Jika Rig With Blade?

[alexandboi]

Just wondering if anyone has tried adding on a willlow blade onto their jika rig? Do the fish like it and does it work for you? I tried it earlier today in a tank and I think it looks pretty nice. The blade spins on its way down which I think can mimic dying baitfish. Not sure if it makes any sense but I'll add this picture to clarify what I'm talking about. 

 

[Felix77]

interesting idea ... the only way to tell is to get it in the water and trying it.

[Fishes in trees]

That idea will work - as long as the blade doesn't interfere with the hook set.  Back in the day (mid 80's to early 90's) a similar bait was popular on Truman Lake.

 

 

Basically it was a 1/2 or 5/8 oz ball headed spinner bait with a very short top arm (3/4 to a little over an inch or so)  A medium to large sized Colorado blade was fixed to the top arm using a ball bearing swivel.  (ball bearing swivels weren't all that common then)  A plastic bait was threaded on to the hook of the spinnerbait, usually a regular sized Guido Bug.

 

The approach was that you would pitch this like a jig to woody cover, weed lines, whatever and allow it to helicopter down.  When it hit bottom or was a deep as you wanted, you'd jig or slow roll it back to the boat.

Basically you fished it like a jig with "thump".  It worked best in very dingy to muddy water.  Most strikes happened on the initial drop or within a few seconds after hitting bottom.  The whole rig was alot more snag free than you might think.

 

That bait has fallen out of favor, the last time I was at Truman, I didn't see any in the home made spinner bait racks of the different tackle stores I entered.

[alexandboi]

Yeah I'll give it a try some time this week... And I don't think the blade gets in the way of a hook set. From what I saw when the bait hits the bottom, the rig stands up while the blade lays down on the bottom. But I guess I'll have to see how it goes when I'm actually fishing it.