Listening to Kevin Van D the other day, he was saying that many times Craw fish will tend to be the same or close to the same color as the area they live in, to better disguise themselves from preditors.  

When picking a fat ika to purchase, should I be looking at colors that match the bottom of the ponds I fish, or does the water color/clarity have more to do with my color choice?

I fish mostly clear to slightly stained water.

Secondly, I remember RW saying he fishes the Ika like a Senko.  With 6'' - 12'' horizontal sweeps, letting it pause for 10-20 seconds.  RW,(and others) do you mix it up as well?  Do you ever hop it or use up and down sweeps as opposed to sideways?  Do you ever pop it like a jerk bait?  Swim it?  If so, how are the results?

I'm about to order some Ika's.  

Some color choices I was considering are...

Chartreuse GN w/ ch flk

Black

Fading watermelon w/ bl flk

June Bug

Which two should I get for now?

Thanks!

rig it straight on a football head jig head and cast to under cut rocks or ledges and just let it sink and the smallies cant stand it

in green pumblkin or watermelon/redflake

I rig it with a 4/0 skirt up. Colors I like are black/blue and greenpumpkin. (watermelon, watermelon blk fleck, and greenpumpkin all pretty much work the same imo..)

I'm not convinced color is important, I fish "dark" ( watermelon with black flakes, green pumpkin with black flakes and watermelon with black & red flakes).

I never use a weight.

I always fish them slow, on the bottom with short sweeps and long pauses.

8-)

If you fishing ponds than know this....I have had AWESOME sucess on the Green Pumpkin Black Flake color. Rigged backwards on a 4/0 hook jigging it off the bottom and letting it fall on slack line.

Listening to Kevin Van D the other day, he was saying that many times Craw fish will tend to be the same or close to the same color as the area they live in, to better disguise themselves from preditors.

When picking a fat ika to purchase, should I be looking at colors that match the bottom of the ponds I fish, or does the water color/clarity have more to do with my color choice?

I fish mostly clear to slightly stained water.

Secondly, I remember RW saying he fishes the Ika like a Senko. With 6'' - 12'' horizontal sweeps, letting it pause for 10-20 seconds. RW,(and others) do you mix it up as well? Do you ever hop it or use up and down sweeps as opposed to sideways? Do you ever pop it like a jerk bait? Swim it? If so, how are the results?

I'm about to order some Ika's.

Some color choices I was considering are...

Chartreuse GN w/ ch flk

Black

Fading watermelon w/ bl flk

June Bug

Which two should I get for now?

Thanks!

Well I ain 't KVD but I 've never been an advocate of the "match the hatch" school of thought, to me color is one of the ways of telling the fish " LOOK AT IT ! " reason why I prefer hot colors or colors that contain a lots of flash ( lotz of metalflake   )

In other words, choose the color you think will work best, presentation and location are more important.

I think if you stick with what rw is saying, you'll be golden. I have found, however, that when I'm smallmouth fishing (clear water), the greens and watermelon shades get me the best results. When I go after largemouth - usually in a bit more stained water - the pumpkin and real dark june bug colors "seem" to produce better for me. And by all means, fish it on the bottom, similar to a pitching jig.

Listening to Kevin Van D the other day, he was saying that many times Craw fish will tend to be the same or close to the same color as the area they live in, to better disguise themselves from preditors.

When picking a fat ika to purchase, should I be looking at colors that match the bottom of the ponds I fish, or does the water color/clarity have more to do with my color choice?

I fish mostly clear to slightly stained water.

Secondly, I remember RW saying he fishes the Ika like a Senko. With 6'' - 12'' horizontal sweeps, letting it pause for 10-20 seconds. RW,(and others) do you mix it up as well? Do you ever hop it or use up and down sweeps as opposed to sideways? Do you ever pop it like a jerk bait? Swim it? If so, how are the results?

I'm about to order some Ika's.

Some color choices I was considering are...

Chartreuse GN w/ ch flk

Black

Fading watermelon w/ bl flk

June Bug

Which two should I get for now?

Thanks!

Well I ain 't KVD but I 've never been an advocate of the "match the hatch" school of thought, to me color is one of the ways of telling the fish " LOOK AT IT ! " reason why I prefer hot colors or colors that contain a lots of flash ( lotz of metalflake )

In other words, choose the color you think will work best, presentation and location are more important.

I saw that episode as well, and my interpretation of what kvd was saying, is that, match the hatch or the bottom color of the lake in clearer water situations, and in muddy or stained water, he tries to go with a good silouhetted color (dark) that may have some chartruese or other bright accents.  

im with RW on this one...

my opinion....i just dont think color is as important as people make it....

and if it is, i still think there are color combos that will work 95% of the time

they are:

Black-solid

Black-with blue flake

Black-with red flake

Watermelon-with red/green flake

watermelon- "faded" or solid

pumkinseed-with black flake

Pumkinseed-with red flake

the 2 GY colors i throw 99% of the time are Black with blue flake, and watermelon with red/green flake

those are my go to colors almost all the time!

Is the Fat Ika as successful at catching largemouth bass, as it is smallmouth?

It looks like trout bait to me.

Funny, I came here to make the same post.  Is it as good for LMB as it is SMB?

t

Is the Fat Ika as successful at catching largemouth bass, as it is smallmouth?

It looks like trout bait to me.

For the past three years, the Fat Ika has been my #1 producer for largemouth bass. I rarely use the lure for smallmouth because I generally fish the Tennessee River. This bait works much better fished slowly on the bottom, in water that is not moving.

8-)

You fish 'em weightless and texas-rigged BACKWARDS, correct? Have you ever added weight (c-rigged or sliding bullet weight) and fished off-shore grass (12' or so)?  

:-?

I'm not convinced color is important, I fish "dark" ( watermelon with black flakes, green pumpkin with black flakes and watermelom with black & red flakes).

I never use a weight.

I always fish them slow, on the bottom with short sweeps and long pauses.

:

Does that mean you never fish 'em deep or you're a very patient person? 12' is kinda deep for weightless.

Regardless, I'm convinced that anything that can be fished weightless will also work behind a c-rig.  I'm gonna put your Ika to the test.

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-)

Apparently, there's more than one Ika.  Any luck with the smaller sizes?

But there is only one Fat (Boy) Ika:

http://***/cgi-bin/order/92F-10

8-)

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.

Its an excellent largemouth catcher.  Rig it as RW suggests, weightless and rigged backwards.

I tried them out because of RW's posts, and I was impressed.  On my very first cast with the lure I caught a nice fish, with many more to follow.

It doesn't take long at all for it to reach the bottom in 12' of water.  It wobbles side to side as it falls but its not a slow fall.  It casts like a bullet, no weight necessary.

I'm a weighless senko/fluke/trick worm kind of fisherman, so this seems to be right up my alley.  

I still say the Ika looks like trout bait.  

Is the Fat Ika as successful at catching largemouth bass, as it is smallmouth?

It looks like trout bait to me.

Here's RW with a Fat Ika fish on Fork.  

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.

Love the Fat Ika. Oddly nobody I know fishes it, except for those on this forum.

That's a "good thing!"

8-)

There may be some Fat IKA sightings around Concord, NC.  Gonna give em a try.  I've caught fish on every other GY bait so might as well add this one to the list.