November 01, 2012
By Ned Kehde
After we posted the blog on Oct. 8 regarding Stacey King's accomplishments with the jika rig, several members of the Finesse News Network who had experienced poor results with it said that they were going to give the jika rig another fling. And some FNN members who hadn't used it said that King's successes with it had motivated them to give it a whirl.
Travis Perret of Overland Park, Kansas, sent a report to FNN on Oct. 12, detailing his initiation to the jika fraternity.
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He wrote: "Sorry for being out of touch but I've been at Table Rock Lake since Tuesday. I'm fishing the Missouri B.A.S.S Federation state qualifier.
"Wednesday was a very trying day for me and my 10 fellow Leavenworth[Kansas] Bass Club anglers. I squeaked out only two keepers -- both coming on topwater. One was a 16 1/2-inch Kentucky, and the other was a 16-inch smallmouth. I just happen to be fishing an area when they started popping on top and I threw my bait on top of them. I just happen to be in the right place at the right time. I wasn't feeling very confident with that pattern.
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"Three keepers where the best anyone of the club members did during that day. It was a beautiful day but sorry fishing for us.
"That evening I called Stacey [King of Reeds Spring, Missouri]to see what he knew about what was going on with the lake. He gave me some information and said he hadn't been on the lake for a few weeks. He then asked if I wanted to fish with him. After checking the rules to make sure it was okay, I said yes.
"I met him at noon on Thursday [Oct. 11] and we fished till 5. Not only is he a great guy but a great fisherman. He had 6 or 7 keepers for the day and I had three. One of my keepers was a four-pound smallmouth. In total, we caught 30 bass.
The top photograph features Travis Perret's four-pound smallmouth bass, and the bottom photograph features Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Missouri, and one of the smallmouth bass that he caught.
"We fished that Jika rig he has been praising. I'm a convert! That thing can catch fish.
"So today, our last practice day, I decide to run to a different part of the lake and try to replicate what I learned from Stacey. It rained all day and the fishing was great. I had two 18-inch bass on a spinnerbait and six keeper bass on the Jika rig.
"I'll no doubt be using it more.
"Saturday and Sunday is the tournament. I am a non-boater; so I am hoping can catch them, using the jika rig while fishing behind the angler in front of the boat. I'll update you after the tournament to let you know how I did."
Upon his return home, Perret reported that he didn't fare well during the two days of competition. But he had more jika success tales to tell.
He said, "After my outing with Stacey [King], I told my 10 club members about the jika rig, telling them how and where Stacey used them. But when they saw the jig rig, most of them laughed, saying that it was a sorry sight. But by the time the tournament started every angler on our team was using a jika rig. One member finished in fifth place, and he caught 20 bass on jika rig during the second day of the tournament and weighed in one of only two limits caught that day. He was fishing it on flat, wind-blown, main-lake points in five to 15 feet of water. Most these bass were caught around or in flooded cedar trees. Two other club members caught some bass on it around boat docks. Stacey [King] showed me how to use it to catch bass around docks, flooded cedar trees, and even suspended Kentuckies. And there a few other jika tactics that he showed me, which I told the club members about."
To Perret's chagrin, he caught only one keeper-sized bass during both days of competition as a non-boater, but the two boaters with whom he fished with failed to catch a keeper. However, three members of Perret's Leavenworth Bass Club finished in the top 10, and the club placed second in this 27-club event. Despite his sorry catch during the tournament, Perret said the jika rig will play a significant role in his black bass fishing routines in the months and years to come, as it will for a number of members in his bass club.
And in the months to come, we will post more information from Perret, King and other jika rig devotees about how, when and where to use it.
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Footnotes:
(2) Travis Perret is a personal trainer and exercise therapist who specializes in chronic-pain therapy. From 2004 to 2008, he was director of The Egoscue Method Clinic of Kansas City. Now he is an Egoscue affliate with a private practice, working in conjunction with Henry Marquardt, who is a chiropractor in Overland Park, Kansas. He works with several professional bass anglers, such as Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Missouri, Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kansas, Kevin Hawk of Guntersville, Alabama, and Casey Scanlon of Lexena, Kansas. Anglers who want to conquer that pain that afflicts their bodies can contact Perret at 913-424-9354 and examine his Web site at
http://www.felixfishing.com/
