One of the trends that we’ve chronicled over the last few years in new fishing equipment introductions is that while rods and reels have been on a steady path to become smaller and lighter, hard bodied lures are becoming larger and heavier.
The Jackall Kawashi Mikey 140 has been around for a couple of years now and could be considered one of those baits that was a catalyst in the early days of this trend.
The Kawashi Mikey is a bait that was engineered to be an addition to the already established Mikey line from Jackall which are topwater baits. The differences are very clear with a simple inspection of the bait.
The lip is angled and swept which allows it to dive a bit deeper, bounce off of shallow obstructions easier without getting snagged and to have the ability to swim at any speed without giving off negative clues to bass.
Now for the Weigh-zin
If you’re wondering just how big this bait is the spec’s are, 5.5 inches in length, 1 ounce in weight. The shape of the bait is kind of a standard shad shape but nothing else is less than exceptional on the Kawashi.
The finishes are all well thought out and executed, the components which include the double jointed construction for both joints, the feathered fore and aft hooks, the weighting system, the attention to detail and the tolerances are all the high quality that we’ve come to expect from Jackall.
Of course the real kicker in all this is, will it perform well enough on the water to entice you to go out and get one or more for yourselves?
The Best Uses for the Kawashi Mikey
The first thing you need to be aware of is that the Kawashi Mikey is designed for use in the upper foot or so of the water column. With that in mind, you need to think in terms of using it for shallow fish or for those areas of the lake like humps or places that have grass growing just beneath the surface or where there is visible cover close to the surface such as trees sticking out of the water.
The swimming action of this bait is something that has to be seen in person to truly appreciate how completely natural it is in the water. Whether you retrieve it fast or slow, the tight wiggle is so close to that of a panfish it’s really cool to watch. As an added bonus, bass will crush this bait.
The odd shaped lip serves a double purpose. Not only does it get it down a little in the water it also deflects off of cover extremely well. It allows the Kawashi to crawl over tree limbs and through rocks without breaking its stride. This keeps the slinky motion of this lure almost completely constant during your retrieve.
One of the places that we’ve gotten the most strikes is slamming the bait through and over cover. Bang into something, slow your retrieve just slightly, get back on the accelerator and hold on. When a bass hits this lure, they aren’t playing with it.
We’ve had a good deal of success from early spring, using it as a bait for those shallow pre-spawners, to late fall throwing it over submerged vegetation so that it just ticks the tops of grass. Bass will come out of their hiding places to crush the Kawashi Mikey.
Another prime use for this bait is post-spawn. When you locate a ball of fry, cast beyond it and get the bait down to about a foot under the water. Run it right to the fry then start twitching the tip of your rod as you’re reeling. The male who is guarding those fry can’t stand this and doesn’t hesitate to attack the bait.
Lovin’ the Hook-Up Ratio
The hook-up ratio has been excellent because so few of the strikes that you get on the Kawashi Mikey are short strikes. As a percentage, we would have to say that approximately 75% of our bites have been rod jarring thumps never leaving any doubt that this was a fish.
You know the feeling of making a long cast, beginning your retrieve with the feel of the lure in your hands when your bait gets absolutely hammered! So much so that you don’t even have to set the hook. This has been the vast majority of strikes that we’ve gotten on the Kawashi Mikey.
Much more often than not, the fish wind up with at least two of the three trebles embedded somewhere in their faces. The hooks that come standard with the bait are like all the components on this lure well above average and can stand up to the kind of strikes that the bait elicits from bass. They are very sharp and heavy enough to withstand repeated bites from big fish.
Like most larger than average size lures, this bait tends to catch larger than average size bass. Is it a function of the old adage, “Big baits catch big bass”. At least to some degree, yeah, it is.
The Jackall Kawashi Mikey 140 is not an inexpensive bait. At about $25 retail its toward the high side of things. The real question is whether it’s worth the price. That we’ll leave up to y’all to decide for yourselves but in our opinion, the build quality of the bait as well as its consistent performance more than justifies the cost.
| Jackall Kawashi Mikey 140 | |
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |   |
| A big, incredibly realistic swimming lure | |
See ya’ on the water …
