Jika Rig Tips

[ROCbass]

I've never fished one, but the other night I made some Jika rigs with 2/0, 3/0, and 4/0 worm hooks and some split rings and sinkers I had laying around. on the ones I made with the 2/0 hooks, the split ring is a pretty tight fit in the eye of the hook, to the point where the hook cant really move on the ring without forcing it, while on the 3/0 and 4/0 hooks the eyes are slightly larger and the hook swings more freely on the ring. Hook size aside, are there any advantages or disadvantages of having a more rigid hook vs. a free swinging hook with this presentation?

[J Francho]

If you are going to make your own, I recommend the Gamakatsu Superline EWG with Ring. (http://www.gamakatsu.com/fishing-hooks.php?pid=1159)

 

Attach the split ring and sinker to the welded ring.  Tie off to the ring as well.  Skinny drop shot weights work well, and penetrate weeds best - which is the main point of the rig.  Having a free swinging hook allows the best bait action, too.

[Fishes in trees]

I gave the Jika rig a fair test over the last month (July).  I made my own rigs that weighed between 3/8 and 1/2 oz.   I made mind using worm weights positioned back to back with a glass bead separating them.

 

I fished a mildly pressured Conservation Lake that is gaining a reputation for being stingy about keepers (15"+ fish) , but there are plenty of "slot fish" between 12" and 15".

 

In 4 July trips, (all hot, 90+ degree days, some very sunny and some cloudy)  I caught 17 keepers up to 21" long and an additional 40 or so slot fish.  All on the Jika rig, all deeper than 10' down to 18 or 19'.  All on the deep edge of a weed line.  So currently, I am pretty sold on the Jika rig as a solution to the summer, fishing deep dilemma.  I used a variety of creature style baits and the BPS Mag  Fin-eke worm.  No real pattern emerged there, just keep fishing deep and every so often something would hit it.

[Montanaro]

would be cool to get an article or video posted about this.

[buzzbait4me]

Has anyone ever tried to fish a finesse jika rig on a spinning rod and light line? What size hooks, split rings, and weights would you use? Also what type of baits would you use and how would you work it?