Fat Ika Hookup Problem

[S I G M A]

So... I cannot set the hook on a fat ika for the life of me for some reason. I'm rigging it backwards on a 5/0 gamakatsu ewg monster and everytime I try setting the hook, the bottom of the Ika does not slide out of the way enough and i only get a tiny portion of the hook to set, resulting in bass getting off easily. Does anyone have any suggestions??

[Raul]

T-expose the hook.

[SJex]

I use Owner Wide Gap Plus 4/0 for fishing Fat Ika's. I use Megastrike to lube them and I work the area where my hook penetrates thru the Ika so that the hook slides thru easier.

[S I G M A]

I currently do have it texposed, but i'll try the owner hooks and lubing it down with attractant. Thanks for the input guys

[fathom]

instead of hooking thru the full body, try angling the hook's insertion into the head and skinhooking it to the side of the body.

it will give the bait a slightly different action but, your hooking percentage should go up.

[soccplayer07]

I have the same problems. I am sure RW will chime in shortly and offer his tips. He loves this bait.

[frogtog]

You might want to go with a 6.6 MH or H rod . This will take care of the penetrating problems. 8-)

[MNGeorge]

You might want to go with a 6.6 MH or H rod . This will take care of the penetrating problems. 8-)

This was my first thought also.  I use a 6 1/2 ft med. or a 7ft. med/hvy. rod when throwing the Fat IKA.  I use a 4/0 Gammie wide gap superline worm hook and my reel is filled with 20 lb. braid.  Hooksets have never been an issue with these rigs.

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

I use Owner Wide Gap Plus 4/0 for fishing Fat Ika's. I use Megastrike to lube them and I work the area where my hook penetrates thru the Ika so that the hook slides thru easier.

X2  the owner 4/0 wide gap plus is the best hook for that bait.

[Crestliner2008]

You're definitely going to have to use a rod with some backbone. Also, when hooking the bend of the hook, make sure there is a tiny bit of slack in the body. If it's stretched tight between the eye bend and the bend of the hook, that could interfere with hook sets. Just a thought.

I agree - GREAT bait!

[crankybaits]

I use a gama 4/0 g-lock hook rigged backwards.  I cant say i've had any problems with this setup.  I think i actually learned it on this board.

[Bantam1]

The problem is that the bait is just really fat and there are not many hooks that work with it. I am a Fat Ika fanatic and I have tried everything, sometimes you just miss them. You can let them eat it longer but then you end up gut hooking the fish  :'(

I have tried sliding a swivel through the hook and over the line to keep the bait in place.

Slitting the belly works (where the hook bend will be), but the bait is a one fish bait after that.

I use the Owner Wide Gap Plus in 5/0 and I fish this bait on 10-12# FC line. The bait seems to work better with a rod that has a slightly softer tip but lots of backbone. I actually designed the Cumara CUC72MH rod for fishing the Ika. The GLoomis MBR 843 works very well for this bait too.

Practice is the next best thing to determine your hookset. This makes a big difference when they are lightly biting the bait.

[Lucky Craft Man]

When I started fishing Fat Ikas, I had the exact same problem as you. I use the same hook and rig it the same way as you described. Though, I modified one small thing, which seemed to increase my hook up rate tremendously. I bend part of the EWG hook so that the tip of the hook is at the same angle as the side of the Fat Ika (I attached a diagram below to hopefully help explain what I do). The hook point, once bent, lies right under the skin of the Fat Ika making what I feel an easier hook up.  When I used to rig it without bending the hook point, I would set the hook into more plastic of the lure and not the fish.  I am sure it is probably not recommended to bend a hook, but I only bend it slightly and it sures seems to have helped.

[EastTexasBassin]

I've had it happen to me a few times.  I'll get a hit and set the hook, only to get my lure back with the hook buried in all of that plastic instead of the fish's mouth.  I haven't tried bending the hook, but I insert the hook over to one side on the skirted end, so the hook point is further out once its rigged.  That's helped me a bit.  

[Bantam1]

The problem I see is this area:

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t139/shimano2007/hookbend.jpg

Several of the true wide gap hooks that you would need for this bait do not have enough bend like this. I have tried them all trust me. This allows the bait to ball up on the hook like many of us have experienced.

Mustad makes a great hook I think its called the Ultra Bite worm hook? Anyways the bend is correct where I have the crappy picture circled. However the offset just isn't right to me. If I could put this bend on the Owner Wide Gap Plus hook I would be a happy man  

I just see this whole trend with most soft plastic baits, or any bait. No one designs baits around hooks. There are several hooks on the market. Why not set out to design the bait to work with the available hooks, or have a special hook designed for the bait? A company like Yamamoto has a good relationship with both Owner and Gamakatsu. Surely they could have a hook made for the bait that meets the expectations of the angler. Sure the hooks that are out work, but there are still missed fish and at a higher percentage than with other soft baits I use.

[grimlin]

I've been known to cut out part of the bait to where the hook really exposes itself.

Does it effect the action? I don't know,but it still catches fish and my hooked up ratio improved greatly.