Basin Drifting For Deep Bass

One of my favorite ways to fish for largemouth bass is basin drifting with Senkos. The best conditions are when the wind is between four and ten miles an hour. Typically I’ll drift with the wind in basins that are 10 to 15 feet deep. I cast out a Texas Rigged Senko, let it hit the bottom and slowly twitch it as I drift along. When you feel it stop set the hook. Usually the basins don’t have a lot of structure but you’ll find the bass by isolated weed clumps. Favorite colors for me are Green Pumpkin Red Flake, Watermelon Red Flake, Green Pumpkin, Gooseberry Laminate and Purple Pearl Blue Flake.

One thing I’ve noticed too. Bass don’t always relate to structure; sometimes they relate to depth. Scattered weed patches never hurt, though. Some of the biggest bass I’ve caught came out of pretty structureless areas

Sounds legit. If I think of it, I’ll give it a try.

Funny, first time I ever fished a Senko was with a guide 10-12 years ago and we drifted/trolled Texas-rigged worms across a large, dishpan lake in South Dakota. I had my doubts that anything with that little of motion just bumping along would actually work. We destroyed them. The key was the guide keeping us at the right depth and also he’d watch his DI screen for isolated cover, rocks, weed clumps… As soon as we would pass over something with the worms dragging behind us he’d tell us to “hold on!”

I know a old tourney guy in the Metro, who cashed many checks in Bass Tourneys and this was about the only way he fished. A black Senko or Slug-go with split shot about 18-24″ up the line. He would adjust the split shot size based on the depth and wind conditions. I fished with him several times. It was a slow boring way to fish but would put its share of fish in the livewell.