HOW TO ADD WEIGHT TO THE KITARA
An incredibly effective rig, but still little known in Italy, is the one with the Cheburashka or, for short, Chebu - the so-called "Chebu Rig".
Cheburashka were born in Russia and take their name from a lovely character in Soviet literature, whose head is very reminiscent of the geometry of our weights.
Used mainly combined with offset hooks, they have great advantages compared to other rigs better known in Italy such as the classic jighead or jig-head.
Firstly they are completely separate from the hook and therefore interchangeable . Once the Kitara has been combined with its hook, we have the possibility of changing the weight in a few seconds , allowing us to radically vary our fishing action.
For example, we could start fishing with a light weight (e.g. 2 grams) to probe the first layers of water or the long bank of a river, and then put a heavier weight (e.g. 10 grams) and explore the layers deeper water or even be in continuous contact with the bed of the watercourse.
Secondly, the connections, the "ears" of our Cheburashka, are curved and leave extreme freedom of movement to the bait which is able to move by sliding in all directions.
Combined with the natural plasticity of silicone, this freedom of movement gives the softbaits armed with the chebu rig an incredibly realistic and attractive swim for predators.
How to assemble the chebu?
One of the most frequent mistakes in rigging cheburashkas is thinking that they have a symmetrical shape. In reality they too have a correct direction , which allows both better movement in the water and greater aerodynamics during the cast.
The part with the greatest volume, and therefore weight, of the lead must be directed in the direction of the belly and tail, while the harmonic steel clip that directly connects the hook and carabin must be mounted with the most accentuated curvature in the opposite direction.
Assembling our leads is extremely simple, once you understand the correct direction:
1. we extract the central metal clip
2. insert it into the eyelet of our offset hook
3. let's slide the lead inside the long part of the metal clip
4. join the remaining free eyelet to our carabin or knot it directly to the end.
We are ready to cast!