Fat-Ikas

[Brand0n]

what colors do you guys swear by? rigged normal or backwards? what size hooks? presentation? what size ika? im seeing the big hype about these things and I wanna try them out where I fish.

[rowyourboat]

colors for me go like this.. (clear - pumpkinseed)(slightly stained - watermelon) (muddy - black/blue)

i rig it backwards with a 4/0 gammy. i have a lot of luck tossing them around weedlines. just let it fall on semislack line. pop it once or twice and repeat. i try to cover a lot of ground with these because you can flip in and out quickly....

imo, the work best in less than 10ft of h2o

[Ge Khang]

i use black/blue flakes. rigged normal and have had great success! just need to find a better way to rig it so that it dont get destroyed after one fish.

[dday07]

green pumpkin and watermelon both with black flake.use them in any area you find alot of crawdads

[deaknh03]

Man, I love these things. Rig them backwards, I use a 4/0 owner twistlock, keeps them soft suckers on the hook, and color would be up to your location and the weather. I found a guy on Ebay that makes them, and they are great quality, plus you don't pay $7.50 a pack. I prefer the fat Ikas over any others.

[webertime]

4/0 or 5/0 Gammy EWG. I like the larger one for a touch more bait clearance.

I use green pumpkin, watermelon, smoke with sparkles and oxblood. 99% rigged backwards.

I prefer a medium (F or XF) rod, either spinning or casting with 15-30lb braid. I find the stretch with mono/fluoro and how meaty the bait that I don't get as good of hook-set as I do with braid.

The Tiny Ika is a great DS bait too.

Using a Fat Ika as the "weight" on a DS rig has been really successful, especially with a longer dropper length (kind or a search bait for where they are in relation to the bottom).

I like it as everywhere... I have caught Smallies in 22 fow with them (used a nail weight). I have caught my PM Largemouth (7.2lbs, prespawn) in 3 fow. Last Saturday I lost a Smallie that was too big to jump (I don't think I set the hook very well), the guy I was partnered with has fished Champlain for 50 years and said it was one of the 3 biggest he's ever seen easily over 6lbs.

[jignfule]

pumkinseed 4/0 or 5/0 rigged backwards. SET THE HOOK!!!!

[hookset on 3]

Last year was my first time trying out the Fat Ika's after reading Road Warrior's guarantee on the "Best of Bass Resource". I've been bassin for almost forty years and the first time I threw them in my home lake, the bass went ballistic over these things.

The only other time I got this sort of reaction from bass,was when I guy from my club got some prototype soft plastics about 20 years ago from a buddy that designed this thing called a Slug-go!

I really think that the subtle gliding action of the Ika when it's rigged backwards and the erratic fall of the Slug-go is the perfect imitation of the real thing.

[Quitlimpin]

Rig it backward to start. After a few fish tear it up, turn it around and rig it normal. Watermelon/ rd blk flake and black/blue flake are pretty much the only colors I use. They are ba flipping grass and cat tails

[Diablos]

The one thing I noticed with these,at least for me, is the fish hit these very hard. I throw similar type soft plastics and get a lot of soft hits but with these every single hit has been Wham!!

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

These are one of my go to baits. As stated, skirt forward on a 4-O EWG hook. Most hits are on the fall or first twitch. If fisging all the way back I retrieve them with short drags and pauses. Green Pumpkin, Watermelon and Black are about all the plastic colors I typically use.

[Crestliner2008]

I rig it backwards all the time. And I start with My preference with the "Big IKA" vs. the Fat IKA, if I'm fishing LM. The reverse is true if I'm fishing smallies. Color? Don't mean nothing. It's the attitude and subtle action of these fabulous baits that keeps my rod bending.

[grimlin]

Never got a bite off them this year.....They seem to be a hit and miss with me.

[guilford]

This is my first year to try them also. I'am pleased with the results of using them on any chunk rock or rip-rap. Unweighted, means less snags. I skip it towards the rocks, because it sometimes more than not excites the fish skipping the bait towards the rocks than just casting to. I also use those skip gap tube hooks. My Ika never needs adjustment unless I catch one.

[jorilo]

Fat Ikas rule! Like everyone syas rig them backwards. I sometimes use a circle hook w/ them awesome bait.

[Brand0n]

do you guys got any tips or tricks other than rigging them backwards?

[ChiCityBasser]

I started using them late in our season after reading the RW "Guaranteed" article as well. I ordered some off ebay since Cabelas didn't carry them and its 10 min from my house. I got the Watermelon with gold/black seed and rig them backwards on a 5/0 hook and as the temps drop here they have become a go to bait. The only other trick I use with them is to add a worm rattle and it works just fine with the 5/0 EWG hook.

Learning when to set the hook was the hardest part of using them for me. I mainly fish lipped cranks and need a bit more patience with the hookset on these baits.

[dhami013]

I just have a hard time getting past the price.

[roadwarrior]

Well...