The Damiki Rig has become a staple on a lot of highland impoundments and clear water fisheries for winter bass fishing. The unique deepwater, do-nothing rig was thrust onto the bass fishing scene in prime time in an Elite Series bass fishing tournament on Cherokee Lake in February. Guys have been throwing it for years, and surprisingly it had been kept under wraps for the most part before that event.
Imitate forage — that seems like a pretty straightforward objective for artificial lures; but the job has two parts: look like what bass eat and act like what bass eat. For the Damiki rig, excelling at the latter is easy — just stand still.
In truth, a little step here or there occasionally helps, but for now, consider this analogy from Bassmaster Elite Series pro.
“The Damiki rig is kind of like a float-n-fly, only your boat is the float,” said Tennessee pro Ott Defoe.
That squarely summarizes this rig’s vertical drop, controlled-depth premise; but a few details merit mentioning. First Defoe says Damiki rigging is primarily a winter deal, especially on highland reservoirs with exceptional clarity — call it 5-foot-plus. You might find a few other opportunities, like early prespawn mode or even a little summer offshore stuff; but this simple setup earns its stripes when anglers are layered and fish are shivering.
