I agree with you Bink, the Senko is dumbing many fisherman. I admit, I got hooked on fishing using a Senko because of the amount of action I got using the bait. What really got me hooked was an awesome day on Mahopac about 4 years ago using the Senko. Since then I relied on the Senko heavily until last year. I started throwing more TUBES, jigs and other baits this year because I knew throwing a Senko would produce no satisfaction for me. I haven't picked one up since July and now use Jigs extensivly. Senko's are a great bait, but it sometimes can take two packs on those expensive baits to catch 20 fish (many of which are dinks), when you can catch 20 or more quality fish using a $2 Jig. It's a great bait to get people hooked on fishing and it has it's times when it really shines, however it is not practical to throw a senko 100% of the time! I believe the fish will never stop biting the senko totally, but I haven't had as many big fish bite as I did that day on Mahopac. The action my slow, but will never completly die as long as there are bass. There are many more ways to fish a senko other then weightless whacky and texas rig such as dropshotting and the senko jig. So, in a sense, it can virtually be fished in all conditions with many different presentations, but it's not practicle.
As for the tube, they were first made by Bobby Garland and his brother and were used out west in the deep, clear lakes. The gitzit was, I believe, the mainstay of all tube baits and fisherman for nearly a decade when they made their way east. They were then transformed into many different baits with odd appendages that can be pitched, flipped, casted, jerked, swam, hopped ...... anything!! Like the senko the tube can be used under almost all conditions with many different presentations. Tubes work all year long, in all different depths. It is one of the, if not the most versitile bait out there. Again, like then Senko, bass will never stop hitting them.
Tubeking, my suggestion to you is to continue using tubes and senkos, but be well aware that the senko can do many things, but the tube is much more versitile and practical. And to answer your other question, if the tube and senko bait died, I would use Jig n pig.