Jika rig

[mark poulson]

Anyone here fish the Jika rig, or something similar?

[Tim Kelly]

Yes, a drop shot rig with a really short tail works much the same too. Good tactic some days.

[mark poulson]

I had thought about a drop shot with a short leader, but the lakes I fish are very rocky, and I'm afraid a heavier weight would snag and come off.
I asked about that rig because I made my own, with two split rings, a 4/0 EWG worm hook, and a drop shot weight whose line tie I opened into a circle. I find it gets snagged much less than the football jigs I normally throw. I fish creature baits and hula grubs on it, and throw it the same places I was throwing a jig.

[Johnny A]

I've had a few in my tacklebox for some years and never have used it.

[blues basser]

I've used it a few times. Casts really well, but I have a difficult time maintaining bottom feel with it. For the same weight I get more feel from a tungsten worm weight.

[mark poulson]

I use tungsten for my T rig worm weights, but haven't tried it for this rig yet.
I liked the idea of a setup that would give me good castability, good bottom contact, and a different presentation of the same soft plastics everyone else is throwing.
I've played around with different sinker shapes to see what will work without getting snagged too often. For the rocky lakes I fish, that's really important for me.
I typically a couple of football jigs each trip, or more, depending on where I find fish. But this rig is even more snag proof than a T rig or jig, so I seldom lose a rig. Worst case scenario I have to move over it and shake it lose, like a jig, but it seems to come out much easier.
I find I can feel the bottom with a dropshot weight that's more football shaped, like this one by Team Davies http://tear-shot-team-davies-fishing-br ... opify.com/ It's pointed on both ends and fat in the middle.
I'm going to dig out some old football jigs with bad hooks, cut the hooks off, and try them to see if I can get a different action with that shaped weight.
The jig bite is really turning on here in SoCal, so I'll be throwing this a lot in the next three months.

[Tokugawa]

I use this rig on occasion. It is a bit obvious, but baits with floating tails work best on it. It is a bit better around rocks than football jigs.

[Altro Cat]

It has become my go to bait for any type of plastic craw. I keep one tied on at all times and have caught a ton of fish on it the last two years.

My personal fav is a 3" Berkley Chigger Craw but I also fish Rage Craws, Cover Craws and various other baits on it. I make all my Jika Rigs using Tungsten Drop shot weights, Owner Hyperwire split rings and various hooks depending on the bait and presentation.

The action is different enough that I can fish right behind other baits throwing T-Rig plastics and clean up. A couple guys I fish with couldn't believe the fish I was catching out of the back of their boats throwing to the same brushpiles they had just dragged T-Rigs and jigs through without a bite.

[got2be5]

What hook are you guys using?Something light wire? Thanks

[mark poulson]

I do use light wire offset hooks with a Z bend, so the plastic stays on. I size the hook to the plastic.

[rubs96]

Love the rig but the tungsten version was $12.99-13.99 when they first came out so I only bought one pack.

Favourite bait for is a 5" swim senko. Unfortunately had a pike steal one from me and the other a bass swallowed it right down and didn't make it but kept him for table and got it back when I cleaned him.

Recently, I've seen the tungsten versions for $6.99 (but still only two in a pack but definitely worth it)

I just cast it out and retrieve back slowly

[G3Steve]

I gotta try this again. The one time I did I realized that there was absolutely zero contact with the weight.

Dragging the rig along just felt like mush. I quickly switched to something else that I could feel contacting the bottom.

Gonna give it a go when it warms up.

[mark poulson]

They are easy to make, so you don't have to buy them.
Depending on what you have, and the bottom you're fishing, you can make your own by putting two split rings together, a #3 and a #2. Put your hook onto the #3, and your sinker onto the #2. You can go bigger, like a #4 and a #3, too, for bigger hooks.
I use both cylindrical and football shaped lead drop shot sinker with their swivels opened by an awl. It's nothing fancy, but it works, and it's lots cheaper than tungsten. If I can't feel the bottom, I go to a heavier sinker, but I try and stay as light as possible to keep from getting hung up as much in the rocks.
The rig snags much less than a football jig in the SoCal lakes I fish.

[OkobojiEagle]

This was first posted here a year ago... anything you've learned or now do differently after a year fishing it? Still using the Jika rig?


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