and fishing them that way. The Senko has a nice profile and it’s soft enough to wiggle with the slightest amount of current.”
If you’re just getting into bass fishing, pay particular attention to what Holt says about letting the fish tell him what they want. It’s one of the real keys to consistent fishing success, particularly when you’re dealing with fickle critters like bass.
I’ve known so many newcomers to bass fishing who have lucked out on a trip or two early in their fishing and wound up with lots of action. Their tendency is to use the same technique the next 10 times they’re back on the water even if they can’t buy a hit. They never give the fish a chance to indicate what they might really want because they never give them anything new to look at.
You won’t find Holt doing that when he’s on the Columbia or anywhere else. You’ll want to build it into your own approach and it applies whether you’re throwing a Senko, a crankbait or whatever else you have on.
Bruce had a ready answer when I asked him why he thought Senkos were so consistently successful among Columbia River smallmouth anglers. His response was one you’ll hear whenever these lures are talked about.
“Besides a Senko’s profile and movement,” he says, “I think the salt content of these baits is important. Fish tend to hang onto them a bit longer.” Having a bass hang on longer means, of course, that it ups your chances of getting a solid hook up.
Experienced Columbia smallmouth anglers are aware the fish move into different parts of the river as the season progresses. “Later in the spring,” Bruce says, “as the fish move to the flats and into the bays to spawn, I like to fish a 5-inch Senko Texas Style. I rig it on a weightless extra wide gap, fine wire, offset worm hook.”
Holt will tell you he usually fishes this Senko set up with a minimum of movement. “It takes a lot of confidence,” he says, “to fish a Senko as slowly as the fish often seem to want it, but it can be a real fish getter.”
Remember what I said earlier about changing your approach if what you’ve started out with doesn’t get results? Bruce practices what he preaches. Here’s what he says he does if his slow approach with a 5-inch Senko rigged Texas Style doesn’t get the desired results.
“If the bite slows,” he says, “I often switch to a small #4 or #2 octopus style hook and rig up a 5-inch Senko to fish Wacky Style. This change will many times get the fish going again. I think you actually get more action from a bait in a free fall situation when it is rigged Wacky Style.”
Like the rest of us, Holt has his favorite colors for Columbia River smallmouth fishing. “Sometimes,” he says, “I think angler confidence in the lure they’re throwing is as important as the actual lure color. My favorite colors are the standard pumpkinseed, green pumpkin and smoke with a colored flake. I favor a blue flake. Some of my companions prefer a red flake.”
As I’ve mentioned before in this column series, Bruce Holt is now in his third decade with G. Loomis rods. The G.Loomis rod factory is in Woodland, just up the Columbia a few miles from the community where Bruce lives. He’s held a variety of positions with the company, including that of being in charge of the entire Woodland rod-building operation.
Being with one of the nation’s top fishing rod makers definitely has fringe benefits. For some years now G.Loomis has been producing rods designed to best serve specific fishing needs. You’ll find Bruce changing rods darn near as often as a golfer playing 18 holes. Bruce says he uses five different rods for about 90 per cent of his Columbia River smallmouth fishing. I was interested in knowing what these rods are and the reels and lines he uses with them. I’ve made it a point to find out.
I’ll share that info as well as some thoughts about other effective Columbia River smallmouth baits in my next and final column in this series. Keep an eye out for it because it may well give you some ideas you’d like to consider in your own bass fishing.
