TOKYO RIG

[gbassman519]

For the life of me, i cannot see the advantage of this rig. you can do the same thing with a dropshot. OR am i missing something ?

[Terran Elam]

I’m going to need a set of flash cards to keep up with you guys.

[GTN-NY]

I had to google it. 
so basically it a very short dropshot 

[moguy1973]

I think the advantage is more or less being able to keep contact with the bottom while keeping your bait slightly suspended off the bottom.  Think of it more as a bottom bouncer like they use for walleye.  Drop shot, the section of line the weight is on isn't stiff like the wire used on the Tokyo rig so feeling the bottom is little more accurate with the latter.  Plus since it's a little more compact and the weight will swing up behind the bait you can use it to punch through thicker vegetation where a drop shot wouldn't make it through.

[Fishes in trees]

To me , it is a different tool and has a place in your tool kit, just like the tx rig & drop shot, jig worm & weightless soft plastics & Carolina rigs have a place in your tool kit.

My home made ones are in the half to three quarter oz range.    This lets me get to the bottom quickly. ( this is part of this being a unique tool.  If I'm getting bit on the drop, a tx rig might be a better option.   If I'm gettin bit on the bottom, I think the jika rig is better )    Should I happen to get bit, my bait is separate from the weight, which isn't always the case with a tx rig and is never the case with a jig worm.   One key to my design is to use as light a hook as possible - the thinking there is that when the bite happens, the fish approaches the bait & basically inhales it, the hook easily goes along with the  plastic into the fishes mouth and the weight stays out.

My home made rigs differ from Tokyo rigs in other ways..   The Tokyo rig has a wire dropper, where you can attach your own weights, then bend the wire so that they stay put.   I tried that for a while and I found that if you used a wire that was bendable enough to easily change out the weights when you want to, after 3 or 4 bites the wire would get crimped, bent and wouldn't necessarily drop straight down anymore.    Similar things happened when I used steel leader material, i.e. after several bites, the wire would get all wonky.

These days I use 80 lb fluorocarbon leader material.  I use a couple of jewelers crimps at the end of the leaders then thread on the 2 worm weights with a bead between them for a little sound and then a smallish look at the top of the dropper, again secured with jewelers crimps or sometimes I've found stainless steel sleeves in the smallest size that work ok.

 

The fluorocarbon leader material is a little more flexible - compared to the wire, but that is ok and it doesn't go all bent & wonky after a few bites.

 

Now back to the original question.  The jika rig is more of a power presentation compared to the finesse of a drop shot.  My primary use for it is in depth greater than 10 feet when I want to put my bait down right next to some object.   I've had some success just pitching it to stuff that I see on my graph.   My best results have been throwing it at deep weed lines, 15 to 20 feet down where the vegetation stops and the sandy harder bottom is, before the bottom turns to mucky.   This is generally just a foot or two off the weedline, so I like the fast, straight down drop the the jika rig offers.

 

 

[GTN-NY]

 jika rig??

I’ll have to google that rig also

[Glenn]

Jika Rig:

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/jika-rig.html

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/specialty-bass-rigs.html

 

Tokyo Rig:

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/tokyo-rig.html

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/tokyo-rig-tips.html

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/tokyo-rig-techniques.html