Don’t go to Lake El Salto or Lake Picachos without Senkos – when fishing is good they can produce giants, and when it’s tougher than usual they can save the day. If you want to keep it simple you can almost certainly get by with your favorite shade or shades of watermelon and/or green pumpkin. Not only do they come in 5-, 6- and 7-inch sizes, but the fives are available in 50-count and 100-count bulk packs. If you feel the need to supplement those basic shades of green, black with blue flake or black with red flake is a solid secondary choice.

But I know that most traveling bass anglers will never keep it that simple.

I don’t even follow my own advice.

Like many or most of you, I’m constantly trying new shades of soft plastic, looking for something that might work just a little bit better or one that the fish have never seen. If you can resist that similar urge, here are three colors we know have been successful on Mexican bass.

Watermelon Moondust 5" Senko Color #980 — **Watermelon Moondust (#980)**

One of our frequent guides swears by this as his favorite color, thanks to a client who buys them by the gross and consistently catches big fish.

5" Bubblegum Senko Color #229 — **Bubblegum (#229)**

That same guide’s brother had some pre-teen clients who absolutely wore the bass out on this gaudy version while chanting “bubblegumbubblegumbubblegum” until his ears bled.

5" Green Gizzard Senko Color #9008 — **Green Gizzard (#9008)**

I’ve had some fantastic days on this color the last few trips when the bass were really keyed in on shad.

Notes on These Senko Colors

For the shad bite, you might consider substituting Monster Shad, Pro Blue Smoke Shad or Sexy Shad.
All three of these colors are only available in the 5” size.
None of these colors are available in bulk packs, so stock up on bags of ten and consolidate your supplies as necessary

What are some “oddball” colors that we missed?