Winter 2023
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aren’t trying to fight with rocks and grass to pull it from the bottom to eat it.”
FLIPPING AND PITCHING THE TOKYO RIG
When fishing around grass edges and isolated cover, Coulter will fish the Tokyo rig while pitching to shallow targets. It has the same look as a drop-shot rig but a heavy hook for better hookups.
“I like to pitch it into the grass and fish it like a drop- shot rig,” he said. “It’s just like the ‘power shot’ that guys use, where the bait is off the bottom and right in the face of the fish.”
What Coulter likes most about using it is how well it hooks them and even though the Tokyo rig now comes in several hook options, he prefers the standard extra wide gap and fishes it on 17- to 20-pound fluorocarbon line.
“I like that hook style because I’m pitching the rig,” he said. “It’s further away from the boat and you don’t need a short shank as much as you do at close range. In my opinion, the EWG hook is better for hooking them when pitching a bait.”
WEIGHTS AND BAITS
For fishing all three of the above ways,
Coulter uses a straightforward approach to
selecting the right bait and weight.
“For my weights, I experiment a lot and
the biggest key is keeping the bait down on the
bottom,” he shared. “When fishing around grass
and pitching it, I’ll go as light as a 3/16-ounce.
For deeper rock, it may be 1/2-ounce or bigger
to stay in contact with the bottom. What’s cool
about the Tokyo rig is that it’s effortless to swap weights if one is too light or heavy.”
Coulter uses standard offerings like creature baits for baits but also mixes in swimbaits in deeper water situations.
“A bait like the Berkley Pit Boss is a great all-around option,” he said. “I’ll use that and other crawfish imitators mainly. For fishing ledges and deeper stuff, a swimbait is a great tool and gives the fish a different look out there because the bait is swimming right along the bottom, which is harder to achieve with a standard jighead swimbait.”
The Tokyo rig is a unique rigging option for plastics and has quite a few uses. In addition to standard flipping and pitching, the possibilities are endless for where and how to use it. Professional angler Brandon Coulter has learned that it excels when fishing along the bottom while retrieving, when sight fishing, and targeting grass and isolated cover. •
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