FAT IKA COLOR & PRESENTATION

[bugman]

Love the Fat Ika. Oddly nobody I know fishes it, except for those on this forum. It has become a great go to bait for me.

As far as color goes, I like black with blue flake. It seems to land more fish than anything else.

Ditto! It's like my own little secret here in N.E. Ohio. I catch more bass on the Ika than any other soft plastic I use, an that includes the Senko.

[LAbail]

Fat Ika is awesome not only does it catch the bass but not one person around here uses it... I know all the "regulars" down at the pond I fish and never seen any of them use it  ;D its my little secret down here. On days when nothing seems to produce i can pick these up and start slamming them almost any time. These things have always caught me at least 5 fish

every time I throw them.

[Willzx225]

Captain -  There already have been some Fat Ika sightings around the Charlotte/ Concord area  ;D

[Captain Chaos II]

Captain - There already have been some Fat Ika sightings around the Charlotte/ Concord area ;D

DOH!!  Let's keep this between you and me.  I'm hunting wasskwey bass this fwiday.....hahahahha(elmer voice).  Got me a 10 pack last night.  

You guys notice Kinami sells 5 "palm trees"at about the same price as GY sells 10 fat ikas.  Bad marketing in my book as I realize what is going on.

[GobbleDog]

Alright Road Warrior.  I gots my Fat Ikas.  Sunday on West Lake Toho we'll find out if they really catch largemouth bass or if you're on Garry Yamamato's payroll.

Dang, I was looking forward to throwing my Fat Ika's all week.  Then I pulled up to the boat ramp Sunday morning and I realized I forgot to pack em when I geared up.  The christening of the almighty Ika will have to wait.    :-/  

err trout bait  

[GobbleDog]

Well, I went fishing last night and this time I remembered to bring my new bag of Fat Ika's.  Unfortunatley, I quickly realized a problem... 2/0 worm hooks work great with Trick Worms and Senkos, but they're entirely too small for Ika's.  The hook barely penetrated the other side of the worm and it was pointless even trying to fish them. If I bothered to take one out of the bag when I first got em I would have realized it earlier.

In any case, now I'm reading back through this thread and seeing most of yall use 4/0 hooks.  Heck, as thick as those things are I'd assume wide gap hooks would help too.

So.... the Ika christening will have to wait another week.  Which stinks because last night we caught a boat load of bass and I'm sure the Ika would have brought in a few if I'd had the right hook.  Despite that, I still gave it a couple casts just to see how it moves in the water and I was impressed with it's slow fall the way those tentacles wiggle.  

[GobbleDog]

Patient.

I will be interested to hear how you do with a C-rig. Please post results, good or not. I think the weight will negate the inherent action of the bait, but we'll see.

Well, I finally christened the Fat Ika yesterday.

Lake Caloosa in Central Florida - Early in the morning with calm wind, I was throwing it weightless against exposed kissimmee grass. It almost immediately started getting bites and after some misses I finally brought in a couple of decent bass. I still think all that plastic makes hooksets more difficult - even with a 4/0 widegap hook and after making sure the hook was fully penetrated (even somewhat exposed). In any case, it worked.

Later in the day the wind picked up to 15 mph and made weightless fishing nearly impossible (especially in 7 to 8 feet of water), so I put the Ika on the end of a c-rig (1/8 oz weight) and sure enough, the fish kept biting. The Fat Ika rigged backwards (both weightless and c-rig) was getting it done.

My fishing partner took notice to my success with this weird new bait. So he reached into his bag and pulled out something similar... I believe it was a Yamamoto Double Tail Hula Grub pictured below. He rigged it backwards, just like I was doing with the Ika, tied to the end of his c-rig (1/16 oz weight) and started catching fish as well. He commented that those Hula Grubs had been sitting in his tacklebox unused for about 2 years. He's now a believer in them rigged backwards.

Each bait seemed to have its own benefits - The Ika made MUCH longer casts, but the Hula Grub could be fished with smaller hooks because it's nearly as thick.  I also think the Ika's bigger overall size helps attract bigger fish than the Hula Grub would.

In any case, thanks to everyone's input on the Ika. A creature bait rigged backwards. whodda thunk?

[johnkook73]

Patient.

I cast and light a cigarette. After the Fat Ika reaches the bottom, I usually let it sit at least 15-30 seconds, sometimes longer. The pause between movements can be short (10-15 seconds) or long. One cast and retrieve takes awhile if I'm fishing good structure or cover.

I will be interested to hear how you do with a C-rig. Please post results, good or not. I think the weight will negate the inherent action of the bait, but we'll see.

Good luck!

8-)

Maybe that is my problem, I am fishing them to fast. Still have not caught any using the IKA.