Hey guys, I'm trying to get dialed in on the whole weightless worm, senko thing and I was wondering what set up you guys are using on casting rods and reels.
I have been throwing it on a Lew's Tournament Pro with 15# Invizx on a Lew's Custom Lite Speed Stick Magnum Hammer Model Its a 7'3" MH fast with good sensitivity.
What I'm not getting used to is the reel adjustment to allow a long cast. If I set the spool tension like I do with heaver lures ( depress the release and let the lure slowly fall then slightly tighten) then its too free for a weightless application and will backlash almost ever time. To avoid backlashing I have to have the tension pretty tight but my distance is not where I would like it to be. I also have the brake set to the max.
Are there better Lews reels for this application? Would changing rods help any?

Thanks in advance!

I use a M action rod for weightless baits. It will load better so you can cast further.

I would go down in line size to 10 or 12lb...that will help immediately. I love the lews. Try setting the brake to 3-4. While it takes some time to tune/adjust, use a 7" senko to start with...work your way down to a 4" senko. Once you get where you like it, you are good. Takes probably 50 casts to get it dialed in.

Stick with your MH rod though, IMO. You have to set the hook. M action rod will help in cast distance but will hurt you in strength of hookset.

Let Senko hang from tip 2' then cast like live bait.

For light baits you will want to drop down to 10lb line or 8 lb line and use a medium rod or maybe even a medium light rod.
That reel also has centrifugal brakes as well. These are more useful in preventing backlashes in the middle of the cast which would be typical with trying to cast lighter lures harder to get distance. Mag brakes help more at the end of the cast.

You should be OK with your setup with the larger Senkos, they are pretty heavy. Just adjust the centrifugal brake. I use a MH with 12lb for the 5" and 6" Senkos.

Weightless senko is by far my most productive fish catcher. I've always used a m action rod for it.. I've had problems losing fish on a fluke with the M rod, but not with the senkos... But I also try to rip their head off

I would also vote for 12lb invisx. the other thing i use falcon cara t7 for a weightless rig it works great. One other thing to keep in mind on a weightless is the bait profile can cause a huge difference in casting. rig a Senko texas style then rig the same one wacky style and you will see what I mean instantly. I set my rig up with the super fluke and go from there.

Thanks for the input guys. I will try it with 12# line and see what that does.
If that doesn't get me where i need to be I will try it on a 7'11 medium rod that I use for small cranks.

Try 20-30 pound Power Pro and a 15-17 pound fluorocarbon leader.

Let a little more line out than normal before casting. Look up a donkey rig, where you use 2 weightless lures. Will give you more weight to cast but still fish weightless if you still have problems

I use a Lews LITE reel on a 7'6" Kistler 3 power rod and 15-pound Invisx. It was easy to dial in and casts a long way

Medium Rod and 12lb Line

Medium heavy Steez rod with a Steez 7.9:1 reel. 10lb InvisX. Casts about as far as any other rod/reel/bait combo I use. Well....maybe not quite as far as a lipless crank. Lol. But close.

Are you using real Senkos? I only ask because most everyone calls just about any stick type bait a "Senko". Senkos are heavier and do cast far better than any other stick bait.

Don't fight it and just use a spinner.

Normally I throw weightless worms on a 7'M rod with a Lew's reel. Out of necessity I had to throw a weightless worm on my 6'6 MH rod the other day, with the same reel. I still didn't have any trouble, in fact I like being able to put more force into the cast thanks to the stiffer rod. I think it's a good compensation for the missing 6 inches of leverage.

As far as reel settings go - it needs to be LOOSE. My weightless worm reels are brutal if you aren't careful, they backlash just from looking at them. But as long as you just ever so lightly thumb the spool, you can cast a weightless worm a good 35+ yds without much effort. Just get used to thumbing the spool and picking out the occasional backlash. Good thing about a weightless worm is it's working still while you pick out birds nests.