Winter 2023
T
he VMC Tokyo rig is a unique terminal tackle
item that’s been out for a few years and it’s
a truly versatile way to fish your favorite soft plastic bait. The concept is simple and combines a Texas rig
with a drop-shot rig look, with the weight attached below
the hook on a short wire.
Many fish it by pitching and flipping, which works great,
but there are more uses, according to Major League Fishing
pro Brandon Coulter.
A SWING HEAD REPLACEMENT
The swinging football head, hard head, or “Biffle Head” are three different names used to describe a unique way to fish with soft plastic.
By fishing it along the bottom and moving it quickly, you can perfectly imitate a scurrying crawfish and still cover water at a good clip. It’s a favorite of Coulter in the right situation, but he has seen a big drawback from fishing this rig.
“A lot of people fish a hardhead, but they are notorious for having a poor hookup ratio,” he said. “I use the Tokyo rig instead and it greatly increases the percentage of fish that you land. Having the bait off the bottom a few inches will allow the fish to get the bait better and you still get the same effect.”
Coulter will fish the swimbait the same way as the hardhead, reeling while keeping the rig on the bottom while
fishing it on a 7-foot, 4-inch heavy Savage Gear Battletek rod, 7.3:1 reel and 15 to 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line.
“Fishing a Tokyo rig like a hard head will manufacture the same kind of bites and they hit it hard,” he said. “With the extra-wide gap hook, a heavy rod is needed to get the hook in them. Just slowly drag it along the bottom and that bait will be at the bottom and get the fish’s attention.”
BED BAIT EXTRAORDINAIRE
There are many different baits and rigs that will catch spawning fish, but it often comes down to efficiency when deciding the perfect one to use.
Coulter fished a Bass Pro Tour event on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri and the timing had the bulk of the bass shallow and on beds. To maximize his time on the water and catch more of what he saw, the Tokyo rig was the perfect solution.
“It’s a great sight fishing rig because it keeps your bait off the bottom,” he said. “A drop-shot will do that too, but you can get away with much heavier gear and make casts more efficiently with the Tokyo rig. In that event, I was using a small white craw on the rig, and they couldn’t stand it.”
Another reason he thinks the Tokyo rig is best is because of the hooking power of a sizeable extra-wide gap hook. “You get a better hookup with a larger hook, obviously,” he began. “The other thing is that the fish seem to get the bait better when it is right off the bottom. They
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