Code name 'Cheburashka'.

Although LRF is a relatively new thing, the idea of fishing ultra light with lures has been around for a while... Especially in eastern Europe where anglers for a long time have utilised ice fishing jigs (eg mormyshka, pilkers) and small lures targeting various freshwater predators of smaller size. The perch in particular have a large following and gear specialised for their fishing such as micro and nano jigs (mikrodzhig). From YouTube videos I got interested in some of the gear used there and what caught my eye were those small simple articulated jigheads with the double 'ears' called cheburashka. It took me a while to find somewhere to buy them from, as I didn't know their name at first, but I finally managed to locate some on eBay and an e-shop in Latvia. After receiving them I started using them more and more in my fishing and to be honest they almost replaced normal jigheads at my bottom fishing! Their versatility where you can clip whatever hook you like in an instant and also use them quickly for pegged carolina rigs, the attractiveness of the combo with the soft bait moving more freely (sort of like a jika rig) and most important, their cheap price have made them indispensable for my fishing  especially when working the bottom.

Various types of cheburashka..

Productive combo for clear bottom.

Killer!

My favourite combo is a 4g cheburashka with a #8 Owner Slim Offset hook along with a slim soft plastic such as a Jackall Mebaru Bushi, Ecogear shirasu, Sakura AJ worm etc. A variety of fish will take and the combo is pretty weed/snagless although not as good as a standard texas rig.
Ive been using them for a couple months now and have only positive points for them. They come in various sizes and types, with the most simple one having two eyes where you can add a split ring and a hook although this would need plugging single type of hooks so that the hookpoint looks up (not that important I find). My way though, is to cut with pliers the top of the eye, pass the hook and close it with the pliers. Then again you can just buy the ones with the clips where adding the hook is easier. I have also used such variations of the articulated jighead form Japan by Ocean Ruler and although they are very good, the eastern European ones are just cheaper!
Some pics of fish caught on them in recent sessions and also a video from my day off in Loch Fyne. The weather was really crap but I still had a productive session!

Pretty wrasse!

The mainstay species...

Poor cod are an underrated beautiful fish..

Gurnard are always a pleasant surprise.

Thanks for reading!

Gear used.
Rod:  Majorcraft CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro1000
Mainline: Sunline Siglon fluorocarbon, 3lbs
Rig: cheburashka
lure: Ecogear Shirasu worm, Tict brilliant, Mebaru bushi long, Sakura AJ worm, Ecogear grassminnow.

A sunny session.

Today the sun was up and it was a glorious day, too good to be stuck inside.. So without much thinking I picked up my UL dropshot setup and headed to the canal. I wasn't expecting much to happen early as typically in these conditions fish prefer to feed near dusk. I wanted to experiment with different rigs though so I started with a carolina rig, using a split shot and Owner slim offset #6 hook as this presentation gave me a couple fish on a previous session. I casted in a fan shape and covered as much area as possible but fish didn't wanna play ball.. I switched to my typical wire dropshot rig with 6lbs Knot2Kinky and VMC Spinshot hook. The lure was my favourite of late, 8cm Savagear soft 4play.
I kept working the lure and covering water but after a mile or so it was apparent that fish weren't active. I decided to walk slowly back to some moored barges as the fish would probably be hanging out there in the shade and take my time until the sun goes down a bit.
 By now it was around half three in the afternoon and the canal started to look more alive with a couple baitfish splashing around. I worked around the barges and soon got stuck in to the first perch of the day.

Must be the "tough" neighbourhood at this spot!

I moved to another boat and got another one straight away. They weren't that big but very aggressive.

After working the boats I saw some commotion near the opposite bank and I casted straight away. A couple twitches later and I got a bite, I struck and after a nice tussle I had a slightly better perch in the net.

The little 4play was proving irresistible and on a later cast I found out why.. I was working the lure with a few sharp jerks soon after landing (as this tends to attract fish from a distance) and felt some weight on the line, As I got the lure up, I had foul-hooked a small roach at almost the same size and profile as the soft bait. Matching the hatch as they say..

A good imitation.

I kept fishing the area where I caught the perch as it was obvious that the fish were preying on these small roach. I made a cast right next to the wall and this time I got a sharp bite and felt good resistance at the end of the line. A great fight ensued but soon I had a feisty jack in the net.

Cant get enough of their fights!

After this fish the swim got quiet and I moved to a basin where there's usually the odd perch and pike hunting at this time. Many casts later and without a sniff of a fish, I was almost ready to call it a day. I made a last cast and gave some sharp jerks as soon as the lure hit bottom, I tried to repeat the jerks but as soon as I lifted the rod I had a fish on! Another good little fight and another small jack landed.

Last fish of the day.

After the jack the light had diminished and I decided to call it a day. It had been one of the most productive sessions lately and I was a happy angler.
Even though I caught no fish using UL carolina today, it was apparent that the deciding factor was the time of the day. I have been trying carolina to present the lures closer to the bottom and still have some sort of weightless/flowing effect, making the method less attractive to pike and hope to get some smaller species. So far no pike have been caught and works well on the perch..

Another thing to note is that perch really don't seem to be put-off by the 6lbs K2K wire and its really a relief to use it in areas with high pike activity.. This week I will try to fish every day and at different places, because I will be going to a more exotic destination soon and need to make the most of the freshwater fishing here..

More to follow and thanks for reading!

Gear used.
Rod: Awa Shima Qlite spin, 1-5g, 2.40m
Reel: Tica Libra 2500fd
Mainline: Sunline Siglon Fluorocarbon, 4lbs
Rig: dropshot, carolina
lure: savagear soft 4play 8cm, Berkley Gulp fish fry 2"