Damiki Rig in Summer?

[reason162]

Seeing lots of suspended smallies on my graph, pedaling around the lake in my kayak. 20-30ft, they're suspended 12-17ft down.

Does anyone hover a damiki rig over these fish, instead of say...a DS? I know it's mostly a cold water technique...

[fish365]

You could, but would probably catch more using the 5" Armor Shad vs the 3". The entire point of the Damiki in winter is to try to hold as still as possible in colder water to make a lethargic fish bite. No matter how still you think you are holding it, it's still moving.

[DrewFlu33]

I'm sure it'd work. In fact, I have to believe it's being done by guys who fish lakes like Table Rock where there's a lot of dropping to fish in the summer.

[reason162]

I'm sure it'd work. In fact, I have to believe it's being done by guys who fish lakes like Table Rock where there's a lot of dropping to fish in the summer.

I'll put it to the test if I find the suspended fish I saw last week!

[smithlakebass]

My partner and i did well in a tournament here on smith couple years back rotating between damiki and drop shot this time of year dropping to suspended fish

[reason162]

My partner and i did well in a tournament here on smith couple years back rotating between damiki and drop shot this time of year dropping to suspended fish

Damiki rig experiment was a success. I used 3 and 4" keitech shad impacts rigged on 1/8oz keitech round jig heads...those were the heaviest freshwater jigs I had. Dropping and staying on these fish from my older Hobie kayak sucked...mainly bc I don't have reverse and had to circle back around. Very imprecise delivery.

Near dusk a giant school of smallies off a point in 35ft. Caught one, the rest refused to eat. Saw them come up to check out the bait and swim back down, one after another. Changed colors, size, jiggling/motionless/raising up/dropping down...they would inspect but not eat. Easily the most frustrating hour of fishing this year. I was using 6lb floro leader (10ft of it), so I don't think it's line size. Clarity is about 5ft+...some of these bass came up 15ft from the bottom to eyeball my jig.

Fine tuning for the future: heavier jig heads. I need at least 3/16. Also, find jig heads with eyes. Not a fan of VMC, anyone knows a good "body balance" style jighead with eyes and gammy or Owner hooks? The Keitech hooks are great, but they are plain jane.

What knot is everyone tying? I broke off several fish on san diego jam...normally I use a loop knot for all my finesse jigging. I was leaving a cut-off knot on the eye to position the knot further back, keeping the bait horizontal. My next move is to try some ZMan stuff that stays perfectly flat even with a loop knot.

[DrewFlu33]

Board sponsor NMBA Custom Tackle makes Damiki heads and can put Owner hooks in them I believe. He can paint them whatever color you want and has a bunch of sizes available.

As for the knot, if you're breaking off fish it sounds like too hard of a hookset and/or too tight on the drag. Another tip is to leave the tag longer; I was shocked at the reduction in breakoffs I had from doing this - I can only assume that our knots back out and let loose sometimes and we end up attributing it to another breakoff when in reality a little longer tag end would've prevented it. Your mileage may vary, of course. Also make sure your line isn't bad...I've had bad spools of fluoro before where I could take it off the spool and break it between my hands pretty easily.

[smithlakebass]

Ball head with keitech is deadly. Cast it out and fish it and any stumble up on suspended fish under boat drop down to them like a damiki. Do it on Smith good bit. Usually when u see fish following and not checking its either wrong species or its its something as simple as change weights

[jacob461]

You could, but would probably catch more using the 5" Armor Shad vs the 3". The entire point of the Damiki in winter is to try to hold as still as possible in colder water to make a lethargic fish bite. No matter how still you think you are holding it, it's still moving.

Unless fish react different to it in the summer a 5” bait probably won’t work. The key to a damiki rig is keeping the bait horizontal which is hard enough to do with a small bait.

[reason162]

Board sponsor NMBA Custom Tackle makes Damiki heads and can put Owner hooks in them I believe. He can paint them whatever color you want and has a bunch of sizes available.

As for the knot, if you're breaking off fish it sounds like too hard of a hookset and/or too tight on the drag. Another tip is to leave the tag longer; I was shocked at the reduction in breakoffs I had from doing this - I can only assume that our knots back out and let loose sometimes and we end up attributing it to another breakoff when in reality a little longer tag end would've prevented it. Your mileage may vary, of course. Also make sure your line isn't bad...I've had bad spools of fluoro before where I could take it off the spool and break it between my hands pretty easily.

I will msg them...that Owner jig hook (one they use in the new blockhead) is prob my fav finesse jig hook ever made.

Re knots...it's 100% my fault. I use a Kreh's loop for everything, and the Orvis knot to join clips on moving baits. But Orvis cocks out to the side, so I decided to go with a tighter and straight knot...googled san diego jam on the water, must've cocked it up somehow.

[reason162]

Ball head with keitech is deadly. Cast it out and fish it and any stumble up on suspended fish under boat drop down to them like a damiki. Do it on Smith good bit. Usually when u see fish following and not checking its either wrong species or its its something as simple as change weights

It's my #1 producer this Spring/early summer on a 1/16. I need to experiment with penduluming it through those suspended fish more...Are they particularly line shy when you vertical drop for them in Summer? I'm thinking about bumping my leader up to 7#.

[Walkabout7781]

It doesn't sound to me like your water is particularly clear, so I wouldn't be shy about using 8 lb test leader, even Copolymer. But where I fish, we can normally see beer cans on the bottom in 12' and often can tell what brand. In July-August, it will be even more clear...have personally been able to see my #11 pork frog tails waving on the bottom in 22'. Makes catching difficult during daylight hours.

One of my friends related a story about seeing a school of Crappie at 12' under his boat on his electronics. His solution was to pitch an estimated 12' away from the boat and let the lure (grub on a ball head jig, IIRC) pendulum into the school. The heavier jighead would increase the speed and pretty much demand a reaction strike. Can't say that I've ever run into that situation, but I like the idea a lot and think it would work for our OP.

[fish365]

Unless fish react different to it in the summer a 5” bait probably won’t work. The key to a damiki rig is keeping the bait horizontal which is hard enough to do with a small bait.

The Erie jig head is your friend

[smithlakebass]

It's my #1 producer this Spring/early summer on a 1/16. I need to experiment with penduluming it through those suspended fish more...Are they particularly line shy when you vertical drop for them in Summer? I'm thinking about bumping my leader up to 7#.

Swimming pool clear water and i generally use #8 leader. Only time i go under 8 is spy baiting

[reason162]

It doesn't sound to me like your water is particularly clear, so I wouldn't be shy about using 8 lb test leader, even Copolymer. But where I fish, we can normally see beer cans on the bottom in 12' and often can tell what brand. In July-August, it will be even more clear...have personally been able to see my #11 pork frog tails waving on the bottom in 22'. Makes catching difficult during daylight hours.

One of my friends related a story about seeing a school of Crappie at 12' under his boat on his electronics. His solution was to pitch an estimated 12' away from the boat and let the lure (grub on a ball head jig, IIRC) pendulum into the school. The heavier jighead would increase the speed and pretty much demand a reaction strike. Can't say that I've ever run into that situation, but I like the idea a lot and think it would work for our OP.

Back at the reservoir and tried 8lb...didn't get bit! Dropped down to 6lb and had more success.

I don't think it's a visibility issue but rather bait movement. Or (like so much of fishing) it's all in my head lol

[DrewFlu33]

I had the epiphany about light line and bait action when I was learning to drop shot so your experience doesn't surprise me at all!

Since you're noticing a difference, pay attention to line diameters between different brands as well. I've told the story countless times here, but when I was learning to drop shot I couldn't catch anything on it. After having a buddy smoke me from the back of the boat throwing the same bait, weight, and leader length, we switched rods. The catching switched too. Found out Berkley 100% 8 lb is the same diameter as Sunline and Seaguar 12 lb, switched to 7 lb Sniper on the drop shot, started catching fish like it was going out of style. A rig I couldn't stand is now my #1 confidence presentation. Lb test ratings have probably caused more misunderstandings about fishing line than anything else in history.

[reason162]

I had the epiphany about light line and bait action when I was learning to drop shot so your experience doesn't surprise me at all!

100%. I think I got away with heavier line on most jighead applications bc I use a loop knot 99% of the time...I'm mostly a saltwater guy and 12lb leader connected via a small, neat loop knot to even 1/8oz jigs still look okay, esp if we're talking swimbaits or snap-jigging a minnow type soft plastic. But any kind of cinch knot, as is required for most vertical/damiki presentations...the line size really matters. All those micromovements when holding the bait "still" is not transferred nearly as obviously on 8lb vs 6, and the bite rate reflects that.

I've gotten a few vertical jigging sessions under my belt in the past couple of weeks, and my preliminary conclusion is this: the technique certainly works in 75+F water...the fish are not so much suspended like they are in cold water as they are actively roaming around in the middle of the water column chasing herring. As such, a lot of my bites are coming on the drop, and often the fish are gone by the time my jig gets down there. When I do "play" with a fish on the graph, they don't seem to mind me going past them, and the slow upwards game that seems to work well in cold water is sort of a wash. I've found the best results either quickly dropping the bait past the fish, or 3-5 quick reel handle turns raising the bait, then killing it dead and waiting for the bass to come up or swim down. Either way, the vast majority of fish lose interest after the initial drop. The ones that do hit it either on the drop or right after the bait levels out on the initial drop...slam it.

[slipknobber bot]

I'll preface this by saying i STRONGLY believe line visibility is not a thing that matters to fish. But to the point of lighter line giving baits better action i completely agree; strait 6lb braid to a drop shot hook is where its at, IMO. From my tests, it's night and day over 6lb flouro/mono/copoly.

[reason162]

I'll preface this by saying i STRONGLY believe line visibility is not a thing that matters to fish. But to the point of lighter line giving baits better action i completely agree; strait 6lb braid to a drop shot hook is where its at, IMO. From my tests, it's night and day over 6lb flouro/mono/copoly.

I've seen it in saltwater too many times...even species that people don't normally associate with being line shy, will at times be line shy. Others like little tuny and bonito, you are severely handicapping yourself if you use mono over floro leaders, let alone straight braid.

Straight braid to DS is a bridge too far for me. If it works for you, keep at it!

[Walkabout7781]

I'll preface this by saying i STRONGLY believe line visibility is not a thing that matters to fish. But to the point of lighter line giving baits better action i completely agree; strait 6lb braid to a drop shot hook is where its at, IMO. From my tests, it's night and day over 6lb flouro/mono/copoly.

Can't say I'm aware of 6 lb test braid, but I'll go look on TW. I have 10 lb PP on my favorite Senko skipping rod, and I've been too skeered to use it. Besides, it's really hard to see even that stuff well enough to tie a knot in it! I may have to start taking my readers with me...