We caught up with Chad Warren of The Bass Tank for a lesson on how to fish the Damiki rig for lethargic bass during the late fall and winter months. While The Bass Tank boys had been catching them good using jerkbaits and Alabama rigs (check out John Soukup’s 10-pounder), several fish were unwilling to commit. Warren explains the importance of watching your fish finders for trailing bass, which often hang below the boat before dispersing. In this situation, a Damiki-rigged fluke-style plastic is a top-notch follow-up bait.
TACKLE AND GEAR
- LURE – Zoom Salty Super Fluke
- JIG – Damiki Rig Jig Head
- ROD – Falcon Expert Spinning Rod, 6’10 ML
- REEL – Abu Garcia REVO MGX 30 Spinning Reel
- LINE (mainline) – Berkley Jordan Lee X9 Braided Line, 10-pound, color: Flame
- LINE (leader) – Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon, 8-pound
- LIVE SONAR – Garmin Panoptix LiveScope System
- FISH FINDER – Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 126sv
- TROLLING MOTOR – Garmin Force
The trick to Damiki rigging is doing very little with the bait. Whereas there’s a perception that you need to work a plastic actively, the reverse is often key to triggering bass in the winter. One of the keys to the setup is rigging your minnow-imitating plastics to hang horizontally when fished vertically. Warren shares some basic tackle and rigging guidance to achieve this. Get this system right, and you’re due to score several additional bites.
